The Calculus of Murder (A Mathematical Mystery)

Rosenthal, Erik

ISBN 10: 0312114125 / ISBN 13: 9780312114121

Published by St Martins Press, 1986

About this Item

First Edition, First Printing (Full Number Line). Not price-clipped ($16.95 price intact). Published by St. Martin's Press, 1986. Octavo. Signed and inscribed by author on flyleaf. Black boards stamped in gold. Book is like new; clean with no writing or names. Sharp corners and spine straight. Binding tight and pages crisp. Dust jacket is like new with light shelf wear. A fine copy of this mystery by Eril Rosenthal. 232 pages. ISBN: 0312114125. 100% positive feedback. 30 day money back guarantee. NEXT DAY SHIPPING! Excellent customer service. Please email with any questions or if you would like a photo. All books packed carefully and ship with free delivery confirmation/tracking. All books come with free bookmarks. Ships from Southampton, New York.

Seller Inventory # 88726

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Calculus of Murder (A Mathematical Mystery)
• Publisher: St Martins Press
• Publication Date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312114125
• ISBN 13: 9780312114121
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Mystery/Thriller

About this title

Synopsis

Dan Brodsky, an amateur mathematician and part-time detective, is determined to solve the mystery of who murdered Bradford Melton, a wealthy industrailist, at his own birthday party

Reviews

Nero Wolfe had his orchids, and Dan Brodsky, the hero of Rosenthal's first novel, has his Oakland Raiders. And his mathematics. And his coffee. And his gerbil. And his poker game, and his radical past and his attempts at gaining an appointment as a college professor. According to simple mathematics, these traits should make Brodsky at least six times as interesting a detective as Wolfe, and make The Calculus of Murder a good book by association, if nothing else.Unfortunately, they do not. When San Francisco corporate mogul Bradford Melton is poisoned at a party celebrating his 55th birthday, the police assume that his spoiled daughter, who has taken up with a radical, is the murderer. She hires liberal attorney Grey Langley to defend her, and he in turn hires his friend Dan Brodsky to locate information to acquit his apparently very guilty client. But Brodsky doesn't want to be a detective; he yearns instead to be a mathematics professor. The problem is he can't get a job since only computer teachers are in demand, so to pay the rent he serves subpoenas for Langley and solves the seemingly unsolvable murder. This isn't as difficult as it might sound, because Rosenthal's San Francisco is a cardboard backdrop, inhabited by stereotypes who act out a slow, repetitious and dull drama. It takes more than a quirky detective to make a good mystery.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.