Death by Degrees: An Inspector Charlie Salter Novel

Rancor runs deep as a committee of academics at Toronto's Bathurst Community College elects a dean in the 10th urbane Inspector Charlie Salter mystery, after A Fine Italian Hand . Two weeks later, amid the fireworks of Victoria Day celebrations, the new dean is killed in an apparent robbery attempt; at the same time, Salter's father, having suffered a series of minor strokes, is hospitalized after a fall. Following up anonymous notes that implicate the victim's colleagues, Salter investigates the death of the much disliked dean and uncovers hypocrisies on various fronts: academic, medical and legal. While his father is subjected to abuses from his caretakers and a local Ojibway Indian is picked up for the murder on circumstantial evidence, Salter uncovers secrets in the dead man's past that point toward premeditated murder. Following Salter as he traces the crime's solution and reconsiders his relationships with his father and his son, Wright produces a deft blend of procedural and psychological elements. (Oct.)