academia

Jon St. Denis: Killer Art

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This is a fun excursion into the world of AI art theft (quite relevant at the moment) as well as a cozyish look into the world of academia, complete, of course, with a few murders.  This is a book I’d call “cozy adjacent” but it has many, many cozy elements: the main characters, Vika and Sam, are refugees from a fast paced life in New York City and are taking up new jobs as professors at a small California college.  Their new jobs are a world away from Vika’s as a curator at MOMA, and Sam’s as a crime reporter for The New York Times. Vika will be a professor of art, Sam a prof of journalism, giving both (they hope) time to work on, respectively, her painting and his writing. read more

Lucy Connelly: The Curious Case of the Poisoned Professor

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Series debut

You can’t help devouring Lucy Connolly’s yummy books like a really good bar of chocolate.   This first installment of her new series finds the central character, former journalist Dr. Gwen Griffiths, returning to Wales to become a professor at the very place where she attended university.  After the layoffs and contractions endured by newspaper staff everywhere, she’s certain she’s found a secure berth at a new place when her old friend Carolyn, now the dean, recruits Gwen to run the journalism department with a real-world edge. read more