Joanne Dobson--Writer, Teacher, Speaker

Quieter Than Sleep
(Doubleday, 1997)
On a small New England college campus, the curriculum includes murder, theft, jealousy, and madness.

"Deftly balancing its literary and mystery elements [Quieter than Sleep], sparkles with wit and insight into college politics. Readers academic and otherwise will look forward to the next adventure of smart and scrappy Karen Pelletier." Publishers Weekly

"Has anyone kept actuarial statistics on those faculty parties? They must be more dangerous than skydiving." Kirkus

Agatha nominee

The Northbury Papers
(Doubleday, 1998)
Professor Karen Pelletier's chance encounter with a century-old photograph leads to the discovery of a long-lost manuscript, a major bequest to Enfield College--and murder.

"Few are better than Dobson at recording the minutiae of academic committee-speak, powerplays in . . . jargon, and what ignites a classroom." Booklist (Starred Review)

"A book that is true to its scene and a pleasure to read." Boston Globe

The Raven and the Nightingale,
(Doubleday, 1999)
An unexpected literary bequest sets into motion a bizarre chain of theft and murder leading all the way back to Edgar Allan Poe. Will Karen Pelletier ever free herself from the academic mayhem that plagues her as a yet-untenured professor. "Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore'."

"Dobson delightfully skewers the pretensions and politics of academic life while respecting the importance of education and a life of the mind." Booklist

"Accomplished stuff. . ." Kirkus

Cold and Pure and Very Dead,
(Doubleday 2000)
A scandal at the core of a steamy 1950s bestseller leaps from the past to the present as Professor Karen Pelletier inadvertently brings the novel's long-reclusive author into the public eye.

"The chain of events Karen initiates proves once more that words can kill in fiction and for real. And Dobson's sparkling tale lures readers through enough bait-and-switch red herrings to quarantee a riveting curiosity about who's who." Kirkus

"Crisp writing and hilarious characterizations." Booklist

The Maltese Manuscript,
(Poisoned Pen 2003)
In classic noir tradition, Trouble stalks into Karen Pelletier's English Department office, dragging his crime-writer mistress behind him. Before the story is over, the famous writer is jailed, a priceless manuscript is stolen, and a thief is found dead in the library's closed stacks. All this in the midst of a conference on the crime novel in which far too many academics set out to Deconstruct Death.

"Oh, what fun . . ." New York Times

"An academic novel both gutsy and romantic . . . mystery scholars and collectors will eat this one up." Publishers Weekly