Mysteries and Mathematics, Mystery Literature E-conference, Fri 1 Sep 1995
Jill Paton Walsh: A Piece of Justice Mystery
Literature E-conference, Mon 3 June 1996
Erik Rosenthal: The Calculus of Murder Mystery
Literature E-conference, Tue 29 Jul 1997
Erik Rosenthal: Advanced Calculus of Murder Mystery
Literature E-conference, Tue 4 Aug 1998
MYSTERIES and MATHEMATICSThe July/August 1995 edition of the AWM (Association for Women in Mathematics) Newsletter contains an article entitled "The Mystery in the Math Book" by Shirley Murphy Branan, who is a professor of Mathematics at Birmingham-Southern College. (I think that a better title would have been "Math in the Mystery Book".) In this article, Professor Branan relates how she became interested in collecting books in "girl series" such as: Nancy Drew, Dana Girls, Beverly Gray, Penny Parker, and Trixie Belden. She is particularly interested in the references to Mathematics in these series, and the attitudes of the "girl detectives" about Mathematics.
She gives a number of examples, not only of the attitudes of "girl detectives" about Mathematics, but also relates stories about good Mathematics teachers, "Monster Mathematics Teachers", and what I call a "Monster Mother". Many of these examples were sent to her in response to a request she made to readers of a newsletter (not this one!) for help in finding Mathematics references in these series. At the same time, she asked the women readers to tell her about their own early attitudes about Mathematics.
Those of you whose passions include (but are not necessarily limited to) both Mysteries and Mathematics will find this article interesting, entertaining, and also, alas, somewhat depressing.
If you are interested in reading this article, but are unable to locate the July/August issue of the AWM newsletter, please let me know. I am willing to mail, via snail mail, a copy of the article to anyone who is interested in reading it.
A Piece of Justice by Jill Paton Walsh"A Piece of Justice" is a cozy that those of you who are interested in quilting and/or Mathematics and its history will find particularly interesting. (Please note that knowledge of neither subject is necessary for the enjoyment of this book!)
Imogen Quy works as a college nurse at St. Agatha's College, Cambridge University. This is the second book in the Imogen Quy series.
The story begins in Quy's house, where 3 member of the Newnham Quilters' Club are planning a quilt to be raffled before Christmas for the Red Cross. We soon meet Frances Bullion, who rents a small flat at the top of Quy's house. Bullion is a graduate student who is writing her dissertation on the relationship between biography and autobiography. In order to support herself, Bullion obtains a job working on the biography of one Gideon Summerfield, deceased.
Summerfield, a former tutor at St. Agatha's, is about to become the recipient of the Waymark prize. This prize is awarded in Mathematics and has the same prestige as the Nobel. Summerfield had a rather lackluster career at St. Agatha's, with the exception of one remarkable result that he obtained. It is for this result that he is being awarded the prize, albeit posthumously.
It soon becomes clear that someone does not want this book to be published. Quy decides to find out who, and why.
Although I thought that I had solved the mystery early on in the book, there were enough plot twists so that I was pleasantly surprised by the actual solution. (I must add that when I reread the book, I saw that the solution was obvious. This is, of course, an example of why I am such an excellent Monday morning quarterback.)
The main problem I had with the story is that Quy stumbles upon two major clues by accident. I prefer that the protagonist in a cozy solve the puzzle by a combination of brilliant investigative technique and judicious use of "the little grey cells ".
The Calculus of Murder by Erik RosenthalClothing magnate Bradford Melton is murdered (by poison) at his 55th birthday party. Part-time private investigator Dan Brodsky is hired by Greg Langley, lawyer for the obvious suspect, Melton's daughter Susan.
Dan Brodsky is a mathematician who obtained his Ph.D. from the mathematics department at UC Berkeley in 1976. He has decided to remain in the Bay area even though he cannot find a permanent academic position there, so he supports himself by teaching mathematics part-time in the Berkeley mathematics department and working part-time as a PI.
Brodsky arrived at Berkeley in 1967 to study mathematics. When his student support disappeared, he started working for his friend Greg Langley by serving subpoenas part-time, and eventually obtained his PI license.
THE CALCULUS OF MURDER is a well crafted whodunit, liberally - but not too liberally - sprinkled with red herrings and plot twists. Brodsky is able to solve the mystery by the intelligent use of leg-work and his little grey cells. This book also includes an inside look at life on the Berkeley campus in the late 60's.
I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading The Advanced Calculus of Murder so that I can find out more about the adventures of Dan Brodsky and his pet guinea pig Hypatia. (Hypatia is also the name of one of the last ancient Greek mathematicians.) You can find out more information about her (the mathematician, not the guinea pig) at http://www.scottlan.edu/lriddle/women/hypatia.htm.
Advanced Calculus of Murder by Erik RosenthalThe summer conference on Operator Theory, better known as COTCA - Conference on Operator Theory and C*-Algebras- is being held at Oxford University. In attendance are a few hundred mathematicians including our hero Dan Brodsky, as well as his friend and mentor Paul Hobart, and Hobart's nemesis Martin Kloss. Hobart claims that 15 years ago Kloss, with innocent coauthor Calvin Barnett, published research results stolen from Hobart. Tipped off by an anonymous phone call, the police find Kloss murdered and believe they have a good case against Paul Hobart. Brodsky immediately undertakes the task of proving his friend's innocence.
As the book opens, we find Brodsky working in his office in the Mathematics Department at the University of California at Berkeley when he is informed by Hobart that he is about to receive an invitation to speak at the COTCA conference that summer. Since the conference is still a few months off, Brodsky continues working on cases in his job as PI. One of these involves locating the birth mother of one Joanne Leopold, who was adopted as an infant. He eventually learns that the birth mother moved to England five years earlier, and so can continue his investigation when he goes to England to attend the COTCA conference.
Advanced Calculus of Murder is the second in the series about mathematician/sleuth Dan Brodsky, a mathematician who obtained his Ph.D. from the mathematics department at UC Berkeley in 1976. He decided to remain in the Bay area even though he could not find a permanent academic position there, and so supports himself by teaching mathematics part-time in the Berkeley mathematics department and working part-time as a PI.
I found ADVANCED CALCULUS of MURDER to be even more enjoyable than THE CALCULUS of MURDER, the first book in this series. Although both are well crafted mysteries, ADVANCED CALCULUS of MURDER is an even better whodunnit. It contains fewer twists and fewer, but more substantial, red herrings than the first book. It also contains a romantic interest for Brodsky in the form of Eileen St. Cloud, a mathematician on the faculty at Rice University.
Rosenthal has written only two books in the Dan Brodsky series, and I am informed that he is thinking about eventually writing a third. If that comes to fruition it will be very welcome.
Harriet Lord's HomePage