As if grad school isn't tough enough, Jessica James is having a killer year. Secretly living in the attic of her advisor's office, she and two drinking pals break into her advisor's office at night to discover she's not the only one who hates the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Baldrick Wolfgang Schumtzig. Soon she and her living-on-the-fringe pals are investigating "Wolf's" death, while dodging handsy frat boys, gamblers, and the police.
Philosophy is apparently a cut-throat group of academics.
Fabulous, memorable characters, fast-paced action, and snappy dialogue make this a terrific start to the Jessica James Mystery Series. I'm hooked. Jessica James joins the ranks of strong women sleuths like the clutzy, funny Stephanie Plum and the edgy Lisbeth Salander. ( )

The first of a series, this story promises much for the future. I wanted to like it more than I did, but there is a lot going on and in the first half it's hard to care, but ultimately the reader becomes enamoured of Jessica and her friends and while there are still some unresolved issues, in the end, the mystery is unravelled. ( )

This book seemed to go on forever and at times I was happy to be reading but at other times it was tedious. Sometimes I saw 5 stars in the writing but at other times this was just a three star story. Both ways, the plot and characters were unusual and kept me reading to the end. ( )

As if grad school isn't tough enough, Jessica James is having a killer year. Secretly living in the attic of her advisor's office, she and two drinking pals break into her advisor's office at night to discover she's not the only one who hates the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Baldrick Wolfgang Schumhutzig. Soon she and her living-on-the-fringe pals are investigating "Wolf's" death, while dodging handsy frat boys, gamblers, and the police.
Philosophy is apparently a cut-throat group of academics.
Fabulous, memorable characters and snappy dialogue make this a terrific start to the Jessica James Mystery Series. I'm hooked. Jessica James joins the ranks of strong women sleuths like the clutzy, funny Stephanie Plum and the edgy Lisbeth Salander. ( )

Jessica James just wants to complete her PhD from Northwestern University, but things aren’t easy for her. She is living (hiding out) in the stuffy attic of the mansion the philosophy department is housed in and trying to please her arrogant and sleazy thesis advisor so that he will approval her doctoral thesis. Jessica fantasizes about murdering her evil professor, but never imagined that she would find him murdered in the bathroom of his office.

The thing I liked about this book was the main characters particularly Jessica, Lolita, and Amber. They are 20-something-year-olds and the carefree lifestyles and actions they take are typical of this age group. They are very resilient female characters that have strong convictions for justice. Intermingled in the mystery that is unfolding you have comedic elements, some intrigue, and a hint at romance. There are also a few storylines going on that culminate into one surprise ending; dead professor, drugged college girls, missing paintings, Russian mobsters, and revenge.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. ( )