Campus Secrets in Academic Curveball

Kellan Ayrwick returns home for his father's retirement and finds a body instead of an uncomplicated celebration. In James J. Cudney's Academic Curveball, Professor Abby Monroe's death in Diamond Hall raises questions that reach into Kellan's own family. Several relatives, as well as Kellan himself, have connections to the victim.

More trouble behind the campus routine

The murder occurs alongside other troubling events. Mysterious donations reach the athletic program, a hostile blog attacks Kellan's father, and someone tries to alter student grades. The college is managing more than one potential scandal, but the relationships among these events are not immediately clear.

For readers who enjoy campus mysteries, the interest lies in sorting the institution's overlapping pressures. Money, reputation, academic records, and personal history all provide directions to investigate without automatically identifying a killer.

A homecoming turns into an inquiry

Kellan receives help from his eccentric nana while trying to avoid obstructing the sheriff. His family ties give him reasons to look closely, even as they complicate the distance he can keep from the case.

Kellan's family connections make the campus familiar and the investigation difficult to keep at a distance. A homecoming organized around his father's retirement now requires him to look closely at people and events tied to that father. The donations, grades, and hostile publicity give that scrutiny several directions beyond the stairwell where he found the body.