Perish the Day

A co-ed is found murdered on campus, her body scarcely touched. The killer paid meticulous attention to the aesthetics of his crime. Coincidentally (or not), a college custodian is also found dead. While an epic rainstorm assails the Holyoake, New Hampshire campus, overflowing rivers and taking down power lines, a third crime scene is revealed: a professor, formerly a spy, has been shot dead in his home. A mysterious note is found that warned him to run. No victim seems connected to the others. The dead student was a close friend of Sergeant-Detective Émile Cinq-Mars’s niece; when internecine battles between police departments create a rift, he covertly slips into the crevice so he can be involved in the investigation.rnComing up against campus secrets, Émile Cinq-Mars must uncover the links between disparate groups quickly before the next victim is selected for an elaborate initiation into murder.