I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from Great Escapes Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Death by Dissertation
by Kelly Brakenhoff
Series: Cassandra Sato Mystery #1
Series Rating:
Published by Emerald Prairie Press on April 22, 2019
Pages: 357
Format: Kindle
Source: Great Escapes Book Tours
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Ambitious Cassandra Sato traded her life in Hawai'i for a dream position as Student Affairs VP at Morton College in tiny Carson, Nebraska. She expected the Midwestern church casseroles, land-locked cornfields, and face-freezing winters would be her biggest challenges, but it's her job that's rapidly becoming a nightmare.
A deaf student is dead and the investigation reveals a complicated trail of connections between campus food service, a local farmer's beef, and the science lab's cancer research. Together with her few allies, Cassandra must protect the students caught up in the entanglement.
Dealing with homesickness, vandalism, and a stalker, Cassandra is trapped in a public relations disaster that could cost her job or more. No one said college was easy.
Get to know Cassandra and her new friends at Morton College.
Accidental death or murder? Is the difference worth your job or life?
Death by Dissertation by Kelly Brakenhoff is a fresh take on the cozy mystery genre. I truly enjoyed the college life, and the cultural and social differences brought to light along with the intriguing puzzle.
Dr. Cassandra Sato
Cassandra is such a different type of sleuth. She is the vice president of Student Affairs at Morton College in Nebraska. Cassandra recently moved there from Hawaii to her dream job. Although she isn’t alone as Meg, her friend of many years also works at Morton. Cassandra has had a cultural shock but seems to be figuring it out.
Likes
- Cassandra is almost always put together. She takes great pride in appearing as the administrator in charge.
- Integrity and putting the students first are the main thing that Cassandra thinks about.
- She doesn’t make friends easily, but she has strong friendships with those she does have.
- Cassandra loves her family but realizes that she needs to step out of their shadow to grow more
Things about the book that I liked:
- Cassandra’s character growth throughout the story is refreshing. It seems like most detectives come fully formed and don’t grow much.
- Meg and Connor’s family keep Cassandra going when things get tough.
- Showing the diversity of people in higher education and how it affects each of them.
- The appearance of the hearing impaired students and learning how they cope with life’s day to day struggles. I enjoyed that; it gave me something to think about.
- The recognition of the number of people with military backgrounds who assist Cassandra with her security issues was nicely done.
- The love triangle and the fact that Cassandra doesn’t even realize that there is one, yet.
- The snapshots of the college students and how they deal with college life, in general, was nicely written.
- The descriptions of Hawaii and the knowledge of the islands and the people. I enjoyed Cassandra’s family calls.
- The mystery was well planned, and I saw some of the clues, the aha moment was a surprise though.
4 Stars for Death by Dissertation by Kelly Brakenhoff
My rating for Death by Dissertation by Kelly Brakenhoff is four stars. I enjoyed the characters and the setting. The author’s attention to detail is superb. I liked the way the mystery brought out the growth of the characters and how things could go wrong with big money pharmaceutical companies, colleges, and student welfare.
This book is an excellent start to a new cozy mystery series, and I highly recommend this book.
Tour Schedule
June 17 – The Layaway Dragon – REVIEW
June 17 – Only By Grace Reviews – REVIEW
June 18 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
June 18 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
June 19 – Island Confidential – REVIEW
June 20 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 20 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
June 21 – Book Club Librarian – REVIEW
June 21 – That’s What She’s Reading – GUEST POST
June 22 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW
June 22 – MJB Reviewers – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 23 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
June 24 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW
June 24 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 25 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW
June 25 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 26 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
June 26 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
June 27 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
June 27 – I’m All About Books – GUEST POST
June 28 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW
June 29 – The Ninja Librarian – REVIEW, GUEST POST
June 30 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
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Until the next time,
Happy Reading!
About Kelly Brakenhoff
Kelly Brakenhoff is an American Sign Language Interpreter whose motivation for learning ASL began in high school when she wanted to converse with her deaf friends. As an American Sign Language Interpreter with more than twenty years of experience, Kelly’s worked in college classrooms for fifteen different majors. From traipsing across muddy farm fields to stomach-churning medical procedures, and stage interpreting for famous figures, Kelly’s community interpreting interactions number in the thousands. Unfortunately, once she’s stepped away from the job, she usually forgets 90% of what happened. Which helps her keep confidential information safe, but also makes it really hard to grocery shop for more than 5 items without a written list.
Kelly wants to live in a world filled with peace, love, and joy, where people who can hear learn enough sign language to include deaf people in everyday conversations and work. Where every deaf child has early access to language and books with characters like them, and dark chocolate is cheap and plentiful.
When she’s not interpreting or writing, you can find Kelly cheering for her favorite Husker teams or training for half-marathons because she really likes dessert.
Her first mystery, Death by Dissertation, released April 22, 2019.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2019 Cloak and Dagger
- 2019 Craving For Cozies Reading Challenge
- 2019 Cruisin' Thru The Cozies Reading Challenge
- 2019 Goodreads Reading Challenge
- 2019 New Release Challenge
Hi Karen! Thank you for reading and reviewing my book Death by Dissertation for the Great Escapes book tour on June 28th. I really appreciate your time and support. Have a great weekend! Kelly