Dean Cranston Fessing, dispatched from Wainscott University to investigate the finances of the neighboring Museum of Man, has been murdered. Not only that, but his grisly remains bear the unmistakable mark of preparation as haute cuisine. Norman de Ratour, museum recording secretary and unlikely sleuth, sets out to uncover a bubbling cauldron of clues in this hilarious satire of academic life and contemporary social issues, a stew of murder, cannibalism, political posturing. and high camp.
Alfred Alcorn is also the author of the second Norman de Ratour Mystery, The Love Potion Murders in the Museum of Man, and former director of travel at Harvard University’s Museum of Natural History. He lives in Belmont, Masschusetts.
“An adroit, hilarious send-up.” – The New Yorker
“A stylish, fiendish detective story.” – The New York Times Book Review
“Readers will be choked with laughter over this deliciously funny novel of murder and cannibalism.” – The Boston Sunday Herald
“There are delicious details on every page of this wonderfully funny and surprisingly suspenseful story.” – The Chicago Tribune
“Sly and spicy from start to finish, Alcorn’s unexpected hybrid blends academic spoofery, cannibalism and a murder mystery, serving it up with a just-right balance of innocence, subtle malevolence and cheeky irony.” – Publishers Weekly
