This note contains spoilers for the book.

Pamela and I knew Nick at Carleton. Last I heard he was also an English Literature professor.

This is a nice mystery, with an okay beginning-of-romance in it. I don't actually remember if I've read the earlier "Nathan Phillips" mysteries; I've read a couple of Nick's older mysteries, but I don't now remember if they use Nathan Phillips. Based on those rather old memories, this one seems to me to show a considerably greater confidence (and skill) in handling his characters.

The old mystery of Nathan's partner's death gets reopened due to new information. It leads to a small farm town. People start dying like flies. The focus on the small town reminds me of Joel Rosenberg's Home Front. In both cases I can believe in those small towns, but they're nothing like anything I know about. I grew up in a small city, though, not actually a small town (about 10,000-14,000 people at the time). I don't actually understand why anybody would continue to live in one.