Publish or Perish: The Deadly World of British Academic Mysteries




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ClassGraphic Step inside the cloisters, colleges and common rooms of British academia for six intriguing mysteries. Join us for this seven-week study group as we explore the rich tradition of British crime fiction set in universities and other academic communities, where brilliant minds, hidden rivalries, old traditions and dangerous secrets collide. From Oxford to Cambridge, and with stops at a few exclusive boarding schools, we will read and discuss one murder mystery book each week. We will reunite with familiar faces such as Lord Peter Wimsey and Hercule Poirot and meet some new, intriguing detectives.The mysteries we will read are Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers (Harcourt Brace and Company, 1935), The Cambridge Murders by Glyn Daniel (Ostara Publishing, 2014), Jane and the Final Mystery by Stephanie Barron (Soho Press, 2024),  Down Cemetery Road by Mick Herron (SohoPress, 2025), The Oxford Murders by Guillermo Martinez, translated by Sonia Soto (Penguin Publishing Group, 2006),  and Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie (Collins Crime Club, 1959).
 

Class Details

6 Session(s)
Weekly - Thu

Location
Wieboldt Hall

Instructor
Multiple

Tuition:  $0.00

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Schedule Information

Skip dates: (No class on 11/26/2026)

Date(s) Class Days Times Location Instructor(s)
10/29/2026 - 12/10/2026 Weekly - Thu 09:45 AM - 11:45 AM Chicago, Wieboldt Hall  Map Martha Bills  ; Marybeth Schroeder  ; Celeste King