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She Murdered Me with Science (Noel Glass Mystery #1)

by David Boop

3.82 · rating details · 17 ratings · 8 reviews

It's 1953 and disgraced scientist Noel Glass works as a P.I. to redeem himself for a deadly experiment that cost the lives of six people, including his fiance's. In walks a rich recluse who offers information that Glass was framed for the deadly accident. As Glass struggles to clear his name, he uncovers an evil organization bent on using his own invention for world domina...more

Paperback, 288 pages

Published August 1st 2008 by Flying Pen Press

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Apr 27, 2011

Romancing the Book rated it

Shelves: mystery

Review by Melissa Cornwell

Here's the blurb from the book:
It's 1953 and disgraced scientist, now detective, Noel Glass works to redeem himself for an experiment that cost several lives. In walks a rich recluse who offers proof that Glass was framed. As he struggles to clear his name, Glass uncovers an organization bent on using his invention for world domination. Who can Glass trust when everyone is keeping secrets? From the desolate streets of Industry City to a showdown in Chi-to...more

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Jan 10, 2011

Nick rated it

Shelves: alternate-history, mystery, science-fiction

This book almost deserved a fourth star, but lost it by allowing the villains and the science to spin out of control. The danger in a story like this is that the gimmicks can overwhelm the other plot points, and in this case it felt like that had happened. The story takes place in a world somewhat more advanced than our own, but that is inconsistent. Electronics and biology seem like they're a couple of generations ahead, but nothing else is, in most of the story. The main character has been wor...moreThis book almost deserved a fourth star, but lost it by allowing the villains and the science to spin out of control. The danger in a story like this is that the gimmicks can overwhelm the other plot points, and in this case it felt like that had happened. The story takes place in a world somewhat more advanced than our own, but that is inconsistent. Electronics and biology seem like they're a couple of generations ahead, but nothing else is, in most of the story. The main character has been working on fuel cell technology in a home lab, in 1953. Another character displays large, flat screen television, again in 1953. Watson and Crick have not only discovered DNA, but have figured out how to analyze it and compare genomes of human samples. Russian blood experiments have led to...well, um...that's one of the ones that didn't quite make sense to me, so we'll leave that for you to decipher. I think the author was trying to describe the kind of blood doping that crooked athletes use, to increase the oxygen load in the blood...otherwise, the massive transfusions didn't make sense, in the context.
The detective noir part was really cool, and felt like it was well planned and interesting. The villains were just crazy enough that a James Bond would have loved to fight them to the bitter end. The problem had to do with the plotting of what the villains were trying to do, and with the science being used by both the hero and the villain. If science is at the core of a story, the author should do enough homework to make it plausible. In this case, a form of radar is at the core of the story, but the author doesn't seem to know how radar actually works. In this case, he kind of forgot that the signal has to get back to a receiver somehow...no, really, it does, and his doesn't. Same kind of thing later in the story, as a microwave signal is going to be bounced off the moon, but come back both very strong AND diffused enough to be spread out over the hemisphere...from an antenna small enough that the authorities hadn't noticed it being built, during the Cold War. Um, right...
The goals of the villains seemed to keep changing, and unfortunately, the second-to-the-last version is the one that made the most sense...then it changed again to mad villain gibberish. Sigh.
Other than the flawed mcguffins, the story was a lot of fun, tying together the Cold War, the death of Stalin, the rush toward super-science, and even ninjas.(less)

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Dec 14, 2011

***Dave Hill rated it

Shelves: text

(Original review http://hill-kleerup.org/blog/2009/06/03/...)

The cover of "She Murdered Me with Science" sums up the book pretty well — a dusky singer at an old mic, a trenchcoated detective delivering a punch to some black-garbed techno-stormtrooper, an exotic mask with baleful eyes glaring outward.

But this two-fisted 50s-era SF detective novel can’t decide if it wants to be more Mickey Spillane, Raymond Chandler, or Lester Dent, and the various blending of the va...more

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Sep 29, 2010

Crowinator rated it

Shelves: science-fiction, mystery-and-crime, 2010-reads, historical, adult

I picked up this book because I met the author at one of my library's author programs, and he had this book on his table. The cover, being hilariously bad, caught my eye (as did the title), so of course I had to pick up the book, but the premise sucked me in. I like humorous noir detective stories. I like them a lot more than I like serious noir detective stories, which may be witty but tend to be downers (at least, the ones I've read).

This is stupid, but I have to get it out of the ...moreI picked up this book because I met the author at one of my library's author programs, and he had this book on his table. The cover, being hilariously bad, caught my eye (as did the title), so of course I had to pick up the book, but the premise sucked me in. I like humorous noir detective stories. I like them a lot more than I like serious noir detective stories, which may be witty but tend to be downers (at least, the ones I've read).

This is stupid, but I have to get it out of the way: David Boop has his narrator say "I could care less" several times, when he means "I couldn't care less". This is a fairly common error, but I expect a writer -- or for God's sake, an editor -- to know better. It made me crazy every time I saw it.

Now I can write about how I otherwise enjoyed the hell out of this book. It's a perfect mix of noir detective story and pulp science fiction, and it's also quite funny (mostly because of Glass' wit and deadpan delivery, which is pretty much a requirement for a noir PI). There is a scene in which the Evil Mastermind (and I won't spoil who it is but it's revealed in an awesome way) maniacally relates the Evil Plan to a boardroom full of Evil Corporate Heads and Politicians, while Glass is held a captive listener; one of the purposes of this speech is for the Evil Mastermind to win Glass over to their side. Right in the middle of the speech, Glass dryly comments that someone should untie his hands so that he can clap, too, totally ruining the moment for Evil Mastermind. It's a short moment, but it made me laugh for a couple minutes, and the book has a lot of these.

The thing about Glass is, he's spent the last ten years believing he's a screw-up, a failure with wasted potential. This gives him that aura of brokenness and hidden vulnerability a noir PI needs, something to connect with underneath his distancing humor, and it accounts for the righteous anger he develops once he realizes he was set up. All he wants to do at the start of the book is clear his name so that he can return to his prestigious university research position, but as he investigates, it’s clear that he’s changed enough to realize that he can never go back. He likes being a PI; he likes the challenge of it, of endlessly figuring out one puzzle after another. He also likes always being right, and because he champions the use of forensics before forensics have been integrated into police investigation (he kind of invents the techniques himself in the book), he is always right. (When he helps the police with investigations, anyway.) His prickly relationship with the police detective he frequently works with is amusing, because Glass enjoys always being right and, of course, no one else does, but the detective still has Glass’ back when he needs it.

Glass’ quest to clear his name turns into a quest to stop the Evil Mastermind from using stolen technology that can pinpoint and implode a person without being anywhere near the target (basically, think of it as a death ray). This is a pretty cool premise and it comes off with B-movie brilliance. It works perfectly with the 50s setting, with its communist paranoia, references to Stalin’s death (which features heavily in the plot), the Korean War, and President Eisenhower (among others), though again, this is obviously a slightly alternate 1950s.

The cover is cheesy in the best way and clearly telegraphs the style of the book (though I think that some people may be surprised by how good the book is with such an obviously low budget cover). This book was plain fun to read, and I think it would make a great cable TV movie (maybe on the Sci-Fi channel?).(less)

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Jan 29, 2009

Neffra rated it

Recommends it for: SciFi, who-done-it, fans

This is a great book with a very interesting take on 50s history. David painted a wonderful noir atmosphere with a great science dick, what a combination. Would recommend this book to all those that like who-done-its, sci - fi and alternate history with a twist.
Great job David, I'm looking forward to his next book.

· see review

Jan 01, 2011

Stina rated it

Shelves: authors-i-ve-met, finished-in-2010

I really enjoyed this cross-genre pulp sci-fi mystery adventure. Dave's wit and style are clear in the first-person narration of hero Noel Glass, and the larger-than-life cinematic elements are reminiscent of Indiana Jones. I look forward to reading more in this series.

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Jun 04, 2010

Brian R. Mcdonald rated it

A pair of go references: first, the protagonist plays a game and a seeress uses the finished position to tell his fortune. She opens by telling him something along the lines of "don't ever play Go drunk again; it hurts my head to read this mess". Later the same seeress gives the protagonist a go stone for luck.

· see review

Jan 01, 2010

Deb Rainey rated it

Shelves: 101-in-1001

This book is a mix of classic detective novel amd sciece fiction. It's a fun read with interesting characters, fast paced action, and some interesting scientific theories (and fact) thrown in. I really enjoyed this one!

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About David Boop

Denver-based author David Boop is a single dad and returning college student. Dave was a journalist before turning to fiction.

Hes published a dozen short stories and written two short films. His stories have appeared in magazines like Tales of the Talisman and SF Trails and in the anthologies Wondrous Web Worlds and Space Pirates. A fixture on the convention circuit, hes spoken at su...more

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She Murdered Me with Science (Noel Glass Mystery #1)

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