The Writing Class

Amy Gallup #1

by Jincy Willett

Amy Gallup is gifted, perhaps too gifted for her own good. Published at only twenty-two, she peaked early and found critical but not commercial success. Now her former life is gone, along with her writing career and beloved husband. A reclusive widow, her sole companion a dour, flatulent basset hound who barely tolerates her, her daily mantra Kill Me Now, she is a loner afraid to be alone. Her only bright spot each week is the writing class that she teaches at the university extension.

This semester's class is full of the usual suspects: the doctor who wants to be the next Robin Cook, the overly enthusiastic repeat student, the slacker, the unassuming student with the hidden talent, the prankster, the know-it-all... Amy's seen them all before. But something is very different about this class—and the clues begin with a scary phone call in the middle of the night and obscene threats instead of peer evaluations on student writing assignments. Amy soon realizes that one of her students is a very sick puppy, and when a member of the class is murdered, everyone becomes a suspect. As she dissects each student's writing for clues, Amy must enlist the help of everyone in her class, including the murderer, to find the killer among them.

Suspenseful, extremely witty, brilliantly written, unexpectedly hilarious, and a joy from start to finish, The Writing Class is a one-of-a-kind novel that rivals Jincy Willett's previous masterpieces.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Humor, Writing, Book Club, Thriller

326 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

From the author's website: "An aging, bitter, unpleasant woman living in Escondido, California, who spends her days parsing the sentences of total strangers and her nights teaching and writing. Sometimes, late at night, in the dark, she laughs inappropriately." This is also the short bio on her character, Amy Gallup, on her blog in "The Writing Class."

Reviews

[Alexandra]

Die Idee zu diesem Krimi fand ich absolut hervorragend. Ein Seminar für kreatives Schreiben und ein potenzieller sehr wütender Mörder in der Gruppe, von dem man immer die mehr oder weniger gut formulierten anomymen schriftlichen Drohungen liest. Also alles in allem spannendes Mörderraten zum Mitmachen mit einer fix definierten überschaubaren Gruppe, fast so wie in den alten Agatha Christie Romanen.
Leider kommt die Geschichte dann nicht wirklich vom Fleck, die angedrohten Taten bleiben fast zu lange aus und das Ratespiel von den offiziell eingereichten Werkproben stilistisch oder inhaltlich auf den "irren" Seminarteilnehmer zu schliessen, wird nach spätestens der dritten furchtbaren Kurzgeschichte auch langweilig.
Der Täter ist letztendlich überraschend aber der gesamte Plot reisst mich nicht mit - keine Spannung, zu wenig Dramatik, zu breit ausgewalzt, mittelmäßige Personen in mittelmäßigen Personenstudien - also alles was ich bei amerikanischen Autoren immer fürchte.

Fazit gute Idee, aber schlechte Ausführung.