"It is with great relief and some reluctance that I begin these unauthorized and unofficial entries into the Log of the Museum of Man."

I have decided to start re-reading books from my own shelves for two reasons -- one, to save money for a while since I'm somewhat compulsive when it comes to buying new books and two, to clear off my shelves and make room for when I do give in to the compulsion. This book, Murder in the Museum of Man by Alfred Acorn, will leave space for something new.

I first read it about 10 years ago and I remembered really liking it. This time though, I was rather bored. The book was written by an ex-museum employee so I'm sure that there were a lot of caricatures that would be hilarious to museum-types but to me it just seemed like a lot of self-important, flat characters. The story starts with a missing university dean whose partial remains are found and appear to have been cannibalized by gourmets. Everyone in the museum is under suspicion and the story follows the account of the Recording Secretary -- along with a somewhat disturbing history of his love (or lack thereof) life. As I was reading I kept hoping for things to escalate a bit more but they never quite did to my satisfaction. This wasn't a bad book and apparently there is a sequel coming out in February 2009. Depending on the plot, I may go find it at the library.

Avoiding meat for a while,
K


Buy Murder in the Museum of Man on Amazon or find it at your local library.