When Liz Upson reports that her husband, Matthew, has gone missing, he's not exactly a top priority for Detective Sergeant Bert Hook.
Matthew's just one of thousands of missing persons reported each year. And anyway, Mrs Upson makes it crystal clear that she doesn't particularly care if her husband is found.
He may be missing, but he's certainly not missed.
Busy with other, more pressing cases, Hook lists Matthew Upson in the missing persons' database and moves on.
But when Matthew's mother appears a few days later and emphatically insists that the circumstances of her son's disappearance are suspicious, Hook and his boss, Superintendent John Lambert, begin to wonder if there might be more going on than just a simple missing persons case.
The discovery of Matthew Upson's body in the Malvern Hills, with a bullet through his head, launches Hook and Lambert into a formidable and complex case.
A history lecturer at the University of Gloucestershire, Upson at first seems an unlikely candidate for trouble, but the more they dig, the more trouble they find.
With more suspects than they know what to do with Hook and Lambert work to get to the bottom of Matthew Upson's final days and find his murderer, sure that someone is lying.
The only question is who?
An Academic Death is a mystery filled with suspense, secrets and the revelation that nothing is what it seems to be.
Praise for J.M. Gregson
'Lambert and Hook.gritty realism and hard-to-solve mysteries' - Booklist
'.the series is recommended for its gritty realism and hard-to-solve mysteries' - Booklist
'Well done, suspenseful and engaging' - Library journal
'For Morse fans grieving the recent demise of their hero Gregson makes an agreeable successor.' - Booklist
'.compelling characters who deserve the attention of procedural fans' - Booklist
James Michael Gregson taught for twenty-seven years in schools, colleges and universities before concentrating on full-time writing. He has written books on subjects as diverse as golf and Shakespeare. His other crime novels include 'Stranglehold' and 'Body Politic' and he is much in demand as a lecturer and public speaker.
