Book Review: The Bones of Bascom Hall by Betsy Draine and Michael Hinden (2024)

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Synopsis: A forgotten-about cistern located in the roof of Bascom Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison causes a flood and reveals the skeleton of a long-hidden body and a visiting art professor, Nora Barnes, finds herself helping with the investigation, even after her own life is threatened. Her husband, Toby Sandler, also takes an interest in the case but is more interested in finding lost architectural plans drafted by Frank Lloyd Wright.


Review: I didn't plan ahead when I went to the library last week and, with nothing on hold and no books on top of my list, I wandered the stacks looking for anything that caught my eye. The Bones of Bascom Hall wound up being one of the books I checked out, primarily because it takes place in a city I frequently visit and I liked the idea of a murder mystery in a familiar setting.

I finished the book this morning and would describe it as OK.

I liked the mystery surrounding the discovered body because it added some challenges that were unique compared to a fresh murder. For one, nobody knew how long the victim had been in the cistern. It could have been a few years. It could have been a few decades.  This, in turn, made it harder to identify suspects, at least at first, because Nora and her team didn't even know if those suspects were still alive.

The part about Toby and the architectural plans added a little extra something to the book as well. It wasn't clear at first if the two things would end up being connected or if it would just be a side quest. As the book progressed, I even found myself more interested in his efforts than the murder investigation, just because it was something different.

I did, unfortunately, end up being a bit disappointed by the murder mystery itself though. While, as I said, it was an intriguing case, it also was a bit too easy to figure out who the killer was, especially after Nora connected it to a piece of campus history. I literally pointed out the killer the second they were introduced and the clues found after that never made me waiver from that theory. I enjoyed the book despite that, but it might have been a bit better had some information been withheld a little longer or if there had been some sort of surprise twist at the end.

Final Opinion: The mystery was a bit too easy, but it is an entertaining book with some interesting and likeable characters, so I'd still recommend taking the time to read it.

My Grade: B

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Here are some reviews of other murder mysteries:

Book Review: The Case of the Daring Decoy by Erle Stanley Gardner (1957)

Book Review: Fourth and Wrong by Sean Patrick Little (2021)

Book Review: Death of a Nag by M. C. Beaton (1995)

Book Review: Murder in the Ranks by Kristi Jones (2024)

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