A Question of Class by Maria Marotti Publish America (2006)

One quiet morning, Leslie Vessely, the powerful Dean of academic affairs at Santa Abelina University, a campus on the Californian coast, is found dead in the European Studies department. The murder weapon is a padlock bike chain belonging to Franca De Giusti, a lecturer in that department, a union leader, and the victim's long-time antagonist. Although circumstantial evidence and testimonials rapidly pile up and point toward Franca, Captain Nick Fusco, the homicide detective appointed to the case, follows his gut feelings and a different lead. A mysterious promotion, marijuana-laced brownie crumbs, a disappeared passkey, and the victim's numerous affairs -- all this and more steer Fusco away from the obvious suspect. His sudden and passionate love affair with an amateur sleuth adds complications and further insights to his investigation and leads him to the culprit. However, his most unexpected discovery is the unspoken class system of the academic world.

Reviews
An incisive look at the academic tensions and terrors at a university is the subject of this suspense-paced thriller. Heroine Franca De Giusti is fighting for recognition at the school, but the powerful Dr. Vessely stands in her way. He and a number of people feel threatened by her abilities. When the good doctor is found dead, strangled with Franca's bike chain guard, she must fight back with the help of her friends to prove her innocence. This Santa Barbara resident has delivered a provocative read. ~Santa Barbara News-Press, August 6, 2006 (Fred Klein)

About the Author
Maria Marotti was born and raised in Italy. She moved to the United States with a Fulbright scholarship and completed a Ph.D. in American Literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She taught college for more than twenty years at the University of Rome, Italy and at the University of California. During those years in academia, she taught a variety of courses, organized conferences, edited and authored several books of literary criticism spanning American autobiography (1988), Mark Twain's posthumously published works (1990,) Italian women writers (1995), and Italian women's historical fiction (1999). She also had a number of scholarly articles published.

Maria took early retirement from her academic career to devote herself to studies in transpersonal psychology. She lives in Santa Barbara, California with her husband and two pets. She practices clinical hypnotherapy and volunteers as a Reiki practitioner. During the last ten years, she has produced several short stories, three screenplays and two novels. A Question of Class is her first published novel. She has recently completed the screen adaptation of the novel and is now writing the sequel.

For more information on the book and Maria Marotti, visit the author's site at: http://www.publishedauthors.net/mariamarotti/

	Buy the Book!