It so happens the prestigious Ivy League college Princeton, in author Ann Waldron’s fictionalized account, sports upon its staff of instructors one McLeod Dulaney, a journalist/instructor of non-fiction writing who carries a penchant for asking questions.

This resonant trait, coupled with a previous episode of solving crime upon the Princeton campus, brings one of her students to her office with an expected (considering McLeod’s inquisitive history) though unanticipated request.  Sophy Robbins would like her to investigate the disappearance of the Princeton President, Melissa Faircloth -- Sophy’s mother.

Reluctant to initially become involved – not to mention unaware the woman was ever missing – she does agree to ask around for whatever information she can discover.  Quite by accident, she and new friend George Bridges, assistant to the president, stumble onto Melissa Faircloth’s body stuffed into a hidden room in the president’s office.

It’s murder.  But who did it?  Clarence Robbins?  Sophy’s father and estranged ex-husband to Melissa?  Ken Coales, the school’s provost, loyal to Princeton with designs on the school’s presidency for himself?  Max Bolt?  The big-time movie director who fought Melissa vociferously for the right to film on the Princeton campus?  A fanatic when it comes to the art of film, his movie on the life of former Princeton alumnus was superior, in his mind, to all other avoidable costs.

DEATH OF A PRINCETON PRESIDENT succeeds in every facet of good storytelling it seeks to conquer.  The mystery stimulates the thought processes into wonder of all suspects the author provides.  Depending upon whom she speaks with, McLeod Dulaney changes her mind on just who the culprit might be.  Indeed, the possibilities run rampart, as there is good cause to suspect practically anyone – as McLeod, in her questioning, learns.

While Ann Waldron does not develop these characters beyond the exterior (Sophy seemed to lack the grief one would normally associate with a daughter whose mother was just murdered) such introspection is unnecessary in this one reader’s view.  DEATH OF A PRINCETON PRESIDENT is not meant to espouse the emotional characterizations of literature’s great tales of woe.  It is a solid read, satisfying and well written, and highly recommendable to any who seek the pages of an intriguing yarn to pass the time.