Product Description

At U.C. Berkeley's plant genetics lab, precious specimens are being trashed and genetic material is disappearing. Student pranks? With a major grant coming up for renewal, it's not likely.

Then everybody's favorite staff member dies suddenly, and the lab's brainy researchers start squabbling like children. Shrewd private investigator Catherine Sayler wonders if the race for lucrative biotech breakthroughs caused this ugly rift. But the big question is: Are some of these budding genetic geniuses also experimenting with murder?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1315312 in Books
• Published on: 1997-09-28
• Released on: 1997-09-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 260 pages

From Publishers Weekly
San Francisco high-tech PI Catherine Sayler returns from A Woman's Place to probe sabotage in a university plant genetics lab ("corn sex," her secretary jokes). Hired by Paul Raskin, the magnetically attractive manager of the maize lab at UC-Berkeley, Catherine questions researchers among whom academic and personal jealousies often erupt. When technician Raymond Zak dies of a heart attack, other staffers blame his severe weight problem. Catherine is not convinced: Zak had said he had something important to tell her. Then student Chuck Nishimura suffers a fatal allergic reaction to corn pollen, despite his previously unfailingly careful use of protective gear. Raskin and lab boss Kendra Crawford resist Catherine's certainty of foul play, fearing bad publicity and diminished clout with Berkeley educrats. But Catherine links Nishimura's recent $20,000 windfall to a biotech entrepreneur who may play dirty to cash in on a surprising product of corn research. Her investigation is complicated by the challenge Raskin poses to her commitment to her absent lover, Peter, and by responsibility for her niece, Molly, who is flunking high school while in her care. Grant again paints an engaging and gritty heroine, lovingly renders Bay Area life and, with solid research, even makes corn sex comprehensible.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Can information about a gene connected to dwarf corn lead to murder? Catherine Saylor, San Francisco private eye, aims to find out as she investigates suspicious deaths at a university plant genetics lab. Coldly abrupt Kendra bosses the lab, while sexy-eyed Paul assists by refereeing competitive doctoral and post-doctoral students?all of whom come under suspicion. Nicely sketched cityscapes, forthright prose, and a peppy tempo recommend Grant's (A Woman's Place, LJ 4/1/94) latest title to all readers.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
In her third adventure, San Francisco PI Catherine Sayler finds herself up against a mysterious vandal who appears to be bent on sabotaging plant genetics research under way in a Berkeley laboratory. The death of the lab administrator under mysterious circumstances gives the case a nasty turn; it gets worse when a student researcher with serious allergies dies after using a respirator laced with a lethal amount of pollen. When the student is found to have $20,000 deposited in his bank account, Catherine begins to suspect that someone is closing loopholes. Unfortunately, her efforts are hampered by the lab's head professor, who is determined not to jeopardize an upcoming grant renewal by any scandal. Grant portrays the often stressful intensity of academic research projects with accuracy and verve, lightening the story with a good subplot focused on Catherine's teenage niece from hell, in full rebellion against her mother's aspirations. Stuart Miller

Customer Reviews

Who knew the sex lives of corn could be so interesting?
Like Linda Grant's previous books, this one is fast-paced and sharp with a nice touch of humor. No one seems more surprised than Catherine Saylor, childless career-woman that she is, when her gut reactions to her niece's wild behavior result in far more effective parenting than the girl gets from her own mother.

The characters, even while most are involved in the same line of work, are carefully delineated. There's enough information about genetic research to indicate Grant's really done her homework, enough to help readers understand the issues behind the crimes without drifting off. The tense atmosphere of academic competition is convincing, and the murderer's not easy to spot.

Nice mystery set in well-developed academic background
Due to the fact that I got a graduate degree in from Cal in molecular biology, I was mostly interested in the background Linda Grant uses for her mystery. And the background is dead-on. I was constantly wondering whether I didn't actually know some of the real world people the characters in the novel were based on, and the sociology of a research lab with all its warfare and intrigues was also all too familiar. The science, by the way, is also rather accurate (aside from a few dramatic liberties).

However, I think that most students and scientists would have been a lot more shaken by sabotage and deaths in their lab. To me most of the characters seemed unrealistically single-minded. Also, at times the well-developed background setting turns into pointless name-dropping without really capturing much of the rather weird spirit of Berkeley. Maybe it's a matter of economics - there are a couple of other sub-plots going on that are not really related to the main plot line! , like the heroine's troubles with her niece, but which also take up space in the novel. Maybe that's the professional narcism speaking - what could be more interesting than reading about science and scientists? Still, all in all a pretty good read that doesn't insult the brain too much.