Maggie MacGowen – Book 8
- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Perseverance Press (September 10, 2012)
- ISBN-10: 1564745260
- ISBN-13: 978-1564745262
- Read an excerpt
- Insider Info
When her television series is abruptly canceled, investigative filmmaker Maggie MacGowen accepts a short-term contract to teach film production at a local community college-an interesting diversion, she thinks, until the next TV gig comes along. But if Maggie expects her sojourn in the ivory tower to be peaceful, she is dead wrong.
Instead, she finds herself in the middle of an explosive power struggle. In the current era of budget cuts and fee increases, community college president Park Holloway arouses faculty and student animosity with his expensive building program, especially an admin building derisively nicknamed the Taj Ma’Holloway.
When Maggie finds the college president hanging in the building’s stairwell, suspicion falls not on her, but on her young friend Sly Miller. A world-class artist, his sculpture was supposed to be hanging in place of the body. That’s only the beginning of a twisty plot dealing with the aesthetics and business of art, a billion-dollar art-for-arms deal; political corruption and cronyism; and issues of art forgery and journalistic ethics, all capped off by a stunning denouement.
Available from: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BAM, IndieBound
Review Blurbs for The Hanging
Edgar-winner Hornsby’s well-constructed eighth Maggie MacGowen mystery…offers a nuanced glimpse of campus life in the budget-crisis era, a plot with a nicely topical twist, and a cast of smart, appealing characters. Readers will cheer Maggie on as both new romance and fresh career opportunities beckon. –Publisher’s Weekly
Readers will be pleased by the eighth title…in Hornsby’s amateur sleuth series. The first-person narrative sets a familiar tone, plus side stories about Maggie’s family and friends make for a comfortable read. –Library Journal
The Hanging is further evidence yet that Wendy Hornsby is one of the most skilled mystery authors writing today. Smart, funny, and richly entertaining, her latest Maggie MacGowen novel is easily her best. –Gar Anthony Haywood, author of Assume Nothing
The Hanging is the eighth Maggie MacGowen mystery and just maybe the most compelling in what is a superb series. The Hanging works on so many levels: first as a meditation on the art world and a sublime mystery; too, an indictment on the crisis in education, all the while maintaining a storyline that intrigues and delights. Maggie…may well be the most likable heroine around. As always, the writing flows like effortless artistry. –Ken Bruen, author of Headstone
Lots of action and likable characters pepper the pages of this delightful mystery. Don’t miss it. –Book Loons