Oink: A Food For Thought Mystery

by J.L. Newton

Overview

Pigs, poisoned cornbread, a feminist network, and a university tainted by corporate values. First in the Emily Addams Food for Thought Series.
One of the 18 funniest books to come out this spring. MediaBookBub.Com
One of the five foodie novels to read this summer. Epicurious
One of 18 breakthrough novels this season. MediaBookBub.Com

Emily Addams, foodie professor of women’s studies at Arbor State—a land grant university in Northern California—finds herself an unlikely suspect in the poisoning of a man she barely knows: Professor Peter Elliott of Plant Biology, the hotshot developer of a new genetically modified corn.

How did her cornbread end up in his hand as he lay in the smelly muck of a pig’s pen?

As Emily and her colleagues try to identify who and what has poisoned Peter, they also struggle to keep a new and corporate-minded administration from defunding the women’s and ethnic studies programs.

In the process of solving the mystery, Emily and her network deepen their ties to each other—and uncover some of the dark secrets of a university whose traditionally communal values are being polluted by a wave of profit-fueled ideals.

Oink comes with recipes.

“It has been said that the comic campus novel is no more (things in higher education are verging on the tragic), but Oink proves otherwise.”
—Maggie Berg and Barbara K. Seeber, authors of The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631522123
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	04/18/2017
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

J. L. Newton is Professor Emerita at a land grant university. She is at work on another mystery and lives in California where she tends her garden and cooks for family and friends. You can contact her at [e-mail], www.facebook.com/TastingHomeComingOfAgeInTheKitchen, and on Twitter: @jnewton70.

Editorial Reviews

★ 11/13/2017
Newton, a professor of women’s studies for 20 years, puts her insider knowledge of academia to fine use in this highly entertaining whodunit, the first in a promising series. In 1999, Emily Addams, the head of the women’s studies department at California’s Arbor State University, faces a professional crisis. The university, facing decreasing support from the state and increasingly dependent on corporate funding, is looking for ways to save money. The new vice provost advocates subsuming women’s studies into another department. As Emily and her colleagues running similar small programs scramble to survive, she becomes enmeshed in an inquiry into the attempted homicide of Peter Elliott, a plant biologist whom she knows only slightly. Peter, who was experimenting with feeding pigs genetically modified corn, was found in a coma in the hog yard. The police suspect he was poisoned, possibly by cornbread that Emily made for a campus reception. The winning lead, superior prose, and clever plotting set this above the pack. Recipes are a bonus. (BookLife)

Publishers Weekly

It has been said that the comic campus novel is no more (things in higher ed are verging on the tragic), but Oink proves otherwise. A witty combination of a campus novel, a murder mystery, a debate about GMOs, and a recipe book, Oink is a celebration of community connected to the joy of food and fellowship. At a time when collegiality is on the decline because of the corporatisation of higher education, Newton’s light-hearted novel makes the serious point that collegiality is important not only personally but also politically.”

—Maggie Berg and Barbara K. Seeber, authors of The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy

“Fans of the cozy mystery will love a plot that keeps on twisting until the end and the bonus of recipes for good things eaten in this novel. But what distinguishes Oink is its insightful and often beautiful creation of the academic characters and settings at a formerly agricultural California university. Amid vivid, evocative glimpses of an agrarian Central Valley built-scape nonhuman living things loom and fly [overhead] as humans pursue and are pursued by each other. Oink satisfies in multiple ways.”

—Elizabeth Harris, author of Mayhem: Three Lives of a Woman

“This entertaining GMO mystery novel aptly describes the laid back atmosphere of a small town ag university. Newton, a former professor, captures the distinct traits of academics from both the sciences and humanities. A good read that is both humorous and thoughtful.”

—Pamela C. Ronald, co-author of Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and The Future of Food

“Oink takes readers on a lively romp through campus politics and interpersonal intrigue. Food themes abound in this engaging and well-crafted mystery which combines concerns about genetic engineering and pesticides with reflections upon the satisfactions of building community through sharing food and food stories. Recipes are included.”

—Janet A. Flammang, author of Table Talk: Building Democracy One Meal at a Time

From the Publisher

2017-06-20
Newton (Tasting Home, 2013) makes her fiction debut with a cooking-focused whodunit set at a California college in the late 1990s. Emily Addams, the story's narrator, is the head of the women's studies program at Arbor State, a former land-grant school that, as the millennium approaches, faces budgetary issues. As per usual, programs like Emily's are the first on the chopping block, as the higher-ups plan to absorb women's and ethnic studies into larger departments like humanities or social sciences. While Emily schemes with her colleagues on how to fight this reorganization, a scandal rocks the campus. Peter Elliot, a professor of plant biology, is found poisoned in the college's hog yard and taken to the hospital. Peter has his enemies on campus: he is an outspoken proponent of pesticides and genetically modified foods. But Emily becomes a prime suspect because Peter was found with a piece of cornbread in his hand—it contained ingredients from a recipe that she is well-known for. And she had just brought her cornbread to a college event. Emily is cleared of the crime, but the fact that she was implicated arouses her suspicions, so she begins to investigate the incident, relying on her network of female faculty members to dig into Peter's many secrets. On top of saving her program and solving a mystery, Emily has to juggle her teaching responsibilities; time with her daughter, Polly; and a romance with a new beau, a math professor. The novel, while dealing with heavy subjects, maintains a light and airy tone. The prose is more focused on driving the plot than lingering on descriptions, except when Emily and her colleagues speak, often very informatively, about their fields. To add to the fun, Newton puts a recipe at the end of every chapter for a dish that was mentioned in that part, giving the text a nice interactivity. Emily is a well-rounded, inquisitive character whom the reader gets to know well; the rest of the players are somewhat flatter, often acting as props for the propulsion of the plot. That plot, however, is intriguing and full of twists, and it's hard to find fault with the author's theme of communal empowerment, her love of food, and her frequent instructional asides. A highly educated foodie's dream, this tale delivers a unique take on both the campus and mystery genres.

Kirkus Reviews