The Corpse in the Trash Room
(writing as Colette Tajemna)
Launches April 16th!
In a college dorm in the late Seventies, seven hallmates hold a funeral for a pet hamster, only to stumble upon a body ...
Startled but not exactly sorrowful at finding their unpopular dorm preceptor slumped atop a garbage can in the trash room, Keith and his friends can't resist investigating, and set to questioning a quirky set of potential witnesses and suspects. Could the killer be a fellow student? A member of the faculty or staff? The provost? Might it even be one of their friends?
Keith and his pals must navigate college politics, unruly druggies, and lesbian separatists in order to uncover the truth.
Early Praise
"When a story opens with a wake for a dead hamster that produces a corpse of the human variety, you suspect you're in for a romp. And that's what Colette Tajemna provides in this witty story that is part farce and every bit a satisfying mystery. I laughed as I puzzled out this masterful whodunit."
—James H Lewis, author of the Chief Novak series
"The two deaths (one hamster, one human) that open The Corpse in the Trash Room immediately engage the reader in the amusing puzzle to discover who could have done in an unpopular university preceptor. Colette Tajemna introduces us to an array of individuals whose quirks and secrets complicate pursuit of the answer. Fans of Sarah Caudwell will especially enjoy this clever mystery with its academic setting and subtle wit."
—Carolyn Korsmeyer, author of Little Follies: A Mystery at the Millennium
"[T]he story unfolds with the charm and humor of a Jane Austen novel, drawing you in deeper with every turn of the page. Prepare to be captivated as the truth behind this gripping mystery reveals itself in a twist you never saw coming."
—Roslyn Reid, author of A Scandal at Crystalline and The Spiricom