The Fatal Equilibrium
by Marshall Jevons
208 pages
Fiction - Cozy Murder Mystery
I just re-read this well loved and well worn economic whodunit novel. This novel started my love affair with economics back in college!
Originally published in 1985, this murder mystery follows a collection of Harvard professors on the Promotions & Tenure Committee as well as an eager beaver Assistant Professor up for a promotion. The Assistant Professor is denied his promotion and then found dead of apparent suicide. Later two members of the P&T committee are murdered in their homes. Senior Economist Henry Spearman uses economic principles to understand daily life and unmask the murderer!
Fun and educational with economics principles woven throughout the story. I loved the interplay of the contrasting viewpoints of various professors based on their chosen academic disciplines. The novel also offered interesting insight into the life of top-tier academics.
The first chapter contains the murder and then the story flashes backwards. The reader has to watch the dates on each chapter carefully or they could be confused by the sequence of events.
The killer is revealed at the end of the novel and it ties the story together nicely. The reader does not, however, get a fair chance along the way to guess at the murder's identity in my opinion. Still a fun read though!
RECOMMENDED FOR: Economics lovers. Wanna-be Harvard Dons. Lovers of cozy murder mysteries. I'd recommend it for adults, college students and maybe advanced high schoolers.
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