Who killed Niles Norman, the new head of the philosophy department? When Norman is found murdered in his office, Liza Ryder, a professor of philosophy, offers the police her help. She's worried they won't take academic motives seriously. And she also investigates her colleagues herself. Was the murderer the dotty old hippie? The vindictive former department head? The prodigiously incompetent administrative assistant? Liza is horrified by how many motives she finds. Extortion. Deception. Secrets kept since grad school. Will anything be left of the philosophy department when the investigation is over?