A Spark of Death, Bernadette Pajer
A Spark of Death, Bernadette Pajer
List: $16.95 | Sale: $11.87
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A Spark of Death
The First Professor Bradshaw Mystery

Author: Bernadette Pajer

Narrator: Malcolm Hillgartner

Unabridged: 7 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/05/2011


Synopsis

When University of Washington Professor Benjamin Bradshaw discovers the dead body of a despised colleague inside the Faraday cage of the electric machine, his carefully controlled world shatters. The facts don't add up. The police shout murderand Bradshaw is the lone suspect. To protect his young son and clear his name, he must find the killer. Seattle in 1901 is a bustling blend of frontier attitude and cosmopolitan swagger. The Snoqualmie Falls Power Plant lights the city, but to most Seattleites, electricity is newfangled and dangerous. The public wants a culpritthey want Bradshaw behind bars. The killer wants Bradshaw dead. His life and liberty threatened, Bradshaw discovers the thrill of investigation as he's thrust deeper into the hunt. But questions abound. How had the electric machine's Tesla coil delivered a fatal shock? Was the murder personal, or was it connected to President McKinley's planned visit? Were students involved, or were they in danger? And why had Bradshaw's best friend, Henry, fled to Alaska on the day of the murder? Danger and death lurk everywheredisguised as accidents. Then Henrys niece, Missouri, appears on Bradshaws porch in need of a home. Her unorthodox views and femininity confuse and intrigue him, and he feels a spark of love while yet struggling to protect his own haunting secret. Has Bradshaw begun to feel alive again only to lose all he holds dear? Before its too late, he must discover the circuit path that led to a spark of death.

About Bernadette Pajer

Bernadette Pajer is a Seattle native and graduate of the University of Washington, Bothell. She lives in Monroe, Washington, with her husband and son.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jennifer on April 10, 2013

I usually read mysteries of the cozy, screwball, or police procedural variety by authors like Joanne Fluke, Janet Evanovich, amd Tess Gerritsen. I thought historical fiction would ruin a mystery by including too many details, forgotten social customs, and colloquial language that would semd me to th......more

Goodreads review by Shawn on October 23, 2014

Local fiction. Love it.......more

Goodreads review by Mary Ronan on February 25, 2012

This first of the Professor Bradshaw mysteries is about exploring the uses of electricity, which was fairly new phenomenon in 1901. When a much disliked University of Washington professor is found dead in a Farady Cage in the school's lab the police come looking for his colleague, Professor Bradshaw......more

Goodreads review by Suzie on June 03, 2012

I'm not a huge mystery fan, but this sweet little cozy was particularly interesting to me because it's set in Seattle (though way back at the turn of the twentieth century.) It really is more suited however to the friend I recommended it to whose husband is an electrical engineer because the mystery......more

Goodreads review by Kris on January 17, 2022

Unusual setting Starts a bit slow, but the pacing picks up and the MC gets more engaging as he tackles the mystery, which is clever and hard to solve. The historical setting is fresh and enjoyable.......more