Publish and Perish Book

A really interesting book, set in 1960 and so "historical" (at least to me, since it predates me), with a set of strong characters and a difficult mystery. The academic setting is an attraction, of course, and the fact that the main character is an archivist and a former military intelligence officer is even better. First of a series of 6 that seems to be over (the last one was released in 2008), so there's more to read, too.

American in 1960 was a strange place, with massive cultural change in progress and the older generations watching with a variety of responses, many of them not positive. (Ben Reese, the protagonist, seems less opinionated about things overall than his friend Richard West, the murder victim.) This is mystery as character study, buttressed with various actual evidence as the story goes along. It was great.

Apparently the first four of this series have been reprinted by a Christian publisher, which is weird, since this one isn't a preachy preach McPreacherson story by any stretch of the imagination. I guess this publisher figured that any book that isn't filled with hot sex and actually mentions God once or twice is Christian enough. I dunno.