ARC Review: Murder by the Book by Amie Schaumberg

Murder by the Book
Author: Amie Schaumberg
Publication: Mira (August 19, 2025)

Description: Two dead students. A coded reference to Shakespeare. And the promise of darker things to come.

Near a small college campus, a student is found strangled in an abandoned barn on the outskirts of town. She's been posed to look like a painting of Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet, the scene taunting the police with a message they don't understand. Detective Ian Carter is known as a straitlaced cop, but seeing the girl's body leaves him shaken and uncertain of where to turn—until a chance meeting with a charmingly awkward literature professor ends with her accidentally seeing, and solving, a clue left by the killer.

Professor Emma Reilly knows that the books she loves might hold the key to unraveling the killer's crimes now that a second murder has been discovered, with the victim posed as the Lady of Shalott this time. However, when the murderer strikes too close to home and kills a third student, one from Emma’s classes, she realizes that the safety of her insular life might be nothing more than an illusion. She must find the strength to confront a killer who is turning the stories she loves into lurid scenes of death.

Amie Schaumberg has crafted a smart, thrilling and utterly compelling mystery that will have you trying to figure out whodunit right up until the end.

My Thoughts: When a body is discovered in an abandoned barn near a small college campus in Oregon. Detective Ian Carter and his partner are assigned the case. Both can see that the body dump was staged but neither is sure what the staging implies. 

Luckily, Ian is scheduled to attend an exhibition of Pre-Raphaelite art where he meets literature professor Emma Reilly. The two enjoy the exhibit and each other enough to plan a date. The date which consists of dinner at Ian's house allows Emma to accidentally see the crime scene photos. She recognizes the staging as being Ophelia from Shakespeare. She provides a valuable clue and wants to help with the investigation, but Ian doesn't want to let her since he had a confidential informant die in an undercover operation he blames himself for. 

But Emma isn't able to just forget about the investigation. Her mind doesn't work that way. She reads like a very high-functioning person on the autism spectrum. She doesn't necessarily catch social clues, is very introverted, and puts on a personality in order to face her classes. 

Emma gathers herself a posse including Rory who is a former boyfriend turned department chair, Carolyn who is Rory's administrative assistant, Charlie who is an intern at the local newspaper and Carolyn's roommate, and Niall who teaches psychology at the college. Together they hash out the clues of the first death and the other two that quickly follow. While they are supposed to stay away from actual physical investigations, the do find themselves exploring the various crime scenes. 

The mystery was very literary in that there were lots of references to classical literature and classical art and various quotations from literature form some of the clues. But it was also a fast-packed thriller with lots of action and danger especially for Emma. 

I enjoyed this one.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.