Book description
It is a seemingly random, if tragic event-that Professor Max Flaschner,
Nobel Prize-winning particle physicist, should collapse and die,
surrounded by loving family and friends at the celebration of his life's
work and of the crowning achievement of his protégé. A shame, one might
think, as does Inspector Ben Jurnet, that the brilliant and eccentric
man won't be able to hear his adopted son, Dr. Tawno Smith, read the
scientific paper that would vault him into the ranks of Newton and
Einstein. But it is even more of a shame-and a shock-that the Professor
turns out to have been murdered by means of a glass of poisoned orange
juice, perhaps intended for Tawno, administered by Tawno's own hand. And
that Tawno's paper, now rumoured to contain revelations about the
universe more earth-shattering than anyone had guessed, has disappeared
before he could present it. A theory in quantum physics holds that the
mere act of observation changes and shapes events. And so Inspector
Jurnet, whose duty is objectivity, cannot remain unmoved by the
strangely intertwined group surrounding Professor Flaschner and Tawno,
individuals connected by bonds as elusive, and yet as unbreakable, as
those cementing matter. To solve the myriad mysteries of God, and love,
and particle physics-and the complex relationship among them-Jurnet must
make quantum leaps in intuition and knowledge of the human heart before
he will know how, and why, the Professor had to die. 'A spellbinder . .
. Haymon's new novel is a masterwork, her crowning achievement so far.'
Publishers Weekly Sylvia Theresa Haymon was born in Norwich, and is
best known for her eight crime fiction novels featuring the character
Inspector Ben Jurnet. Haymon also wrote two non-fiction books for
children, as well as two memoirs of her childhood in East Anglia. The
Ben Jurnet series enjoyed success in both the UK and the US during
Haymon's lifetime: Ritual Murder (1982) won the prestigious CWA Silver
Dagger Award from the Crime Writers' Association. Stately Homicide
(1984), a skilful variation on the country house mystery, was praised by
the New York Times as a 'brilliantly crafted novel of
detection...stylish serious fiction', and favourably compared to the
work of Dorothy L. Sayers.
