Anthony Boucher was a literary renaissance man: an Edgar Award–winning mystery reviewer, an esteemed editor of the Hugo Award–winning Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, a prolific scriptwriter of radio mystery programs, and an accomplished writer of mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. With a particular fondness for the locked room mystery, Boucher created such iconic sleuths as Los Angeles PI Fergus O'Breen, amateur sleuth Sister Ursula, and alcoholic ex-cop Nick Noble. On the quiet Berkeley campus, a visiting professor has been murdered. Someone stabbed Dr. Hugo Schaedel through the heart with an ice pick, and the only clue found on the scene is a strange symbol scrawled on a crumpled piece of paper. Research fellow Martin Lamb is intrigued by the case and mentions it to his Sanskrit professor, John Ashwin. Together they hope to deduce who did the deed, but with no clear motive, it won't be easy. They'll need to quickly comb the campus for clues and hit the books-before the killer hits again . . .
