Blunt Instrument by Bloom, Amy

Blunt Instrument

An Oprah Daily Best Book of Summer 2026 A failed professor solves a murder on campus in...
$33.60 USD
$33.60 USD
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Author: Amy Bloom
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Subtotal: $33.60
Blunt Instrument by Bloom, Amy

Blunt Instrument

$33.60

Blunt Instrument

$33.60
Author: Amy Bloom
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
An Oprah Daily Best Book of Summer 2026

A failed professor solves a murder on campus in this new whodunit from bestselling author Amy Bloom.

The case of the bludgeoned lecturer has all of Cromwell University reeling, even though the elderly Professor Bullfinch wasn't particularly well-liked. His ornery nature and Old World approach to campus politics ruffled more than a few feathers over the years, and present tensions within his department mean there are more suspects than mourners in the wake of his death. And the murder weapon--a bronze bust of Nathaniel Hawthorne--does seem to indicate that the attack may have been academically motivated...

Enter Dell Chandler, the failed English professor turned self-taught private detective whom Dr. Cutty calls in to investigate the crime. She has the background to tease out the motives among the staff and just enough experience to conduct a thorough inquiry. If she solves the case before the cops do, the university could keep the whole thing quiet, avoiding sensational media about the dark side of campus life. But to do so, she'll have to dodge her own demons from her past life as a disgraced academic.

Written with the same depth of character and insight that readers have come to expect from author Amy Bloom's novels and memoirs, Blunt Instrument is an engaging and entertaining mystery with a clever, complex protagonist at its core.

Author: Amy Bloom
Publisher: Mysterious Press
Published: 06/02/2026
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.19lbs
Size: 9.14h x 5.92w x 1.27d
ISBN: 9781613167601


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 03/16/2026
Library Journal 04/10/2026 pg. 1
Booklist 05/01/2026
Kirkus Reviews 05/15/2026

About the Author
Amy Bloom is the New York Times bestselling author of novels, short stories, memoir, and nonfiction. She has written for magazines such as The New Yorker, New York Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, Elle, The Atlantic, Slate, and Salon. Her work has been translated into seventeen languages. Blunt Instrument is her first crime novel. Amy resides in Connecticut and recently retired as Wesleyan University's Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing, while continuing to work as a psychotherapist and a novelist

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