The Beast With Seven Heads

In 1970, at a community college near Pittsburgh, an imperious senior professor is found dead in his office, killed by an injection of potassium cyanide into his carotid artery. By-the-book Detective Peters immediately suspects a young assistant professor, William Gavin, of the murder because of known friction between him and the victim. To clear his name, the unassuming teacher is thrust into the improbable role of amateur sleuth, and into an ambivalent association with the earnest but unimaginative Peters - who, though perplexed and perturbed by the academic's unorthodox mode of investigation, is compelled to follow his uncannily valid intuitions. As the case unfolds, Gavin combines keen observation and inquiry with inexplicable impulses to solve the crime, and in dramatic manner to deliver the unlikely killer. Gavin is driven to continue his investigation, however, when he discovers that the homicide is connected to a satanic cult practicing unspeakable rites - and now targeting his pregnant wife and three children. Through half a dozen deaths, two demonic manifestations, and several other harrowing episodes, in a sensational climax Gavin exposes the diabolical web of evil. Other sharply drawn characters - such as the college's officious president, its enigmatic dean, a sundry mix of colleagues, and Bill's steadfast wife Grace - cast in relief Gavin's evolving character and conduct. And the momentous events around the watershed year of 1970 - its iconic songs, books, and figures - provide meaningful coloration as well as cultural context for the strange tale that unfolds in "The Beast with Seven Heads: An Improbable Sleuth Mystery."