The Harvard Murders - by Robert J Mrazek

Book Synopsis

Harvard College, 1937. In America, tensions are rising as war clouds spread across Europe, but for Harvard sophomores Jim Rousmaniere and his roommate John F. Kennedy, a nightmare begins closer to home.

Their carefree campus life of dining hall pranks and spirited debates is shattered when Jim's adopted stray cat is found mutilated and dying on a dorm room floor. One of the nine men living on their corridor is guilty of hideous cruelty. But which one?

The nightmare darkens when Maggie Halloran, a young Irish immigrant and friend of Jim and Jack, disappears without word. As the pair grapples with what they're willing to risk, it will take every measure of courage and resourcefulness to track down the monstrous predator who may live next door.

In a stunning blend of fact and fiction, Mrazek leads readers on a hunt from Harvard Yard to the brothels of South Boston and the Kennedy mansion at Hyannis Port as an array of real-life characters, including Langston Hughes and a young Leonard Bernstein, find their way into these gripping pages.

Review Quotes

"The Harvard Murders is a singular novel. I could not put it down."

-Lawrence Leamer, NYT best selling author of Capote's Women

"A thrilling tale of intrigue and murder... You will be riveted and moved...

Young John F. Kennedy-yes, that JFK... is real and deftly drawn by the

talented Mr. Mrazek."

-Evan Thomas, author of Robert Kennedy: His Life and Road to War

"A bristling noir set at America's most exclusive university. Filled with

real-life characters-including a young John Kennedy-and true events,

this mystery will keep you guessing until the very end."

-Kevin Baker, author of the bestselling City of Fire trilogy

"A finely crafted historical thriller that brings 1937 Harvard to vivid life,

capturing both the golden age of Kennedy-era Cambridge and the darkness

that lurked beneath its surface. From Harvard Yard to the shadowy brothels

of South Boston, Mrazek deftly weaves fact and fiction in this sophisticated

crime thriller, a story of ambition, power, and evil."

-Neal Thompson, author of The First Kennedys

"Camelot and the Kennedys haunted the world of my childhood, and

Kennedy's character in particular struck me as exactly right."

-Nina Barrett, Owner, Bookends & Beginnings, Evanston, IL.

"The escapades of true-life 1937 Harvard roommates, one of whom is future

President JFK... compelling and fast-paced; I couldn't stop reading until the

very end."

-Jaimie Fiocco, Owner, Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, NC.