Alan Sidebottom was what some outside the rarified world of academic physics might call a superstar. In the realm of string theory, black holes, and the Higgs-Boson particle, Sidebottom was a celebrity. So, when tiny Cushing College snagged him for their faculty, all the physics professors were excited–and threatened. It seemed that most of them had personal reasons to despise Sidebottom.

Edwina Goodman, one of the youngest members of the physics faculty, and one of the few who held no animosity towards the newcomer, was given the daunting–and unwelcome task of escorting Sidebottom around campus. So, when the great man was found dead shortly after his arrival–apparently murdered–Edwina believed it her responsibility to track down her charge’s killer. Would her scientific brain be able to ignore the fact that the entire pool of suspects apparently resided within the walls of her very own department? Or would the young police detective, Will Tenney, spark a different kind of investigatory zeal in Edwina?

It remained to be seen, for all was not as it first seemed in the world of invisible particles and mathematical equations–at least not at Cushing College. And the murder of one noted physicist might not be the last.