Will Dead Week kill Cassandra’s career? VP of Student Affairs Cassandra Sato has a desk full of problems and it’s not even Thanksgiving break.Cassandra’s new boss talks to her dead husband. Cassandra’s mentor thinks he’s a superhero in a senior citizen’s body. And Cassandra, recently moved from Hawai’i, can’t crack the code of what to wear during November in Nebraska. Cassandra faces end of …
Cassandra faces end of semester pranks, stray dogs, winter storms, and viral news stories in her fight for justice for a group of student activists. But that’s nothing compared to the wrath of the Helicopter Moms!
If you like academic cozy mysteries with funny BFFs, hilarious student shenanigans, and small town drama, you’ll like this series.
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Dead Week is the 2nd book in the Cassandra Sato cozy mystery series written by Kelly Brakenhoff. I previously read the first one and the prequel short story (which takes place in Hawaii), and the latest comes out next month, so I had to get caught up. I’ve even joined the upcoming blog tour for the third book. So… what did I think of this one?
It was great! A new president, a former professor / administrator, returns for a short term while the college seeks a new permanent one. Cassandra has a run-in with her before the job even starts, and it is not good news. Neither is the situation surrounding the almost-murdered student in Cassandra’s class; was she pushed? Did she slip on the ice? Was one of the strange dogs all around campus involved? Seriously, they are rampant this semester!
Between academic rivalries, an older mysterious death, an affair, and an adoption, the secrets are buried deep in this clever tale. Cassandra is pretty much on her own to solve the case. The police think the current accident is just an accident. No one wants to bring up the one from nearly 50 years ago either… at least Cassandra’s bestie wants to help, until she’s sidelined with a pregnancy concern. What is going on at Morton this term?
When the culprit’s plot begins to unravel, we think we understand what happened… but we’re not quite all the way there yet. There are other secrets to come to light, and when they do, it solves a lot of problems while creating many new ones. Cassandra is also starting to think about two potential suitors… wonder where her head will settle out.
Brakenhoff makes the campus a place I want to visit. While I’d tell many of the leadership level folks to chill during Dead Week, and the professors to be less controversial on all the diversity and inclusion (those against it, I mean)… it ultimately creates the perfect smokescreen and combustible tension to make this a a must-read story. Kudos to the author for bringing it even stronger in the second in series.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Dead Week – The last full week of classes before final exams, a period of substantial and predictable quiet study time for undergraduate students.
With Dead Week quickly approaching Student Affairs VP Cassandra Sato is juggling student issues, a deaf advocacy project, a new college President, and a Nebraska Winter. Her Diversity Council is barely underway when a student is injured. A student that had a mission of her own. When her injury gets national media attention her story gets out drawing unwanted attention to Morton College and the new President may pull the plug on Cassandra’s project completely. There is something going on with her mentor so she is unsure how much help he will be but Cassandra delves in to try to find the truth bringing the ire of even more people.
As with the first book in this series, Death by Dissertation, Ms. Brakenhoff gives readers a wonderfully detailed story featuring characters that are rich and unique.
Cassandra Sato knows some basic American Sign Language to converse with the deaf students at the college, some who work for her. Her friend Meg is an ASL interpreter at Morton College and helps Cassandra when needed. Be it signing and interpreting or helping Cassandra with her clothing and footwear choices, dating advice or just being a sounding board Meg is a great friend. Cassandra also pitches in to help Meg and her family too. It is hard being so far away from her family but slowly she is feeling more at home in Nebraska. Something happens at the end of the story that just may make that easier.
The author is an ASL interpreter herself, so she is writing what she knows and she does an excellent job. She has opened my eyes to so many things regarding the struggles hearing impaired people face not only at college but in daily life. Within this story, we see two sides, the things the deaf students need, which would also benefit hearing students and the college side dealing with budget constraints.
The author also delivers a mystery the not only deals with who hurt the student and continues to torment them but an incident that happened several years ago at the college. The incidents are definitely connected, it is just a matter of splicing all the clues together and a little bit of digging. I did find myself drawn to the right person early in the story but as the story evolved and more information came out it my theory was firmed up in an almost heartbreaking way. There was also a very interesting twist.
The college community gives the book a small-town feel. While Cassandra is new to the college many people on staff have been there for years. All the interactions between the characters felt very realistic.
I really enjoyed Cassandra’s reaction to snow and the November Nebraska weather. Coming from Hawaii it is quite an adjustment. It provided a few giggles. I also enjoyed her unique Hawaiian phrases of speech thrown in here and there. You can take the girl out of Hawaii but you can’t take Hawaii out of the girl.
Dead Week is a strong follow up to Death by Dissertation. I am looking forward to the next semester at Morton College. You know Cassandra will be in the middle of another mystery or two.
In this second Cassandra Sato Mystery, we again find Cassandra in her administrative role at a small college in Nebraska. She’s still very ambitious – she wants to be a college president someday. But real life intrudes on personal plans when a student member of the deaf students’ advocacy group is injured. Was it an accident or an intentional attack? It’s up to Cassandra to figure out what’s really going on.
Reading *Dead Week* brings up the anthropological phrase “culture shock.” Watching how different groups and individuals, most especially Cassandra, deal with cultural shock(s) is one of the most interesting aspects of this book. First, Casandra has to deal with the academic culture where too many professors are far more concerned about issues like tenure and academic reputation than about making sure students come first. Second, Cassandra has a special interest, both personally and professionally, with one particular student group that has its own unique culture – deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Navigating her role as a representative of the college and at the same time advocating whole-heartedly for the deaf is at times a challenge for Cassandra.
Finally, there’s the culture shock within Cassandra herself. She’s a native of Hawaii, a Japanese-American deeply ingrained in Japanese-American culture, and a person who says the Buddhist chant “Namo Amida Butsu” when concerned about her friends. And she’s living in Nebraska! She’s OCD about the weather. Should she wear snow boots or high heels to her next meeting? And what about those two guys who are expressing interest in her? Is she ready to deal with the grief of having lost her beloved fiancé eight years earlier?
This is a cozy mystery with clues, false clues, and the untangling of a 50-year old murder mystery. Watching the culture shock(s) unfold make the story richer. And best of all, in the final pages Cassandra, who has a big heart, rescues a canine critter. And that bodes well for Cassandra’s future.
I received an ARC, and this is my independent review.
Dead Week is book 2 in the Cassandra Sato mysteries, but it’s the first one I’ve read. It took me a little while to get into this book, and I think that if I’d read Death by Dissertation, I’d have enjoyed the beginning of the book more. Even though this can be read as a stand alone book, knowing the characters and setting ahead of time would have helped me. You may find that you can just jump in and go, but that’s my recommendation!
Once I started figuring out who was who and what Cassandra’s job at Morton College entailed, I was able to really get into the story. In fact, once I got about halfway through, I couldn’t stop reading. I think it was just the initial who’s who and what’s what that threw me off at first.
There are several different mysteries and odd happenings going on in Dead Week, but you’ll see…they all tie together in the end.
Cassandra is a strong character, and she’s finding her way in her “new” life in Nebraska. I have to say, I’d have a really hard time leaving Hawai’i for Nebraska! She’s making friends, helping the students, negotiating with administration, shoveling snow (!), and she may be headed for a romance….but with who? I know who I want her to end up with, but we’ll see where this goes!
I think you mystery fans will enjoy figuring out whodunnit (and why!) along with Cassandra in Dead Week.