Fed up with the bullying tactics of an egotistical math professor, Dean Paul Steinman decides to take matters into his own hands to end Peter White's reign of terror on a small University of Wisconsin campus. Things get complicated, however, as another man confesses to "his" murder, additional perpetrators surface, and Steinman's perfect crime begins to unravel in the wake of Detective Frederick Jameson's relentless search to piece together the clues. This academic murder mystery, which consciously references Dostoyevsky and André Gide, combines suspense, dark humor, surprising plot twists and a little romance to weave a postmodern fable of over-reaching altruism.