Susan is determined to take only practical classes, but at registration she discovers them filled and enrolls in random classes that interest her: Astronomy, Conversational Italian, Creative Writing, and Minor Victorian Women Writers. The Student Body chronicles her struggles to balance her personal and school obligations, and her fans will be delighted to catch up with her current activities.

Susan and Meredith (Merry) Kenny, her new lab partner in Astronomy, plan a meeting to prepare for their upcoming lab, but Merry stands her up. To confuse matters, Susan discovers she is carrying someone else’s backpack instead of her own, and there is nothing inside to identify the owner. Thinking she will find a message from the owner of the backpack when she returns home, instead, she is shocked to hear from the police that Meredith is dead, strangled with the strap of Susan’s backpack, and Susan appears to be the prime suspect.

Detecting is something Susan believes she has left behind now that she is in school, but since the police suspect her, she feels the need to look into the crime. Susan remembers seeing Merry and her much older Creative Writing professor dining at a very expensive restaurant, and she assumes they were having an affair. She also recalls a young man Merry flirted with after their Astronomy class.

Then she runs across a student who adds some information, having shared an apartment with Merry the year before. However, her real breakthrough arrives in the form of a new friend with the unusual name of Jinx Jensen, whom she meets at a support group for returning students. Jinx knows quite a bit about Merry and is more than willing to share her knowledge.

A conflict arises between Susan and the policeman in charge of the case who does not like upper-middle-class women who do not have to work, because one of them dumped him at the altar. He goes out of his way to irritate and threaten Susan, thereby making her determined to prove her innocence by solving the case first.

The book lacks a high level of suspense, but lively and absorbing characters more than make up for it. Our heroine leads a diverting and full life, participating in many activities and relationships. I especially admired Susan’s personal development, which is both moving and sincere as she learns to cope with the changes in her life. Her self-revelations include a scene where she feels sorry for herself for not receiving more sympathy from her friends and husband for all her hard work preparing for midterms. Yet, after some honest soul searching, she realizes that she is not only becoming a bore, only discussing her life with others and shamefully neglecting the people closest to her.

The focus of the book is more about Susan than the mystery, although it is adequately absorbing, and should appeal particularly to her long-time fans. Ms. Wolzien has produced another engaging chapter in the continuing saga of Susan’s exploits.

--Monica Pope