Paul Heald

4.5 stars.

Death in Eden by Paul Heald is a delightfully unique and fiendishly clever mystery that is quite riveting. Set against the backdrop of the porn industry, a college professor finds himself embroiled in a murder investigation when an old college friend is arrested for the beating death of his brightest star. An overall witty and intelligent whodunit that mystery lovers are sure to love.

Professor Stan Hopkins is a sociology professor who needs to complete his latest book to make tenure. His final chapter recently hit a major snag but inspiration strikes when he discovers his old college pal Don Johansson is poised to bring the porn industry back into theaters. With his wife Angela at his side, Stan makes a trip to LA to interview actresses about their adult entertainment careers. But when Don is arrested for the brutal murder of Jade Delilah, Stan agrees to find the real killer.

Stan is happily married but a little dissatisfied with his career as a professor. He is laid back and content to take life as it comes. He is a pretty successful amateur sleuth and while he would like to exonerate Don, Stan is most interested in making sure Delilah's killer is brought to justice-even if the murderer turns out to be his friend. With the LAPD convinced of Don's guilt, Stan uncovers several viable suspects and with the help of porn actress Janet Stephens, they doggedly follow where the evidence leads.

Death in Eden is a fast paced and well-written novel with a well-developed cast of characters. The porn aspect of the storyline is tastefully written and very informative. The suspect pool is vast and Paul Heald does an excellent job obscuring the killer's identity until the novel's dramatic ending. It is an immensely intriguing mystery with a refreshing plot that I highly recommend to fans of police procedurals.… (más)

I think this was the author's first book at it shows. There were a few too many plot twists and one or two,too convenient happenings, but overall a really good story.
Eden is the the leader in the adult industry for making porn films, Don (it's CEO) is accused of mice ring the studios biggest star. Don needs the help of an old fraternity brother to help clear him, the fraternity brother was in town interviewing porn stars for a book he was writing in an attempt to earn tenure at the college he teaches.
The book has a little violence, a lot of graphic sex talk, as well as so funny scenes between the fish out of water college professor and his wife making their way through the porn world.… (más)

“Death in Eden,” by Paul Heald, is a standout murder-mystery that plays out simultaneously within the cultures of academia and video pornography. It’s sparkling, saucy, and clever, but more importantly, it’s all this while still remaining careful not to offend. The author accomplishes this by liberally applying humor and by handling the subject through the lens of an academic sociologist doing research for a scholarly book. It’s brilliant and it’s fun. If there is any “sexual heat” in the book, it takes place between the main character and his beloved wife who also serves as his media assistant.

The story is about one Stanley Hopkins, a struggling sociology professor who desperately needs to publish an academic book in order to gain tenure. His book on industrial sociology is at the publisher, but they are demanding one more chapter on “a profession dominated by women.” Partially in desperation, and partially out of genuine interest, Hopkins selects a profession that has not, as yet, been studied much in academic depth: the female video porn star. He’s drawn to the idea because he just found out that one of his old college buddies, Don Johansson, appears to be a big player in the L.A.-based video porn industry. He’s sure his buddy will help him quickly get the right women to interview so he can finish his book project on time.

Unfortunately, no sooner does he arrive and finish the first few interviews, than his buddy, Don, is arrested for the murder of one of his own top porn stars. It’s soon becomes clear that Stanley is Don’s only chance to clear his name. So Stanley needs to morph from a desperate pre-tenured professor into an effective and determined private investigator. Unfortunately, the porn star murder gets big time news coverage and Stanley’s university trustees are quiet upset with his involvement. Stanley’s tenure hopes are dashed. His newbie detective skills get him in trouble with the police. And at every turn in the investigation, he is seriously tempted by one or more porn stars to break his marriage vows.

To the author’s credit, he’s inserted a number of brief informational paragraphs about the victimization and objectification of women in the porn industry, so this book is not all saucy, scary, and feel-good humorous: it does its job to inform the reader about the true reality of this psychologically damaged, victimized, and often misunderstood group of women. It does this without deterring from the story or the nice clip of the plot.

The book is well-written and paced, the main characters believable. I read the book over the course of a few days and found the experience delightful. If you’re an academic, like me, this book will keep you smiling…that is, if you enjoy a book that pokes gentle fun at the academic world and I can’t imagine an academic that wouldn’t!

The author, Paul Heald, holds the prestigious position of Richard W. and Marie L. Corman Research Professor of Law at the University of Illinois. He is an international expert on patent, copyright, and international intellectual property. In addition to his impressive academic publications, he’s also written two books on law and literature and two novels; “Death in Eden” is his second. I certainly hope he’ll find the time to publish more detective novels featuring sociology professor Stanley Hopkins in the key detective role. There are all sorts of fascinating niche professions that Professor Hopkins can investigate academically and just happen to get caught up in juicy murder mysteries along the way.… (más)