Bad
Seed: An Alex Bernier Mystery by Beth Saulnier is a witty mystery about the
bioengineering of food. The laughs keep coming as the body count climbs in this
mystery about misdoings in the Agricultural Department of a small upstate New
York College.

Bad
Seed is set in Gabriel, a small college town in upstate New York. Benson
University is the home to local scandal and international controversy. The
novel opens with the scandalous trial of Michelle “Shelley” Freeman for the
murder of her husband, Lane Freeman, a lowly university administrator. Alex
Bernier, reporter for the Gabriel Monitor, is assigned to cover the trial.
Testimonies at the trials revealed that few on campus or in town had not
witnessed the Freeman’s volatile arguments or physical fights. Shelley is
quickly convicted and imprisoned all the while she continues to protest her
innocence and love for Lane. Shelley has also attached herself to Alex and
promises Alex insider information and exclusive interviews, if she is willing
to help prove Shelley’s innocence. Alex jumps at the offer of an exclusive
interview, but makes no promise to prove her innocent. Meanwhile, the
University is hosting an international conference on the bioengineering of
food. Dr. Kate Barnett, a controversial professor in the Agricultural
Department, is keynoting the conference with her work on genetically altering
of rice in order to end world hunger. Outside the conference hall, organic food
groups, including “Don’t Break the Food Chain” (DBFC) are picketing
“Frankenfood” and planning all sorts of mischief to disrupt the conference.
Mischief turns deadly when two bombs rip through the University’s Agricultural
wing killing an administrator and wounding numerous students. When Barnett
herself turns up dead in her own laboratory, Alex realizes that there may be
more than rice production and world hunger at issue here.

The characters of this novel are as
odd as the town in which they reside. Alex Bernier is a wise cracking
Generation X reporter for a local newspaper. She is virtually being
over-whelmed by her life and her assignments at the Monitor. Alex suspects that
her boyfriend and Gabriel police officer, Brian Cody, is contemplating
returning to his old beat in Boston causing her great emotional stress. Her job
is no less stressful. Jake “Mad” Madison, the science reporter for the Monitor
and Alex’s sidekick, seems to have gone off on a serious drinking binge over
Alex’s former roommate, leaving him in a coma and her with his assignments.
Also, Cal Ochoa, has joined the Monitor’s staff. He is an eager beaver with
eyes open for the perfect story that will lead to a position at the NY Times.
Unfortunately, he is the spitting image of Alex’s former (and very much
deceased) boyfriend. While Alex is strong and brave, she is also humanly
vulnerable. She jumps in feet and mouth first, then realizing her serious
error, tries to flee the scene. In contrast, there is Kate Barnett. To some she
is a saint and a martyr, but to others she is self-centered and manipulative.
Is she really working to relieve world hunger or only out for the publicity?
Further, did she really steal a graduate students idea and then flunk the
student or does the girl simply harbor a grudge for her own academic failure?
And lest we forget, there is the character of Shelley Freeman who is all
sweetness until you cross her.

Alex Bernier does for mystery
novels what “Buffy the vampire slayer” does for horror flicks. The wise cracks
and slapstick humor keeps coming even as the characters deal with the serious
business of murder. Alex is sharp tongued and cynical in a deadpan GenX way.
Yet the situations she gets into are truly hysterical. Who cannot laugh out
loud as Alex is attacked by a protester dressed as a giant broccoli. Or, giggle
as Alex’s contemplate fries at a local fast food restaurant while reporting on
a traffic blockage of two tons of spuds. 

Saulnier is a graduate of Vassar
College where she was the editor-in-chief of the student paper. Saulnier is an
associate editor and staff writer for Cornell Magazine. She writes a weekly
column called "Saulnier on Cinema" for the Ithaca Journal and
co-hosts a movie-review show, TAKE TWO, on Ithaca’s Channel 13. “She is a
former member of the board of the directors of the Tompkins County (NY) SPCA,
the mother of two dogs and two cats, and an ardent vegetarian.” Currently,
there are four books in the Alex Bernier series, including Reliable Sources (1999), Distemper
(2000), The Fourth Wall (2001), Bad Seed (2002). Ecstasy, the next book in this series, is due out in February 2003.
Beth Saulnier lives in Ithaca, New York. Her website is http://www.bethsaulnier.com

Bad
Seed: An Alex Bernier Mystery by Beth Saulnier is a very funny mystery. The
main character’s wry sense of humor and oddball predicaments are “laugh out
loud” hysterical. This is definite keeper for me and I highly recommend it. Worth
every dollar in laughs!

© 2002 Su Terry

Su Terry: Education:
B.A. in History from Sacred Heart University, M.L.S. in Library Science from
Southern Connecticut State College, M.R.S. in Religious Studies/Pastoral
Counseling from Fairfield University, a M.Div. in Professional Ministry from
New Brunswick Theological Seminary, a Certificate in Spirituality/Spiritual
Direction from Sacred Heart University. She is a Licensed Minister of the
United Church of Christ and an Assistant Professor in Library Science at
Dowling College, Long Island, NY. Interests in Mental Health: She is interested
in the interplay between psychology, biology, and mysticism. Her current area
of research is in the impact of hormonal fluctuation in female Christian
mystics.

Categories: Fiction