Editorial Reviews

Editorial Reviews

GUEST BLOGGER: Alma Bond

Please warmly welcome my guest blogger today, Alma Bond!

The first mystery of the Dr. Mary Wells Mystery Series was The Deadly Jigsaw Puzzle. I wrote it because the patient of an analyst friend of mine was murdered, and it disturbed me that the killer was never found. The book is my (ficticious) idea of who the killer was. The book received so many complements that I decided to write another with the same sleuths. My late husband, Rudy Bond, was an actor who appeared in both the original stage show and the movie of A Streetcar Named Desire. I saw the play 78 times, and decided to write Murder on the Streetcar, sparked by the characters I knew so well. The third and last mystery, Who Killed Marcia Maynard? was inspired by a teacher I and everyone else disliked. I wondered what would happen if a psychoanalyst was as hated by her colleagues. Many of them might want to kill her, but would any of them actually do it? The book investigates this question.

Dr. Marcia Maynard, famous psychoanalyst and researcher, has been murdered in her bed at the El Dorado Apartment House by an unknown killer. Psychoanalyst Mary Wells helps solve the mystery with her acute analytical and psychological skills. Finding someone angry enough to kill Maynard was not difficult, as many people had histories of being mistreated by the doctor, including:.
*Her beautiful Indian housekeeper, Asha Rupashi, whom Maynard continually abused and who was a beneficiary in Maynard’s will,
*Her chief associate and co-author, Dr. James Whirter, a man her colleagues said she treated “like a lapdog,”
*Rogerio Chavez, a Chinese restaurant delivery man, whom Maynard had insulted and infuriated, and several suitors whom she had rejected.
*The stunning psychoanalyst, Ruby Malone, who had given a paper in Maynard’s area of expertise. An observer said, ‘Maynard wiped up the floor with her in front of the entire membership. Could Ruby have killed Maynard, to get even with her for the public attack?
*A young boy, Buster Baines, who saw the delivery man sneaking out of Maynard’s back door, is kidnapped before he can testify. Dr. Wells’s car is set on fire. Chavez is suspected as the arsonist, in an attempt to get rid of the sleuth on his trail.

Through Dr. Well’s expert interrogation of all suspects, the killer finally breaks down and confesses the murder.

I believe the series is the first to cover the apprehension of killers from the perspective of a psychoanalyst and is ideal for anyone who wishes to learn the secrets of psychoanalysis, as they are used to understand the criminal mind.

I received my Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at Columbia University, and subsequently became a psychoanalyst. Since my “retirement”in 1991, I have had 13 books published, including The Autobiography of Maria Callas, Camille Claudel, a Novel, Old Age is a Terminal Illness, Tales of Psychology, Who Killed Virginia Woolf?, Is There Life After Analysis?, Dream Portrait, Deborah Sampson: America’s First Woman Warrior, and On Becoming a Grandparent. My latest book, Margaret Mahler, the Biography of a Psychoanalyst, is presently in publication with McFarland Press.

Anne K. Edwards

A tale for the readers of psychological mysteries and suspense where a psychologist helps the police solve a particularly vicious murder. In this case, the analyst and the policeman are lovers and both could become suspects in the murder. The victim was an old friend to both of them.

There are lots of twists and turns to this tale, lots of clues, red herrings and suspects with motives. How the killer gained access to the victim's apartment is just one part of the puzzle since there is a caretaker living with the victim.

Talented author Alma H. Bond has crafted a tale with interesting characters and genuine knowledge of the field of psychoanalysis due to her own practice in the field. It gives a realism to the tale without the exaggeration of some tales or TV shows.

More than one murder, plenty of mystery, a story that will have you wondering if the victim's profession offers a motive or clue to her death. This is a story that might also please anyone looking for a different kind of read, one that shows how analysis helps in the solving of a case and understanding the workings of the criminal mind.

A chance to learn from an expert as you enjoy the story as I did.

XantheLatest Review by

Alma Bond's Psychological Mystery Novel Reveals an Exquisite Tight Mystery Fiction Series Highly Recommended to Reviewers and Avid Fans of Mystery Fiction

She's the author of 13 published books, including Camille Claudel: A Novel. Old age is a Terminal Illness, The Autobiography of Maria Callas, and Tales of Psychology. I highly recommend this novel titled: The Psychoanalyst is Dead- Who Killed Marcia Maynard? By Alma H. Bond, PhD. The novel is paperback, published in 2007 by ASJA Press. ISBN 978-0-595-45896-7.

What I love about this mystery novel and the way the tome is written is the page-turning intrigue. The author reveals Dr. Marcia Maynard, the main character in the novel, as a famous child psychoanalyst and infant researcher. And the protagonist wonderfully stays in character as each person in the novel drives the action forward powerfully and with charisma in this page-turner. As the novel opens, the victim in this mystery novel, Dr. Maynard is found murdered in her bed at an apartment in Manhattan.

The killer is unknown. And the psychoanalyst Mary Wells, the protagonist and heroine of this mystery novel helps to solve the mystery with her lover, Detective John Franklin. The team emotionally supports each other which make them unstoppable in solving problems and getting measurable results as they use their wits to solve this mystery. Dr. Wells and Lt. Franklin work together because it takes a detective and a psychoanalyst to join forces nowadays to solve a murder mystery.

The murder victim turns out to be Well's colleague and former analyst. The colleagues, staff, and friends are questioned with a goal of finding someone angry enough to kill a psychoanalyst. What they do find is that numerous individuals had been mistreated by the murdered doctor.

Those questioned include the long-time employed housekeeper, a beneficiary in the murdered psychoanalyst's will, but whom the murdered doctor abused. Then there are other suspects that are questioned, including the man in the murdered doctor's life, also mistreated by the doctor, the delivery man, whom the doctor insulted, and numerous rejected suitors.

They all had motives to do away with Dr. Marcia Maynard, famous child psychoanalyst. I highly recommend this psychological mystery novel. Find out what questions made the killer speak up and reveal the story. This character-driven story is of the highest quality mystery writing. The author is highly qualified to understand the behavioral aspects of the criminal mind as the author of 13 published books. Read this sleuth novel. It's a page turner and the third in Bond's psychological sleuth series of high-quality mystery novels from ASJA Press.

Reviewed by Michelle McCaffrey for RebeccasReads (3/08)

The book “Who Killed Marcia Maynard?” starts as a tentative whodunit that continues to creep up on you, just like the killer in the story. As I am not usually a fan of murder mysteries or crime shows, this book changed my viewpoints on that. The author, Alma Bond, presents it in such a way that you keep waiting for more so that you can solve the mystery. The fact that she herself is a psychoanalyst makes this book very believable and the characters of the story very real.

Intricately detailed descriptions of crime investigation coupled with the author’s knowledge of psychoanalysis in the storytelling makes this novel all the more interesting.

This is definitely not your run-of-the-mill crime-solving mystery book. Woven into the mystery is a story of the relationship between the main characters, Mary and John, as well as those of other people who impact their life, love and relationship. Mary and John teamed together are the perfect sleuths with a deep need to solve this case as they both have personal ties to the victim. This endears the reader to these two characters even more.

The author provides not only the backdrop of crime scene investigations but weaves the ideas of trust, belief and love into this compelling murder mystery. At times, although I felt the author did seem to ramble, she easily returned to the basis of the story, and this in itself did not deter from the book. There was more description of the gruesomeness of the crime than I needed, but not being a murder mystery aficionado, I cannot say that this was not needed. It was a real page turner and kept the reader guessing until the end.

In conclusion, I would recommend “Who Killed Marcia Maynard?,” especially if you are like me and not one who reads mysteries, murder or otherwise. I found it easy to read and extremely interesting. Teaming a psychoanalyst and a detective as both the mystery solving duo as well as lovers makes this much more than your average murder mystery.

Dr. Marcia Maynard, famous child psychoanalyst and infant researcher, was murdered in her bed at the El Dorado Apartment House in Manhattan by an unknown killer. Psychoanalyst Mary Wells helps solve the mystery with her astute analytical and psychological skills. In conjunction with her lover Detective John Franklin, they are an almost unstoppable team.

Dr. Wells and Lt. Franklin are devastated to hear that his "Auntie Marcie" and Well's colleague and former analyst has been murdered. The pair, who are both in mourning for Maynard, need all their wits about them as they question her colleagues, staff, and friends.

Finding someone angry enough to kill Maynard was not difficult, as many people had been mistreated by the doctor. The suspects included her beautiful Indian housekeeper, Asha Rupashi, whom Maynard continually abused and who was a beneficiary in Maynard's will, her chief associate for 30 years, Dr. James Whirter, a man her colleagues said she treated "like a lapdog," Rogerio Chavez, a Chinese restaurant delivery man, whom Maynard had insulted and infuriated, and several suitors whom she had rejected. The book ends with the killer opening up under ingenious psychological questioning by Dr. Wells, who then falls into Lt. Franklin's arms.

Mayra CalvaniWritten By
Published November 19, 2007

Who Killed Marcia Maynard? is a short, easily readable little mystery with a twist: written by a psychoanalyst, it is filled with clinical observations about the criminal mind.

A famous child psychologist called Marcia Maynard has been gruesomely killed in her Manhattan home, and psychoanalyst Mary Wells, together with her lover, Detective John Franklin, are called to the case to find the murderer.

Both Mary and Franklin are devastated by the news, as they knew the victim and had grown to love her. Soon, however, it becomes evident that many people have intensely mixed feelings about Maynard — a controverial person who was both loved and hated.

Who is the killer? And why are people associated with the victim also dead — some by suicide? As Mary and Franklin set out to interrogate the suspects, readers will become more and more perplexed about the outcome.

The novel is interesting in that the narrator stops at times to give insightful descriptions about the criminal mind, giving this author's series an original twist. But the novel, though enjoyable, is not without its minor faults. The interrogations are interesting in the beginning but towards the end they begin to sound a bit repetitive, taking from the story some of the suspense.

The characters are sympathetic, though, and Mary and Franklin make an endearing, likable team of sleuths. This is a novel that will particularly appeal to fans of both mystery and criminal psychology.

Mayra Calvani is an author and book reviewer.. Her latest release, Dark Lullaby, is a supernatural thriller set in the Turkish countryside.

Review By Anne Hart

Alma Bond's Psychological Mystery Novel Reveals an Exquisite Tight Mystery Fiction Series Highly Recommended to Reviewers and Avid Fans of Mystery Fiction

ASJA Press novels are one of the best sources for fiction. I just happened to come across an exquisitely written novel of mystery by Alma Bond, an excellent novelist and psychoanalyst highly qualified to understand the criminal mind. She's the author of 13 published books, including Camille Claudel: A Novel. Old age is a Terminal Illness, The Autobiography of Maria Callas, and Tales of Psychology.

I highly recommend this novel titled: The Psychoanalyst is Dead- Who Killed Marcia Maynard? By Alma H. Bond, PhD. The novel is paperback, published in 2007 by ASJA Press. ISBN 978-0-595-45896-7. What I love about this mystery novel and the way the tome is written is the page-turning intrigue.

The author reveals Dr. Marcia Maynard, the main character in the novel, as a famous child psychoanalyst and infant researcher. And the protagonist wonderfully stays in character as each person in the novel drives the action forward powerfully and with charisma in this page-turner. As the novel opens, the victim in this mystery novel, Dr. Maynard is found murdered in her bed at an apartment in Manhattan .

Dr. Wells and Lt. Franklin work together because it takes a detective and a psychoanalyst to join forces nowadays to solve a murder mystery. The murder victim turns out to be Well's colleague and former analyst.

The colleagues, staff, and friends are questioned with a goal of finding someone angry enough to kill a psychoanalyst. What they do find is that numerous individuals had been mistreated by the murdered doctor.

I highly recommend this psychological mystery novel. Find out what questions made the killer speak up and reveal the story. This character-driven story is of the highest quality mystery writing. The author is highly qualified to understand the behavioral aspects of the criminal mind as the author of 13 published books. Read this sleuth novel. It's a page turner and the third in Bond's psychological sleuth series of high-quality mystery novels from ASJA Press.

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