Review: A Strange Habit of Mind by Andrew Klavan

Author: Andrew Klavan
Publisher: Mysterious Press
Publication Date: October 2022 

The world of Big Tech is full of eccentric characters, but shamanic billionaire Gerald Byrne may be the strangest of the bunch. The founder of Byrner, a global social media platform, Byrne is known for speaking with vague profundity and for dabbling in esoteric spiritual practices; he wears his hair in a long black ponytail to reveal a large flower tattooed on his neck; he’s universally admired as a visionary, a philanthropist, and a devoted husband and father. And every person who gets in the way of his good work seems to die.

When a former student commits suicide, English professor and ex-spy Cameron Winter takes it upon himself to understand why. The young man was expelled from the university in an unfortunate episode that left Winter sympathetic to his plight; after a prolonged silence, he reached out to his teacher with two words just before taking the fatal plunge from the roof of his San Francisco apartment: “Help me.”

Winter has what he calls “a strange habit of mind”—the ability to imagine himself into a crime scene, to reconstruct it mentally and play through various possible causes and outcomes to understand exactly what took place. When he applies this exercise to Adam Kemp’s desperate final moments, he discovers a troubling inconsistency. And when he learns that Kemp was in a tumultuous relationship with Gerald Byrne’s niece, he begins to suspect that the suicide was the result of a carefully-engineered plot, put in motion by the powerful businessman. 

 A Strange Habit of Mind the second book featuring English professor Cameron Winter.  This time, he is back and investigating the death of a former student.  The police say it's suicide, but Winter isn't so sure.  I am happy to report, I enjoyed this one as much as the first one.

I was really looking forward to visiting with Winter again. He is such a complex character.  To outsiders he seems to be a mild mannered and very good looking college professor.  But the "behind the scenes" man is much more intense and dangerous.  One of the things I wanted from the first book was to know more about Winter's past.  This time around, through his therapy sessions, we are given so much more insight into his background and the person he is hiding from his peers.  His past definitely comes into play in this mystery.   There were a couple of twists that were unexpected.  I highly recommend this one as well as the first.  I can't wait for the next book.