The College of Our Lady of the Elms — often called Elms College — has a special place in the life of alumna and former adjunct professor Katherine M. Anderson.
She had wanted to write about the Elms for a long time, and that desire has become reality with her new book, “Murder at the Alma Mater: A Nora Phillips Mystery.”
It’s the story of New York Times bestselling author Nora Phillips who has made a name for herself with her beloved Charlie Donahue mystery series. Her editor has unceremoniously rejected her latest work, leaving her with mere weeks to come up with another installment of Donahue before she’s forced to pay back her hefty advance. The only problem is that Nora is suffering from a severe case of writer’s block. In an effort to distract herself, Nora returns to her alma mater for a trip down memory lane, but she gets a bit more than she bargained for when one of her former professors suggests she look into the college’s most popular urban legend for inspiration.
It centers on Catherine, a student who had an illicit affair with a faculty member. When the dalliance ends, Catherine throws herself from the bell tower rather than face the consequences of the relationship. But did she really jump or was she pushed? Teaming up with a current Elms student, Nora finds herself immersed in the details of an unexpected crime that just might repeat itself if she doesn’t solve it fast.
Anderson learned of this legend the night of her pre-freshman overnight. “Whether or not other girls were told the same, I never knew — though a few of my contemporaries seemed vaguely aware of the tale as well.”
Nora’s story takes place somewhere in the late 2000s, and the actual mystery takes place in the early 1950s.
Anderson graduated in 2001 with a double major in English and elementary education, then returned to earn a master’s in teaching mild/moderate special needs in 2007.
Anderson, now of Feeding Hills, wrote throughout her time at the Elms, and she explored as much of the campus as she could. “There was something about the architecture (I’ve always loved old buildings …) and I always had Dead Poets Society-type visions in my head of what my college experience would be like. In many ways, I solidified my writing style while I was there and also broadened my love of literature,” she said.
Author Katherine M. Anderson’s latest book, “Murder at the Alma Mater: A Nora Phillips Mystery,” takes place on the campus of Elms College – her own alma mater.Photo courtesy Katherine Anderson
A former adjunct professor in the English department, she works at Dupont Middle School in Chicopee, not far from the Elms.
Anderson chose to set “Murder at the Alma Mater” at the Elms, because she wanted to tell a of her own experience at the Elms and “hopefully convey some of the magic I felt while I was there,” she said. “I wanted to include its history and some of the personalities I encountered along the way that certainly made me who I am. I considered fictionalizing it, but I wanted other alums to have that connection to the book.”
The book centers mainly around what was originally the upperclassmen dormitory, O’Leary Hall, where Nora’s sidekick, Selena, lives. Nora also does research in the Alumnae Library and visits the president’s office as well as the fourth floor of Berchmans Hall. She spends time in the pool at the Maguire Center too.
The author of “Hospital Hill,” set at Northampton State Hospital, and “Shadows in the Ward,” set at Westborough State Hospital, Anderson treasured her time at the Elms. “Given how much the campus has changed, I wanted to tell a story that embodied my own experiences there but also wove in a mystery of sorts,” she said. “In the end, it was a photograph of the original library that prompted me to finally craft the story. The cozy mystery part was largely inspired by the Detective Fiction course I took with Dr. Jasmine Hall when I was an undergrad.”
“Murder at the Alma Mater” has 212 pages and was published in November. It is a paperback, but a Kindle version is to be released in April. The paperback retails for $18 and is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble online.
For more information, visit thekatherineanderson.com.
