Too much knowledge can be deadly.

Ten years ago, a serial killer’s reign ended. Students at the Oxford Carroll University were safe. Until now…

The Professor is back. His Victorian literature-themed murders are more shocking than ever.

Jane, a mature student, studies in fear. An invitation to Glynnholme, the estate of the reclusive scholar, Evangeline Glynn, is a welcome distraction.

With each visit, dark secrets are revealed. The Professor is no stranger to Glynnholme. Jane wasn’t chosen by chance.

As the death count rises, The Professor prepares a final lesson. Words are powerful. They give him a killing purpose.

Words written in blood could end Jane’s life. Can she discover who The Professor is before it’s too late?

If you enjoy psychological thrillers with devious villains, twists, and revelations, The Professor is for you.

It’s my pleasure to be hosting the blog tour for The Professor today. Many thanks to Zoe from Zooloo’s Book Tours for inviting me and Lisa Sell for my advance digital copy of the novel.

The dedication at the start of The Professor is to all those who love to read, with the hope that book snobbery never wins. Most people will have come across somebody who looks down at others for their reading choices but in The Professor, this toxicity is taken to a whole other level. On the one hand, this is a celebration of Victorian literature, however, on the other, it’s a disturbing exploration of literary pretension at its most extreme…

At the start of the book, Jane Unwin is stagnating; she works in her friend Kate’s stationery shop and takes care of her widowed father. Her only form of escape is another read of Wuthering Heights. She was named after Jane Eyre and Kate urges her to consider what Jane would do to fulfil her potential. The answer comes in the form of a regular customer, Henry Glynn who lectures in English Literature at nearby Oxford Carroll university. He joins Kate in trying to persuade Jane that her future lies in academia but has an added trump card as he is part of the Glynn family who have an enormous fortune from their confectionary empire. He has used some of this money to set up the Henry Glynn Scholarship for a student who shows great promise and offers it to Jane. 

Despite her initial reluctance, she can’t resist the chance to follow her dreams and at first loves life as a mature student. Unfortunately, foul deeds are afoot at Oxford Carroll as following a ten year hiatus, a serial killer known only as ‘The Professor’ is back and targeting female students. While most of the narrative is told from Jane’s perspective, there are some chapters which follow the unknown killer as he sets his sights on his next victim and puts his elaborate, murderous plans into place. Although undoubtedly creepy, these passages are also a literary treat, with the killer twisting memorable scenes from Victorian classics into macabre tableaus. It quickly becomes obvious that he is a bitter misogynist who has an all-encompassing hatred of Evangeline Glynn, Henry’s mother and the ageing heiress of the Glynn fortune, as well as an unsettling interest in Jane herself. 

As Jane is lured into the pernicious world of the Glynns, she begins to glimpse their dark underbelly. Henry is an arrogant womaniser whose behaviour is frequently objectionable. He has a complex, poisonous relationship with Evangeline who appears to be the cunning spider at the centre of their twisted web. However, there are moments when she seems more vulnerable and clearly has regrets about events in the past and the part she has played in the awful acts which have been perpetrated. 

Meanwhile, although Jane is as concerned as all the female students, she isn’t privy to the twisted thoughts of The Professor and doesn’t realise just how much danger she might be in. There are several suspect characters, along with a plethora of red herrings which had me racing through the pages to see if my theories were correct. The clues sprinkled throughout the plot meant I managed to figure out the identity of The Professor but this didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book in the slightest and I was still shocked by some of the revelations. The clever pacing allows for an ominous sense of foreboding to be evoked before the latter chapters ratchet up the tension and the conclusion is deliciously chilling. 

With its unforgettable, tragic serial killer, abundance of secrets and lies, and a likeable, relatable protagonist in Jane, The Professor is a compelling thriller and one I definitely recommend.

Today is the final day of the blog tour, but you can still read the posts from my fellow bloggers, details are below.

About the Author

Lisa Sell is an author of psychological thriller and thriller-mystery novels. Her books can be twisty, gripping, and occasionally humorous.