num_pages: 246
description: Jeremy Cook is the resident genius at the Wabash Institute, a southern Indiana linguistics think tank attached to a daycare center. Cook seeks knowledge on many fronts: he wants to know how toddlers learn to talk, how he can endear himself to the beautiful new research assistant, and why one of his colleagues has suddenly turned up dead in Cook's own office. The rustic local law in the form of the unpredictable Lieutenant Leaf bears down on the suspects: the staff of linguists, who, far from the amiable, gentle souls one associates with the study of children, are a cantankerous bunch who can barely stand one another. Tempers flare and accusations fly, and when a second body turns up, Cook must rely on his linguistic wits to save himself.Double Negative was nominated for an Edgar Award when first published in 1980. A popular classic of the genre, it has seen five issues by American publishers (Dial, Penguin, Washington Square, Felony &amp; Mayhem, and Mystery Guild) and four overseas editions.
language: English
title: Double Negative
titlecomplete: Double Negative
genres: Fiction, Mystery, Linguistics, Roman, Cozy Mystery, Language, Humor, Mystery Thriller, Novels
ratings_count: 556
series: Jeremy Cook
awards: awardedAt: 347184000000
name: Edgar Award
category: Best First Novel
publisher: Felony & Mayhem Press