Anthony Boucher. The Case of the Seven of Calvary (1937) 312 pp.
After Dr. Hugo Schaedel, an unofficial ambassador of the Swiss Republic, who is also the uncle of a University of California student, is murdered in the Berkeley Hills, Professor Ashwin, with the help of Martin Lamb, another student, evaluates the lives and loves of a group of students living in International House to discover the mystery behind the murder. The characters of the amateur detectives Ashwin and Lamb are fairly obvious stand-ins for UC Berkeley professor Arthur William Ryder (1877-1938) and Boucher, himself. Ashwin, like Ryder, is a professor of Sanskrit, and his name means “rider” in Sanskrit. Boucher studied with Ryder when he was a student at Berkeley and spent frequent evenings drinking Scotch in the professor’s company.
Setting: Berkeley (University of California)
Baird & Greenwood 2598
Hubin