Spring savings: Buy more, save more
To see product details, add this item to your cart. You can always remove it later.
Shipper / Seller
Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Shipper / Seller
Amazon.com
Returns
30-day refund / replacement
30-day refund / replacement
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Gift options
Available at checkout
Available at checkout This item is a gift. Change
At checkout, you can add a custom message, a gift receipt for easy returns and have the item gift-wrapped
Added to

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

  • Blunt Instrument (Dell Chandler Mysteries)

Follow the author

Get new release updates & improved recommendations
Amy Bloom
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Blunt Instrument (Dell Chandler Mysteries)

by Amy Bloom (Author) Format: Hardcover
#1 New Release in Traditional Detective Mysteries

Purchase options and add-ons

An Oprah Daily Best Book of Summer 2026

A failed professor solves a murder on campus in this new whodunit from bestselling author Amy Bloom.

The case of the bludgeoned lecturer has all of Cromwell University reeling, even though the elderly Professor Bullfinch wasn’t particularly well-liked. His ornery nature and Old World approach to campus politics ruffled more than a few feathers over the years, and present tensions within his department mean there are more suspects than mourners in the wake of his death. And the murder weapon—a bronze bust of Nathaniel Hawthorne—does seem to indicate that the attack may have been academically motivated…

Enter Dell Chandler, the failed English professor turned self-taught private detective whom Dr. Cutty calls in to investigate the crime. She has the background to tease out the motives among the staff and just enough experience to conduct a thorough inquiry. If she solves the case before the cops do, the university could keep the whole thing quiet, avoiding sensational media about the dark side of campus life. But to do so, she’ll have to dodge her own demons from her past life as a disgraced academic.

Written with the same depth of character and insight that readers have come to expect from author Amy Bloom’s novels and memoirs, Blunt Instrument is an engaging and entertaining mystery with a clever, complex protagonist at its core.
Read more
Previous slide of product details
  1. Book 1 of 1
    Dell Chandler Mysteries
  2. Print length
    288 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    The Mysterious Press
  5. Publication date
    June 2, 2026
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 1.2 x 9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1613167601
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1613167601
Next slide of product details
The%20Amazon%20Book%20Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now

Customers also bought or read

Page 1 of 1Start over
Previous page
  2. Book cover It Could Have Been Her: A Novel
    It Could Have Been Her: A Novel
    Just released
    Hardcover
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  3. Book cover The Amateur: A Novel
    The Amateur: A Novel
    Just released
    Hardcover
    Delivery Fri, Aug 7
  4. Book cover A Violent Masterpiece: A Novel
    A Violent Masterpiece: A Novel
    Just released
    Hardcover
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  5. Book cover Big Little Truths: A Novel (Big Little series)
    Big Little Truths: A Novel (Big Little series)
    Just released
    Hardcover
    Delivery Fri, Aug 28
  6. Book cover Murder Most Delicious: A Novel
    Murder Most Delicious: A Novel
    Just released
    Paperback
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  7. Book cover The Au Pair: A Novel
    The Au Pair: A Novel
    Just released
    Hardcover
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  9. Book cover Five: A Novel
    Five: A Novel
    Just released
    Hardcover
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  10. Book cover Contrapposto: A Novel
    Contrapposto: A Novel
    Just released
    Hardcover
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  11. Book cover Red Sheet: A Novel
    Red Sheet: A Novel
    Just released
    Hardcover
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  13. Book cover Pool House: A Novel
    Pool House: A Novel
    Just released
    Hardcover
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  14. Book cover The Searcher: A Novel
    The Searcher: A Novel
    Paperback
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  15. Book cover The Last Mandarin: A Novel
    The Last Mandarin: A Novel
    Just released
    Hardcover
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  16. Book cover The Golden Boy
    The Golden Boy
    Hardcover
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  17. Book cover Nightshade: A Novel (A Catalina Novel, 1)
    Nightshade: A Novel (A Catalina Novel, 1)
    Hardcover
    Delivery Jul 13 - 16
  18. Book cover Under the Falls: A Novel
    Under the Falls: A Novel
    Just released
    Hardcover
    Delivery Fri, Aug 14
  19. Book cover Valley of the Moms: A Novel
    Valley of the Moms: A Novel
    Just released
    Hardcover
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  20. Book cover The Fine Art of Lying: A Reese's Book Club Pick
    The Fine Art of Lying: A Reese's Book Club Pick
    Just released
    Hardcover
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  21. Book cover Lake Effect: A Novel
    Lake Effect: A Novel
    Hardcover
    Delivery Jul 15 - 20
  22. Book cover The Shock of the Light: A Novel
    The Shock of the Light: A Novel
    Hardcover
    Delivery Jul 18 - 23
  24. Book cover More Than Enough: A Novel
    More Than Enough: A Novel
    Hardcover
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  25. Book cover A Bad, Bad Place
    A Bad, Bad Place
    Hardcover
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  27. Book cover The Windsor Affair: A Novel
    The Windsor Affair: A Novel
    Just released
    Hardcover
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  29. Book cover The Plunge: A Novel
    The Plunge: A Novel
    Just released
    Hardcover
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
  30. Book cover A Cute Little Murder
    A Cute Little Murder
    Just released
    Paperback
    Delivery Sun, Jul 5
Next page
Loading...

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Witty . . . Bloom draws on her own experience with the dog-eat-dog world of academia to depict the brusque, irascible Dell’s winding journey toward the truth. . . . It’s a blast. A sequel would be welcome.” ― Publishers Weekly

“Dell is an appealing investigator . . . Fans of mysteries in academic settings will enjoy.” ― Library Journal

“As Dell wends her way through this backbiting den of academic iniquity, she ends up with more suspects than you can shake a bust of Nathaniel Hawthorne at, and some hot extracurricular activities as well. We look forward to her further adventures in what promises to be a detective series of rare wit and intelligence.” ― Oprah Daily

“Bloom’s first foray into crime fiction nails the genre’s conventions while her bona fides as a recently retired professor of English and psychotherapist in mid-state Connecticut make this book resonate as spot-on, hilarious truth.” ― LA Times

“With mischievous finesse, Bloom brings every character to full and intriguing life, while Dell, a whirlwind of rueful self-deprecation, toughness, and droll wit, vamps her way to the truth. Readers will be pleased with the conclusion's nod to future Dell Chandler mysteries.” ― Booklist

“[A] winning first mystery from novelist and memoirist Bloom . . . This entertaining, sexy adventure in not-so-dark academia checks all the classic detective-story boxes. Keep ’em coming.” ― Kirkus

“A glorious whodunit set in the brutal world of academia. Droll, erudite, with a plot like a coiled spring. I love it and I wish I'd written it.” ― Tom Mead, author of the Joseph Spector Locked-Room Mysteries

“Sexy, scary, and sharp-tongued, Amy Bloom’s spin on PI noir stings like a bee.” ― Val McDermid, international number one bestselling author of the Karen Pirie series

“Blunt Instrument is a pleasure to read.” ― FirstCLUE

About the Author

Amy Bloom is the New York Times bestselling author of novels, short stories, memoir, and nonfiction. She has written for magazines such as The New Yorker, New York Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, Elle, The Atlantic, Slate, and Salon. Her work has been translated into seventeen languages. Blunt Instrument is her first crime novel. Amy resides in Connecticut and recently retired as Wesleyan University’s Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing, while continuing to work as a psychotherapist and a novelist

Product details

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Amy Bloom

Amy Bloom

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Author of three New York Times best-sellers and three collections of short stories, a children’s book and a ground-breaking collection of essays. Bloom has been a nominee for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her stories have appeared in Best American Short Stories, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, and numerous anthologies here and abroad. She has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, O Magazine and Vogue, among many other publications, and has won a National Magazine Award for Fiction. Her work has been translated into fifteen languages.

She has written many pilot scripts, for cable and network, and she created, wrote and ran the excellent, short-lived series State of Mind, starring Lili Taylor. She is now Wesleyan University’s Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing.