Story Profile: “Hunger Pains”
In by far the longest Funderburke mystery published to date, the novella “Hunger Pains” has Student Advocate and private detective Funderburke and his girlfriend Nerissa Kaiming leaving Milwaukee to visit a former student, a teenager named Keegan who left Cuthbertson Hall unwillingly, and was compelled to transfer to the Phineus School, a weight-loss boarding-school in Northern Illinois. Keegan sent Funderburke an email, begging him to come, as something’s not right at the Phineus School. One of the students has disappeared. The staff insists that it’s a simple case of a teenager running away, but Keegan believes that there are more sinister issues at play.
Since Keegan is no longer a Cuthbertson Hall student, this technically isn’t part of Funderburke’s purview, but when Funderburke’s instincts are on high alert, nothing can prevent him from giving up his Saturday to investigate. When he arrives, he finds the previously-overweight Keegan slimmed down to a shadow of his former self, and many of the other students are equally concerned about the disappearance. The food at the Phineus School stinks, and the attitude of the principal smells even worse. With a staff actively blocking Funderburke’s inquiries, finding out the truth isn’t going to be a piece of cake…
“Hunger Pains” appeared in the inaugural issue of Serial Magazine, which is available for sale here.
–Chris Chan
Chris Chan’s first book, Sherlock & Irene: The Secret Truth Behind “A Scandal in Bohemia” was released on August 27thfrom MX Publishing, and is available for sale at Amazon.com and the MX Publishing website, as well as at Book Depository (with free worldwide shipping there). It is also available in a Kindle edition.
No comments:
Post a Comment