This novel follows in the tradition of Josephine Tey's Miss Pym Disposes (1948). Miss Pym is a financially independent woman who has chosen not to marry. When she is invited to give a lecture at a college, she finds more than appreciative listeners. She finds several mysteries that she reluctantly solves. Tey is the pen name of Elizabeth Mackintosh.

Robert Bernard's Deadly Meeting (1970) is set during the annual conference of the Modern Language Association. Professor Peter Jackson, chair of the department of English at Wilton University is killed at the conference.