A provocative professor found dead in her office... A lonely, lovely graduate student who's written an incriminating note... The sexually ambivalent genius who loves her - and who loved the dead professor too... The globetrotting antics of their friends, most of whom have something to hide... In late-1990s bohemian academia in New York City - a place of high achievement and high stakes - something has gone terribly wrong. A thrilling yet cozy read, EVERYTHING I UNDERSTAND explores a diverse world full of occasionally brilliant, often imperfect characters looking for success, love, and clarity in their complicated lives. EVERYTHING I UNDERSTAND starts out as an academic whodunit and ends up a tragic, twisted love story. When Christia Thompson, an attractive and mysterious professor of religion with connections to witchcraft, is murdered, Annie Campbell and her international cast of graduate student friends all find themselves involved in the case. As suspicions and accusations proliferate, concerns about Thompson's final project emerge, bringing her groundbreaking feminist scholarship into question. Likewise, there is much speculation as the details of her many unconventional relationships are exposed. The story ranges from the hallowed halls of the University of New York to East Village hot spots, from the chicest quartiers of Paris to the enchanted, ravaged streets of New Orleans. Through intimate glimpses of the disparate lives of these all-too-human, yet always fascinating people, the shocking and sad truth is ultimately revealed.