crimes of obviousness, mystery fiction edition

With all these other things to do this weekend, what better use of my time than to read yet another murder mystery that takes place in academia? This one, The Edith Wharton Murders, takes place at an Edith Wharton conference at "State University of Michigan". Here's are a few paragraphs that seem an odd digression from the narrative flow of the book:

Most of the remodeling and repairs at the Campus Center were done except for one wing near our meeting rooms... The lower half of the walls were almost all redone with gorgeous polished granite tiles that were midnight blue, heavily flecked with orange. This was the kind of granite you see decorating the exterioors of office buildings, or used for floors, and these tiles were twelve by twelve inches and half an inch thick. I know because they were stacked in some unfinished hallways and I picked up one to take a better look. It was surprisingly light.

A Campus Center workman, youngish, with a goatee, came up right next to
me. "Nice stuff," he said. "Solid granite. Indestructible. Expensive."

Hmm, I wonder what the murder weapon is going to be.