by Sandra Murphy

Pris is on her last day of school—as a teacher—and at her last parent/teacher meeting. What a way to end the year, talking to Whitney, the mean girl who tormented everyone in high school. Whitney hasn’t changed a bit. Life in Crosbyville is a step back in time for Pris. She’s written a children’s book, sales are good, and she’s able to turn in her chalk and erasers for good at the end of the school year.

The subject of the conference is Clarice, a bright girl who hasn’t applied herself during the year and should be held back. Whitney’s having none of that. A woman of her standing in town does not have her child held back! She is on the school board after all and her focus is on teaching the hard subjects, not the fluff like music and art. Test scores are what matters.

Not content to only cause a scene at the school, Whitney runs into Pris at the diner during breakfast and starts with more screaming accusations, this one more public than the first. Pris thinks she’ll never have to talk to Whitney again. What a relief! The next morning, she takes a walk with her bloodhound, Bailey. He catches a scent and is hot on the trail, dragging Pris with him to the ultimate destination. Pris would have given anything to have walked him elsewhere that morning because if she had, she wouldn’t be looking at a very dead body in the begonias.

Pris wrote a children’s book titled The Adventures of Bailey the Bloodhound Pet Detective which sold well enough that she could quit her teaching job to write full time. Now, as suspect number one, she’ll have to use any detective skills she can borrow from the book to solve the murder.

This is the first in a new series. Although Pris is a likable character, Bailey steals every scene he’s in, and that’s a lot of them. The mystery is a good one with plenty of suspects to choose from due to Whitney’s personality, or lack of one. The side characters are diverse, entertaining, and are good friends to have around. I look forward to reading more about them.

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Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch in St. Louis Missouri. She’s editor for Peace, Love, and Crime: Crime Stories Inspired by the Songs of the ’60s, with twenty-two cozy stories. She also edited A Murder of Crows, twenty-one stories featuring animals and crime (no animals were harmed). She also writes for magazines, newsletters, and the occasional guest blog. Both anthologies are available at the usual outlets, print or ebook.

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