Dear Miss Demeanor Book

SUMMARY: At Farberville High, it's reading, writing...and murder.

Who knows what evil lurks in the halls of Farbervilles' high school-or what blackmail is hidden in Miss Demeanor's Falcon Crier advice column? Certainly not bookstore owner and amateur sleuth Claire Malloy-until her daughter Caron persuades her to substitute for disgraced column editor and journalism teacher Emily Parchester. Surely Miss Parchester cannot be guilty of embezzlement. But the petty charges graduate to murder when Principal Weiss gets his last licks from Miss Parchester's peach compote. Miss Parchester herself, last seen at a local sanitarium, is suddenly missing. And now it's up to Claire to find someone who's been schooled in the fine art of murder...

REVIEW: I have to begin by saying I attempted to read the first book in this series and stopped after a few chapters. I couldn't like the premise for the mystery which was the murder of a porn author. Just enough of her writing was described to turn me off before the murder even occurred. The books in this series can be read as stand alones. Since I had others in the series, I decided to give the author a second chance. This book was not great but I did enjoy it.

The main character/mystery sleuth is a bookstore owner with an acerbic wit and sharp tongue. She is a single parent with a very typical, drama prone 14 year old daughter. I loved the high school setting as it sounded so much like high school in my younger years with teachers who were older than Methusalah (at least in the students' eyes), all the teacher lounge drama and petty problems, and the overzealous administration. The homecoming dance and the jobs for the teachers in preventing or stopping various problems was hilarious. I loved the group of elderly teachers who all supported one another and somewhat ruled the roost. Enough red herrings to keep me guessing as to who the murderer was and how the second murder was accomplished.