Hush Puppy

There's a corpse on campus in this mystery from an Agatha Award finalist who's "a rare breed of writer" (The Plain Dealer).

Melanie Travis loves her teaching job at Connecticut's elite Howard Academy, where plans are underway for a Spring Pageant to honor the school's fiftieth anniversary. Immersed in the preparations, Melanie is hurrying to retrieve a painting of one of the illustrious cofounders when she comes upon a disturbing scene: Eugene Krebbs, the Academy's elderly caretaker, is arguing loudly with a girl half his size. Before Melanie can learn more than the girl's first name—Jane—she disappears.

It's clear that Jane isn't a student at Howard Academy, so what is she doing there? Melanie doesn't have a chance to answer that question before more problems arise. Two days later, Krebbs is discovered stabbed to death right on the school grounds. Now Melanie is embroiled in a full-fledged homicide investigation as she tries to find out who's added murder to the school's curriculum.