Poison by Punctuation (Chalkboard Outlines)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Red Adept Publishing, LLC (April 24, 2018)
Print Length: 243 pages

Synopsis

High school teacher Emma Lovett is finally recovering from her first year of teaching when she discovers another dead body. As if that wasn’t bad enough, this time, someone has killed a student, Kisten Hollis.

Emma and her best friend, Leslie, are desperate to solve this murder. But suspects abound. The perpetrator could be a teacher, an administrator, a member of Kisten’s zealous church community, or even another student.

Emma must juggle her teaching responsibilities, her new romance with handsome Hunter Wells, and interest from a hunky second suitor, all while searching for evidence to bring a killer to justice before someone else dies.

Guest Post

This is part 2 of a set of diary entries from the POV of THE KILLER in Poison by Punctuation. These were created with the idea of being intermittent entries within the book, but then the series was shifted to an entirely 3^rd person attached (Emma) narrator. You can read Part 1 on the June 15^th Jane Reads stop on the tour. Enjoy!

THE KILLER SPEAKS

–It’s still happening.  I thought with that girl dying they might be nicer.  But no, I saw the way some of them looked at me this afternoon.  The way they giggled behind their hands as I walked by. What is it going to take?  I guess I’ll have to go to the dance.  I hate those things, because I’m such a terrible dancer.  No one ever asks me anyway, so how would they know if I can dance or not?  They’re too busy with their pretty, fluffy dresses and little grown-up suits.  I can’t even tell out loud how much I hate them.  I can show them, though.

I’ll have to bleed my pretties a lot to make this work.  They’re getting a little fussy, but I think they understand.

I hate them all so much. I have to do something to teach them to be nice.

–I don’t understand why it didn’t work.  No one even got sick.  Well, I guess that brazen and obnoxious teacher got a little sick, but it didn’t do any good.  I know, because I saw her in the hospital.  She sounded funny, with a croaky voice, but she still looked me up and down with distaste.  I could tell.  Her life is still perfect, whether her hair is messed up and her stomach hurts and she has to wear that flimsy hospital gown.  She still has everything I don’t.  If I could have, I would have put more poison into her IV.  But she was awake.  Looking at her bony collarbone made me sick.

They all make me sick.  I make me sick, but if they go away I can start to feel better.  I can look in the mirror without always wanting to be someone else.  I know I can.  If they’d just go away.  Go away.  Go Away!

–What do I do now?  I had to hide him.  Had to take him away.  Couldn’t let him see anyone else, couldn’t let him tell.  Now he hates me too, but I couldn’t let him tell.  Not now, not yet.  Everyone is still so mean and vicious.  They have to learn to be nice, and I’m still not sure what will make them do that.  Him telling, that would just make it worse.  They’d take all their perfection and perfect lives and throw it in my face.

I didn’t know what else to do.  He came over when I asked him, but he thought he could get me to talk.  I can’t talk, so I pushed him.  I pushed him into the basement and locked the door.  Just to get some time to think.  I thought he’d be yelling by now, but he’s not yelling.  It’s probably a trap.  He’s probably waiting right behind the door, not yelling so I would come and check on him.  Then when I open the door, he’d shove his way out.  And he’d talk.  He can’t talk, not until they’ve learned to be nice.

Whaddya think? Do you know who the killer is? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Until then—Stay Mystified!

Kelley

Trailer

About the Author

“Kelley Kaye” taught High School English and Drama since 1992 in California, then Colorado and now Cali again, but her love for storytelling dates back to creating captions in her high school yearbook. Maybe back to the tales she created for her Barbie and Ken—whatever the case, the love’s been around a long time. She’s married to an amazing man who cooks for her, and they have two funny and wonderful sons.

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