From USA Today bestselling author Tracy D. Comstock... A new school year is under way, and English teacher turned reluctant amateur sleuth Emily Taylor has been roped into directing Ellington High's fall play production. With the help of the new junior high English teacher, Destiny Willis, their production of Clue is soon ready to take the stage. The students are especially thrilled when James Bodley, a hometown favorite with a rising star on Broadway, agrees to help out at rehearsals. But when the drama king, Bodley, is found murdered-strung up like Mr. Boddy, the play's victim, was supposed to be!-Emily vows to find the person behind this heinous killing. Unfortunately, the list of suspects is as long as her cast roll. Could it be his new love...or her resentful daughter? Or maybe his scorned high school sweetheart? Or was the death less about love and more about his betrayal... possibly of the theater seamstress, baker, or woman from his past? With the days ticking down to the first showing, Emily is under the gun to find out who the real killer is before another murder takes center stage. Schooled in Murder books: Murder is our Mascot - book #1 School's Out for Murder - book #2 Lesson in Fear - short story in the "Killer Beach Reads" collection Murder Takes Center Stage - book #3 "Fun, fast paced, and completely engaging! Tracy D. Comstock's Schooled in Murder series will leave you dying for more!" Gemma Halliday, New York Times bestselling mystery author

“A razor-sharp delight! . . . a wonderful and witty mash-up of murder mystery and onstage/offstage intrigue.” — Tom Ford, director and Equity actor (Sweeney Todd) Imagine an Agatha Christie whodunit set to a Stephen Sondheim soundtrack. Asher Kaufman doesn’t have to—because he’s living it. In this laugh-out-loud funny backstage tale (a sequel to All the World’s a Stage Fright), our hero—a fallible local theater critic—once again finds himself in an uncomfortable role: acting in a professional stage production so he can write about the experience for his newspaper, the Cleveland Jewish Chronicle. This time, the show is the angry, bloody, and brilliant musical Sweeney Todd. And in addition to mastering the musical’s famously challenging lyrics and performing its dark, enigmatic melodies, Asher finds himself in the middle of an unscripted, onstage, opening night murder. The police detective leading the investigation is a no-nonsense crime solver but a fish out of water in the world of theater, so she asks Asher to be her cultural advisor on the case. Now, he must help find out which of his quirky castmates is a killer. They all claim innocence, but as Asher knows firsthand, they could just be acting.

A fallible local theater critic takes an acting role as a stunt for his newspaper and finds himself in the middle of an unscripted, onstage, opening night murder. Asked by police to help their investigation, he now must find out which of his quirky castmates is a killer. They all claim innocence, but he knows firsthand: they could just be acting.

Ten years ago, Magnolia Steele fled Franklin, Tennessee after an incident that left her with hazy memories and a horror of the place where she had been born and bred. Though her abrupt departure destroyed most of her treasured relationships, she vowed never to return . . . until she has no choice. When Magnolia's breakout acting role in a Broadway musical ends in disgrace, there's only one place she can go. She finds herself on her momma's porch, suitcase in hand. Drama follows Magnolia around like a long lost friend. She reluctantly agrees to help her momma's catering company at a party for a country music star, only to find herself face-to-face with a sleazy music agent from her past. After a very public spat, Magnolia not only finds him dead but herself center stage in the police's investigation. Now she must scramble to prove her innocence, relying on the help of acquaintances old and new. But the longer Magnolia stays in Franklin, the more she remembers about the big bad incident that chased her away. The past might not be finished with her yet, and what she doesn't remember could be her biggest danger.

Based on interviews with exonerated former death-row inmates.

First book in the four book USA Today bestselling Magnolia Steele Mystery series by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author, Denise Grover Swank. Ten years ago, Magnolia Steele fled Franklin, Tennessee after an incident that left her with hazy memories and a horror of the place where she had been born and bred. Though her abrupt departure destroyed most of her relationships, she vowed never to return . . . until she has no choice. When Magnolia's breakout acting role in a Broadway musical ends in disgrace, there's only one place she can go. Magnolia reluctantly agrees to help her mother's catering company at a party for a country music star, only to find herself face-to-face with a sleazy music agent from her past. After a very public spat, Magnolia not only finds him dead but herself center stage in the police's investigation. Now she must scramble to prove her innocence, relying on the help of acquaintances old and new. But the longer Magnolia stays in Franklin, the more she remembers about the incident that chased her away. The past might not be finished with her yet, and what she doesn't remember could be her biggest danger.