Who knows what evil lurks in the halls of Farberville's 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 persuades her to substitute for the disgraced column editor and journalism teacher Emily Parchester. Surely Miss Parchester cannot be guilty of embezzelment. 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 santitarium, is suddenly missing. And now it's up to Claire to find someone who's been schooled in the fine art of murder...