When Kellan Ayrwick returns home for his father's retirement, he finds a body in Diamond Hall's stairwell.
Unfortunately, Kellan has a connection to the victim, and so do several members of his family. Soon after, the college's athletic program receives mysterious donations, a nasty blog denounces his father, and someone attempts to change students' grades. Someone is playing games on campus, but none of the facts add up.
With the help of his eccentric nana, Kellan tries to stay out of the sheriff's way. But who killed Professor Abby Monroe?
Genre: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / CozyAmazon bestseller.
Chapter 1
I've never been comfortable flying. My suspicious nature assumed the magic suspending airplanes in the sky would cease to exist at some master planner's whim. Listening to the whirr of a jet propeller change speeds—or experiencing the mysterious pockets of rough air jolt you up and down—equaled imminent death in an aluminum contraption destined for trouble. I spent the entire flight with my jaw clenched, hands clutching the armrests, and eyes glued to the seatback in front of me impatiently hoping the diligent crypt keeper didn’t claim another victim. Despite my uncanny knack for grasping anything mechanical and Nana D always calling me brilliant, I was entirely too doubtful of this mode of transportation. My gut promised I'd be safer plummeting over Niagara Falls naked and in a barrel.
After landing at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport on this miserable mid-February afternoon, I rented a Jeep to trek another ninety miles south into Pennsylvania. Several inches of densely packed snow and veiled black ice covered the only highway leading into or out of my secluded childhood hometown. Braxton, one of four charming villages fully surrounded by the Wharton Mountains and the Saddlebrooke National Forest, was nearly impenetrable from outside forces.
As I changed lanes to avoid a slippery patch, my sister's number lit up the cell phone screen. I paused Maroon 5 on my Spotify playlist, clicked accept, and moaned, “Remind me why I'm here again?”
“Guilt? Love? Boredom?” Eleanor said followed by a loud chuckle.
