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. (Pub Date: Apr 24, 2018)
Honest review based on an ARC provided by the author. Many thanks for this opportunity.
This is the second book in the series about an English teacher who's moved to a small town where the police isn't the brightest. At all. Along with her friends, they end up investigating happenings in their school on their own. This time, many students and even Emma herself have received threats when someone is actually killed. That's when Emma meets the forensics doctor Will, who'll join forces with her friends in finding out the culprit, and sway her heart from Hunter.
I've read the first number and I remember complaining a little about how the text didn't flow well. As I had already read her most recent release, I knew Bowles had improved a lot, and I confirmed the fact in this book. It's almost all fixed, though I'd say it's still not 100%, and the editor could have done a more radical work. Still, this is way above average and you'll find no problems. Also, it's just a problem with the flow; it's perfect grammatically. I think I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't remember the first one, to be honest.
As for the story, it took me longer to feel invested about the victim. This time, it's even a bigger mystery, so we learn about her little by little, while for the first one I was immediately crying for the poor guy. On the other hand, Emma's doubts about her relationship with Hunter seemed very real, to a point I didn't know which guy I'd choose. Bowles would also be successful writing romances about love triangles—then again I'm not into those; they drive me crazy from anxiety! She'd still excel there, considering how even I, the reader, couldn't decide which I'd choose if I were Emma.
Again, my favorite part, and I was glad it was also present here, was when Emma talked about teaching. She's now in her second year teaching but there's still a lot for her to learn (as a teacher myself in my fifth year, I'm not even halfway there). Anyway, these bits were always interesting!
Last, I wish there was more about Emma's past, even Leslie still seems to hide things, but the book never got into it. Is it being saved for the third? I don't think it'll be easy to give an excuse for a third murder in the same school without it being closed forever after that, so... Sorry, it's that I was already curious from the first and the second didn't help at all, lol.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
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