National Network for Equitable Library Service

Mary Ryan, San Francisco pastry chef, is happy to be teaching at her old alma mater. But she’s barely in the door when she realizes that the teaching staff are at loggerheads with each other. Adding to her dismay, ex-lover and Homicide Detective O’Connor has enrolled as a student, claiming to be on disability from the San Francisco Police Department. In the middle of this turf war, Mary is confronted by dean Robert Benson. Mary must either force Coolie Martin to leave the school or lose her job. But why would Coolie’s father, a member of the Board of Directors, allow this to happen? Then when faculty and staff begin dying, Mary thinks that Coolie’s forced exit might only be part of a larger, more sinister plot.Acting on a hint from O’Connor, Mary enlists the aid of her former nemesis, Thom Woods. Soon they are knee deep in murder, money-laundering, blackmail, professional sabotage, and computer hacking; in other words, business as usual. And it is a rush to uncover the truth before the bodies start stacking up.