English professor Lila Maclean is thrilled about her new job at prestigious Stonedale University, until she finds one of her colleagues dead. She soon learns that everyone, from the chancellor to the detective working the case, believes Lila--or someone she is protecting--may be responsible for the horrific event, so she assigns herself the task of identifying the killer. More attacks on professors follow, the only connection a curious symbol at each of the crime scenes. Putting her scholarly skills to the test, Lila gathers evidence, but her search is complicated by an unexpected nemesis, a suspicious investigator, and an ominous secret society. Rather than earning an "A" for effort, she receives a threat featuring the mysterious emblem and must act quickly to avoid failing her assignment...and becoming the next victim.

"Cynthia Kuhn writes the Lila Maclean Academic Mystery Series: The Semester of Our Discontent, an Agatha Award recipient (Best First Novel); The Art of Vanishing, a Lefty Award nominee (Best Humorous Mystery); and The Spirit in Question. She is professor of English at MSU Denver, president of Sisters in Crime-Colorado, and member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. For more information, please visit cynthiakuhn.net. This is part of "A Lila Maclean Academic Mystery" series."--