The Body in the Bonfire

Book excerpt: “This whodunit provides fully satisfying fare for a cold winter’s night around the fire”—from the Agatha Award-winning author of The Body in the Moonlight (Publishers Weekly). Caterer and small-town minister’s wife Faith Fairchild might never have accepted the job teaching a course on Cooking for Idiots at Mansfield Academy had it not been for Daryl Martin. An African-American student at the prestigious prep school, Daryl has lately become the target of a series of vicious and anonymous racial attacks—and Faith is determined to put an end to the injustice. But Mansfield, she finds, is a seething cauldron of secrets, academic in-fighting, and unspoken rules that complicate her task. When someone tampers with her classroom cooking ingredients—and then the remains of her prime suspect are discovered smoldering in a campus bonfire—she realizes that a monstrous evil is stalking both Daryl and the school. And suddenly Faith’s own life is in serious jeopardy as well! “Skillful sleuthing . . . bon appetit.” —The Tampa Tribune “Faith’s fans are sure to be pleased with another of the author’s always readable stories.” —Kirkus Reviews “A deservedly popular series.” —Library Journal