Search - Dear Miss Demeanor (Claire Malloy)

Book shop owner, Claire Malloy, agrees to substitute for journalism teacher, Emily Parchester, who is accused of embezzelment, at the local high school, and has been fired. Then the principal, Mr. Weiss, is murdered, and the janitor, Pitts, also ends up dead. This is a funny, delightful comedy/mystery, very entertaining.

Agatha Award-winning author Joan Hess, the prolific creator of the Claire Malloy and Maggody mysteries, is beloved for her clever sleuths, quirky characters, and her ingenious plotting. We invite you to enjoy this delightful Claire Malloy mystery, and to discover why Sharyn McCrumb calls Joan Hess "the patron saint of comic mystery."

At Farberville High, it's reading, writing...and murder.

Who knows what evil lurks in the halls of Farbervilles' high school-or what blackmail is hidden in Miss Demeanor's Falcon Crier advice column? Certainly not bookstore owner and amateur sleuth Claire Malloy-until her daughter Caron persuades her to substitute for disgraced column editor and journalism teacher Emily Parchester. Surely Miss Parchester cannot be guilty of embezzlement. But the petty charges graduate to murder when Principal Weiss gets his last licks from Miss Parchester's peach compote. Miss Parchester herself, last seen at a local sanitarium, is suddenly missing. And now it's up to Claire to find someone who's been schooled in the fine art of murder...

My first in this series and I really enjoyed it. Will definitely read more. A lot of humor and sarcasm, which made this fun.

It's fun watching Claire solve a mystery as she substitues for the high school journalism teacher.