Strangled by Simile
Series: A Chalkboard Outline Mystery #3
Author: Kelley Kaye
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 258
Release Date: May 23, 2021
Summary:
Southern transplant Emma Lovett and best friend/colleague Leslie Parker can hardly believe it: it’s Emma’s third year at Thomas Jefferson High School, and in addition to an amazing year with boyfriend Hunter Wells and Leslie’s brand-new love interest, they’ve gotten all the way through Homecoming with no one dying.
Oops.
At the end of October, Emma finds the strangled body of Charlie Foreman, one of Leslie’s favorite nemeses. And the first clue implicates Leslie in the crime! To make things worse, Emma’s feeling a little oogy: tired, dizzy, and something’s up with her eyes. What’s going on?
All Emma and Leslie are trying to do is find new methods for teaching the youth of America, hopefully using lessons from The Great Bard—their hero—William Shakespeare.
But someone has a different idea: more schooling in murder.
Interview with Emma Lovett
How did you and your author meet?
Oh my lordy! I met Kelley Kaye way back in them early 2000’s. She’d been researchin’ all the shenanigans at my new high school, Thomas Jefferson, and thought it’d make a good sitcom. So she wrote some of our funny stories out in a script format and entered it into a sitcom competition. Course, we didn’t become a sitcom, instead we started living out a real live version of Murder, She Wrote!
Why did this writer decide to feature you in a book?
I’ve always been good at noticing what’s goin’ on around me, you know? And I use more southern sayings than a puppy in a punch bowl, so I guess I entertain her. Plus, she was a teacher, so my experiences from the first three years of teaching resonate with her. She’s retired now after 20 years—must be nostalgic.
Do you have any friends or family helping you out?
Leslie and I got together at the park one day when we first decided to solve a murder and collected stuff we thought we could use to solve it. From our whole personal collection of mystery novels to a blender, we felt like we’d need supplies. I think really we use our brains and our eyes, and that’s it. I did find out, during this particular inquiry, that some childhood skills perfected by me and my best friend Hannah and our summers at Target Swamp would be necessary. You’ll see. Turns out I’m kind of a Van Damme.
Do you have a regular job and investigate on the side or are you a full time detective?
I’m a high school English Teacher, and I’m findin’ out teachin’ and the planning you need to do to successfully be a good one is really hard when somebody kills another person and there’s nobody around that can figure out who did it! It’s been kinda crazy, all around.
What is the funniest thing that happens to you or another character in this story?
I think our friend and librarian, Edward Dixon, has funny things happenin’ to him all the time. Only he doesn’t think they’re funny, because he’s kinda high-stress like that. He says things all the time without realizing they’re funny.
Have you solved other cases or is this your first one?
I have, unfortunately. Right when I started teaching at Thomas Jefferson, a custodian I’d met only briefly, Melvin McManus, was killed. Leslie, my mentor, had a history with the local chief of detectives, and knew he was incompetent in his job. She told me all about him (his name is Carl Niome) and because of her knowledge we just decided something else needed to be done. Besides Melvin, I had a student who was killed named Kisten Hollis. It was a horrible tragedy, and Leslie told me the death of a student is the worst tragedy she’s ever suffered. I can believe it.
Do you have a gift or special talent?
I’d say I just love love love finding the best way to get at people. And by get at ‘em I mean finding out the best way to reach them. Whether it’s teaching or solving mysteries, I’m always trying to figure ‘em out.
Who is the most important individual in your life?
I think it has to be a three-way-tie, between my honey Hunter, my best friend Leslie, and my momma. Oh, wait, my closest friend growin’ up was this crazy gal named Hannah Mackelroy. We had a fallin’ out, unfortunately, and I haven’t been able to find her in several years. But I loved that gal too, like a sister. I don’t have any siblings, but Leslie and Hannah are the closest I’ve got to family.
What is your ideal vacation?
Any place that doesn’t have gigantic bugs. The only problem with South Carolina is the monster bugs. So I’m thinking San Diego? Or maybe Hawaii. I don’t know how to ski, which is interesting because Pinewood is in the mountains. Skiing is big here! I don’t like being cold, though…
If you could change anything about your life what would it be?
Well, something happened to me during this latest investigation which involves my health. So I have a health issue I never imagined I’d have to confront, and it’s really scary. But it’s also turning out to be a blessin’ in disguise, just because it makes me so much more aware of the blessings I have. It’s led me to adopt this motto, which I don’t think I heard back in Holly Hill, but it sure seems southern, doesn’t it? ‘Every day above ground is a good day!’
I believe it, baby!
A Chalkboard Outline Mystery Series
About the Author
“Kelley Kaye” taught High School English and Drama since 1992 in California, then Colorado and now Cali again, but her love for storytelling dates back to creating captions in her high school yearbook. Maybe back to the tales she created for her Barbie and Ken—whatever the case, the love’s been around a long time. She’s married to an amazing man who cooks for her, and they have two funny and wonderful sons.
Giveaway
Prize: 1. (1) Print Copy Strangled by Simile (Chalkboard Outlines) by Kelley Kaye (U.S. Only)
2. (1) Digital Copy – Strangled by Simile (Chalkboard Outlines) by Kelley Kaye
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