Professor Molly's Big Book of Murder Part Two

Book excerpt: Featuring the second six Professor Molly mysteries and an exclusive bonus short story with reporter Pat Flanagan and Harriet Holmes! The Blessed Event: "Davison Gonsalves was a nightmare student--an obnoxious, entitled, cheating suckup. In a twist of fate that might seem hilarious if it happened to someone else, he was now my stepson." Mother's Day: Mahina State University's powerful fundraising office tasks Professor Molly with a special assignment: To serve as the personal tutierge (that's tutor-concierge) to Jeremy Brigham, whose mother happens to be fabulously wealthy and gravely ill. Molly is not thrilled at having to babysit a spoiled rich kid. Especially not while she's battling morning sickness, a meddling mom, and (as always) the Student Retention Office. But once inside the historic Brigham House, Molly realizes something is very wrong. And she has to decide whether to mind her own business and keep her job, or risk everything to prevent a murder. The Nakamura Letters: Professor Emma Nakamura doesn't believe in ghosts. So it doesn't bother her (much) when she learns of a long-ago suicide in her remote upcountry rental house. She's sure there's a logical explanation for the disappearing items and the strange sounds in the night. Fortunately (?), Emma's best friend Molly has news shocking enough to take Emma's mind off the hauntings. Now Emma and Molly have to rely on their strong reasoning skills and a weak internet connection to figure out how a body ended up in Molly's backyard. The Nakamura Letters is an island-style take on the Golden Age mysteries of Mary Roberts Rinehart and Agatha Christie. The Perfect Body: When Professor Molly attends Mahina State University's exclusive donor dinner, she doesn't expect to share a table with the insufferable Stephen Park. Turns out it's one thing to invite your toxic ex-boyfriend to drop dead...it's quite another when he takes you up on it. The Fever Cabinet: Through no fault of her own, Professor Molly just got promoted to department chair. The Student Retention Office has her buried in paperwork. The college has just relocated to a former asylum, which is undergoing noisy renovations. Molly's dean has directed her to mentor the department's new star, the prickly Fiona Spencer, and to do whatever it takes to keep Fiona happy. At least nothing else can go wrong. And then Fiona finds a body in her office. The Influencer: There's no such thing as bad publicity. Until it happens to you. Professor Molly's new renter is a social media star seeking privacy in remote Mahina, Hawaii. The arrangement seems to be working out--until the celebrity influencer vanishes. Molly and her best friend Emma Nakamura call in the Mahina PD and try to stay out of the way. But the unthinkable happens—the saturnine Detective Medeiros actually asks for Molly and Emma's help. As they confront nosy neighbors, fanatical followers, and the missing woman's has-been husband, Molly and Emma find themselves at the center of the story. And when fame creates its own reality, that's a dangerous place to be. EXCLUSVE BONUS CONTENT: Death at the Effigy It's 1984. Young Pat Flanagan gets his first reporting job at San Diego's second-coolest 'zine, Voltaire's Quill. But when Pat covers the opening night of a trendy new club, he witnesses a freak "accident" and has to choose: keep his eccentric editor Harriet and her advertisers happy, or find out the truth?