Nuts About Death

About the Book

This story is a murder mystery that takes place in a small New England town in the year 2006. The main character is a single woman in her late thirties named Maddy Timmons, who is a second-grade teacher at Layton Elementary. As summer vacation draws to a close, Maddy heads in to school on Tuesday to prep her classroom and finish last-minute projects before the teacher workshop day on Thursday. Upon arriving at the mostly empty building, she discovers the principal lying dead in the janitorial break room. Maddy’s assumption that the principal died of an accidental allergic reaction to peanuts is quickly replaced with the knowledge that there was nothing accidental about it at all. The police detective investigating the case is Anita Monroe. Anita’s daughter had been a student in Maddy’s second-grade classroom the year before, so the two women know each other, and the mutual respect and trust between the two takes root right away. As Maddy sets about the routine of preparing her mind and her classroom for the coming school year, she meets and talks with several people, including other teachers, the parent of an incoming student who has emotional issues related to the school experience, the school janitor, and cochairpersons of the parent-teacher organization of the school. Through these ordinary meetings with various faculty members and others associated with the school, Maddy begins to accumulate clues and evidence in the principal’s murder as well as about the deceased principal’s ethics and character. A side of her former principal begins to emerge that is both unfamiliar and shocking to Maddy. Throughout the story Maddy maintains close contact with the police department, and fortunately for her, Anita Monroe is always ready to lend a hand or support in a crisis. The detective warns Maddy about the danger that she is placing herself in by continuing to collect clues as to the identity of the murderer, but despite Anita’s concern for Maddy’s well-being, pieces of the puzzle continue to land on the teacher’s lap. Anita’s dire predictions about the danger that Maddy may be creating for herself appear to come true. When she discovers the weapon used to render the principal unconscious so that the lethal dose of peanut oil and peanut cookie can be administered, the killer attempts to run Maddy down with a car. After discovering the dead principal’s appointment book and a notation by the principal about some discrepancies in the teacher’s union dues money collected, a warning note is placed in Maddy’s book bag. Less than an hour thereafter, a rock is thrown at her, injuring her and sending her to the hospital for stitches. Dave Reardon, the president of the teacher’s union, sets up a meeting to talk to Maddy, but when she arrives at his house thirty minutes later, she finds that the killer has reached him first. Maddy suspects that Dave was going to tell her about the missing teacher dues money, and that he knew who might be trying to stop Maddy from continuing to help the police. A clue found on Dave’s desk leads Maddy back to Layton Elementary, where she puts together the final pieces of the puzzle and solves the mystery. The killer is also there at the school waiting for her, and Maddy realizes that having identified the killer has not ended the danger—it has only created more of the same. A suspenseful chase through the school building and onto the playground area, combined with a providential mistake with the alarm systems, contribute to Maddy being able to outwit her attacker once and for all, and bring a killer to justice.

About the Author

Leslie McCourt was raised in a small town in New England. She was an elementary teacher for twelve years. She has been married to her husband, Dale, for twenty-three years, and they have a son named Nicholas who is a fifteen-year-old tennis-playing fanatic. The family moved to Asheville, North Carolina, in 2005 and lived in a hotel for thirteen weeks until Dale found employment. He met the CEO of the company while they were washing their dog, Sunny, at the car wash. It was while the McCourts were living in the hotel that this story was written.