Poison by Punctuation (Chalkboard Outlines)
by Kelley Kaye
About the Book
Poison by Punctuation (Chalkboard Outlines)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Red Adept Publishing, LLC (April 24, 2018)
Print Length: 243 pages
Digital ASIN: B07BTYJXCG
High school teacher Emma Lovett is finally recovering from her first year of teaching when she discovers another dead body. As if that wasn’t bad enough, this time, someone has killed a student, Kisten Hollis.
Emma and her best friend, Leslie, are desperate to solve this murder. But suspects abound. The perpetrator could be a teacher, an administrator, a member of Kisten’s zealous church community, or even another student.
Emma must juggle her teaching responsibilities, her new romance with handsome Hunter Wells, and interest from a hunky second suitor, all while searching for evidence to bring a killer to justice before someone else dies.
Christie’s Review
5 Stars
Poison by Punctuation by Kelley Kaye is a witty and often humorous cozy mystery with great characters!
Emma Lovett has had an eventful first year teaching in a new town. Just as things are settling down for her, complete with a new love interest, another murder occurs. This time it’s a student, so Emma is determined to find the killer to bring him or her to justice!
Kaye gives her readers lots of twists and turns to keep us guessing. The characters, even the secondary ones, are quirky and memorable. I loved that each chapter was a quote from Shakespeare and how it went along very well with each chapter. My favorite aspect about the book is that it was a mystery yet was quite funny which made the story even better. Within the pages of the book, Kaye touches on a bigger problem within our society, especially in schools….bullying. I absolutely love a book that not only entertains me yet takes on an issue and teaches me something new about it. Kaye did exactly this.
I’m really loving this series, and I’m looking forward to the next book!!!
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Character Interview with Emma
Emma speaks
What do you like best about your move to Colorado?
Originally, I just wanted to get as far away from Holly Hill and my philandering Ex husband as possible. So I meandered west on the map, until I came to this little town called Pinewood. When I researched it, it seemed like a fantastic combination of lakes and mountains and trees and all four seasons, and everything I was looking for. I love it—it’s a great town, in every single way exceptin’ mosquitoes—and of course those fling-flangin’ murders!
What do you like best about being a high school teacher?
First, I’ve always loved books. My daddy owned a little book store in Holly Hill he called ‘Buy the Book’—get it? He never did things ‘by the book’ himself, but he loved puns and wordplay, so… Anyway, there’s that, and then I had an English teacher named Mr. Kinney. I always did well in school, y’know, but I felt lost when they started talking symbolism and theme and those big, important ideas about books. So Mr. Kinney started out explaining some of those big ideas for different poems or stories—and I’d get it by the time he was finished! Eventually I started being able to figure things out without Mr. Kinney, but I knew it was his patience that got me there. I wanted to be able to help other people get there too, y’know? And with Books and Love of Language as favorite things, because I got that from Daddy, English teacher seemed like the best fit. Now that I’m finished with my second year of teaching, I love the students best, and trying to help them get to the point where they can recognize and analyze those “big, important ideas” for themselves. It’s intoxicating to see them experience that ‘lightbulb moment!!
What do you like least about being a high school teacher?
Well. If I say “those two big P’s—Parents and Politics” are my least favorite things, know that I’m not talking about all parents—just a very few, the ones my friend Leslie calls the “My Parents Can Do No Wrong” corps. Those few make it difficult to teach an adolescent to learn from her/his mistakes—because adolescents—just like all people—make mistakes, right? and those few parents (just a few, mind you!) don’t recognize that fact about their teenagers. The frustration makes me feel helpless, like a moth in a mitten! And as far as politics—I guess that happens in every job, right!? But I don’t like it. Not in the least. I just want to spend my time teaching my kids.
Is it hard to trust your new love interest after what happened with you ex?
I think it’s so, so interesting, but it’s not! Even after we suspected him of MELVIN’S murder for a while, once I really got to know Hunter, I knew he was exactly what he says he is. What you see is what you get
with that man, and that’s exactly what I needed to find after Ronald shattered my young heart. I have to give some credit to my poor deceased daddy on this front, too. He might’ve had a vision whose britches were too big for his ambitions, but he was always, always trustworthy and straightforward, so I knew there were guys like that out there!
Do you ever get scared since a staff member was murdered and now a student was murdered?
I absolutely do. After I almost got killed when I was investigatin’ Melvin’s murder, Hunter got me this pink stun gun I’m supposed to have with me all the time. But sometimes my curiosity’s britches get too big for my common sense, and that’s when I get myself into trouble! If anyone out there has an idea to help me control this impulsivity issue I’ve fallen prey to, please let me know before I REALLY get myself into a pickle…
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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.
Website – http://www.kelleykaybowles.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/authorkelleykaye/
Blog – http://www.kelleykaybowles.com/kelley-s-blog2.html
Twitter – https://twitter.com/kelkay1202
BookBub – https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kelley-kaye
Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Kelley-Kay-Bowles/e/B00JJ9T7AC
GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1380492.Kelley_Kay_Bowles
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Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews 
Thank you so much for being my first stop on the tour, Christie! Emma and I enjoyed ourselves thoroughly! Kelley Kaye
Loved having you guys!!!
📚📚📚📚❤️👍😜😜
👍👍📚📚❤️📚
I love your cover. Good luck on the tour
It’s a good read!