Book excerpt: TEACHING MYSTERIES 101 It is the fall of 1970, and Andrea Jackson is beginning her career as a high school English teacher in a small, northern Illinois town. Her challenges begin during the first class of the first day, when her Mystery Stories students come in expecting to learn to be detectives rather than study English. Andrea shares the ups and downs of first-year teaching with her fellow rookie English teachers, Chrissie and Bud. All of them are unsure how to deal with their stern department chairman, Susan, who advises and evaluates them. A few weeks into the school year, one of Andrea’s students falls victim to a crime committed at the high school. To her dismay, the list of suspects includes another of her students and more than one staff member. Andrea’s efforts to navigate first-year teaching, along with her growing curiosity about the crime, fill her days and keep her awake nights. Her life and work become increasingly complicated when the Mystery Stories students insist on investigating the crime — with or without her cooperation. Their efforts, along with her involvement, eventually put all of them in jeopardy.