When former architect Jacob Bennett agrees to substitute teach at Sprucewood Middle School, he expects nothing more challenging than explaining color theory to distracted tweens. But when expensive art supplies and crucial exhibition materials go missing just days before a career-defining competition, Jacob and his intuitive Bernese Mountain Dog, Blueprint, find themselves pawing through a mystery that goes far deeper than misplaced watercolors. Teaming up with no-nonsense science teacher Francine Weber and her chatty African Grey parrot, Newton, Jacob must navigate the complex politics of school departments while trying to protect a program that means everything to his students.
As Jacob digs deeper into Sprucewood's secrets, he uncovers an underground art studio, department rivalries, and suspicious budget allocations that suggest someone is deliberately undermining the school's arts programs. With the Regional Youth Art Exhibition approaching and a school board visit looming, Jacob must determine who is behind the sabotage—the competitive music teacher with a grudge, the budget-conscious vice principal, or someone else entirely? The more Jacob discovers about Sprucewood's tangled web of relationships, the more he realizes this small-town school harbors big secrets worth protecting... or exposing.
Join Jacob and Blueprint as they prove that sometimes the best teachers are the ones who never planned to teach at all.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
As Jacob digs deeper into Sprucewood's secrets, he uncovers an underground art studio, department rivalries, and suspicious budget allocations that suggest someone is deliberately undermining the school's arts programs. With the Regional Youth Art Exhibition approaching and a school board visit looming, Jacob must determine who is behind the sabotage—the competitive music teacher with a grudge, the budget-conscious vice principal, or someone else entirely? The more Jacob discovers about Sprucewood's tangled web of relationships, the more he realizes this small-town school harbors big secrets worth protecting... or exposing.
Join Jacob and Blueprint as they prove that sometimes the best teachers are the ones who never planned to teach at all.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
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