MISSING TEACHER

Missing Teacher, a cozy mystery by Iris Burnham, is a puzzling journey through small-town America. The protagonist, Adie Bea Chaulk, known by her fellow teachers as ABC, has a penchant for solving fictional mysteries before the authors reveal whodunit. It leads her to accept her principal's petition to discover what happened to the new kindergarten teacher who never showed up on the first day of school.

Despite her adult children's urging that she stop her detective work, they understand their mother's underlying compulsion. ABC's husband Sol was declared dead by his employer, a clandestine government agency. Without the body, or the details surrounding his death, she believes in her heart that he is still alive. The missing teacher is a case she believes she could solve while Sol's disappearance remains unattainable.

ABC's world consists of professional friends, like the exuberant Wanda, a high school teacher, and Mrs. Sarah Bloom, her earnest principal. Her grown children, Lola, the serious lawyer, and Max, the romantic mathematics teacher, play roles in either deterring or assisting with her detective work. ABC's pursuit for answers brings her in contact with the scheming town banker, the naive, but handsome spurned bridegroom, and a host of townspeople trying to fulfill their dreams.

Missing Teacher offers amusing insight into the challenges faced by educators along with their motives for choosing this often underrated profession. The novel is filled with unexpected romantic maneuverings; behind the scenes school obstacles; small town social and political contrivances; as well as some serious underworld interference. Missing Teacher allows the reader to accompany the no nonsense, intuitive teacher through a maze of human frailties until she uncovers the motivations of the heart and possibly, almost all the answers.