Night of Joy, Night of Sorrow

A Michael Bishop Mystery

When the pandemic forces the cancelation of the senior prom, fear of missing out on one of the most memorable high school experiences leads to tragedy. Martha, the girl who had it all … brains, beauty, athletic ability … dies after a late-night party. Was it alcohol poisoning, or as amateur sleuth Michael Bishop suspects, something more sinister?

As the veteran teacher learns, Martha had a dark side. She left a trail of jilted boyfriends and jealous girlfriends that Bishop follows on his own as Lieutenant Sheehy serves a suspension. Although her family was of modest means, Martha drove a Lexus and wore expensive clothes and jewelry. How did a teenager make that kind of money?

Complicating matters, Luella “Lulu” Pitts, the young assistant principal, makes a startling discovery about her past; Bishop’s growing relationship with Marianne Sampson reaches a critical turning point; past administrators Sister Ann and Sister Pat, a.k.a. Mayhem and Meany, make a spectral return; and the beleaguered teacher receives a cryptic message about cheating that he struggles to decipher.

Confronting deception with some deception of his own, Bishop, a lover of literature, confronts the killer in a scene that can best be described as poetic justice.