Susan Wiles is blissfully retired from her teaching position at Westbrook Elementary School. What a joy to be able to attend the holiday concert without worrying about how her student chorus will perform. But, wait a minute. Where's the principal, Vicki Rogers? The concert can't resume before she greets the parents and guests. Susan offers to go check the main office, only to find the missing administrator lying dead on the office floor. My goodness! Nothing like this ever happened when Susan had worked here. Of course, now that she's retired she has time to help the local police (one of whom is her daughter Lynette) investigate the mysterious crime. Did the principal die of natural causes? The bruises on her face don't seem severe enough to be fatal. But what about that cupcake sitting on her desk? Could she have been poisoned? Susan has just found the perfect retirement activity--much to her daughter's chagrin. And when the dead woman's teenage daughter and one of Susan's former top students, begs for Susan's help--how can she say no? Little does Susan realize that this crime will take her far from the schoolhouse doors, as she investigates a mystery that extends back into one family's painful past.