School is hell... Art teacher Nikki Solberg is having a very bad day. Her job is on the chopping block, her estranged relatives are cheering her downfall, and someone trashed her art room. If that wasn't enough, a contentious school board meeting comes to a grinding halt when the new superintendent keels over from natural causes... or is it murder? Nikki's boyfriend, Detective Marek Okerlund, has troubles of his own, as his third-grade daughter is threatened by a classmate. Not to mention going back to school reminds Marek of his own hellacious years with undiagnosed dyslexia. Along with Sheriff Karen Okerlund Mehaffey, Marek has to put all that aside and concentrate on an investigation into one bad apple. Who will get schooled... the good guys or a killer? DEAD ROTE is a character-driven police procedural. Twelfth in series. Word Count: 104,000. Occasional profanity. Minimal gore.