She never imagined her new teaching job would lead to murder...

Recently divorced, broke, and out of options Charlotte Papadopoulos is desperate enough to take the one position no one else wants-teaching women inside the San Francisco County Jail. While the locked doors and watchful cameras are intimidating, her students aren't what she expected. They're sharp, funny, and fiercely loyal. Against jail rules, Charlotte starts fighting for them-and letting them into her life.

Then her landlord turns up dead.

Handsome homicide detective Mark Ryan warns Charlotte to stay out of what appears to be an open-and-shut case, but Charlotte won't listen. Instead, she's pulled into a dangerous tangle of secrets that blur the line between the classroom and the streets.

Are her students involved-or are they the only people she can trust? The closer Charlotte gets to the truth, the more risks she takes and the more dangerous it becomes-for her, for her students, and for anyone who underestimates what one determined woman will do.

Burial of the Dead is the gripping first novel in the Jail Mystery Series, perfect for fans of character-driven crime fiction, twisty amateur sleuths, and smart, socially charged mysteries, you won't soon forget.

Previously published as The Cruelest Month.