As high school teacher Tom Mason prepares his classroom for the start of the new year and deals in school politics, a murder occurs and his friend is blamed for it. Meanwhile, Tom's lover, Scott Carpenter, a famous baseball player, is just coming off a national publicity tour in which he came out about his sexuality.

The mystery is pretty straight-forward but the telling is entertaining. The characters are people I 'recognize' from school settings, and Tom is a pleasantly imperfect character. Although the cover of the book says, "A Tom & Scott Mystery," the reader doesn't see much of Scott; I would have liked to know more about him. ( )