Freshly minted Ph.D. Sarah Deane is hired to teach English at Miss Merritt's, only to land in the epicenter of legendary French professor Grace (Mme Guillotine") Carpentier's reign of terror. Mme's peckish passion for excellence has inspired universal fear and loathing.

A student discovers Mme's hanging effigy. Then Sarah finds a bludgeoned body wearing Mme's trademark cape. But the victim is not Mme. Is it a case of mistaken identity? It's up to Sarah, raided by her husband Alex, to find the killer before he strikes again--while the prime suspects, three fractious students, and three furtive professors, follow her every move...