The Chalkboard Death the Bishop Cousin Chronicles Book 3

Every town has its secrets. Some get written in chalk. Others in blood.In Spencer, Tennessee, the election season doesn’t just divide neighbors—it can get them killed. On the night votes are counted for the most contested mayoral and district attorney race in Van Buren County’s history, the townspeople gather like always, beneath the courthouse lights, as election workers write the results on a giant chalkboard. But as the final tally is announced, a scream pierces the celebration. A woman in a red coat collapses on the cobblestone, twitching once before going still. At first, people think it’s the shock. Then they see her lips turning blue.She’s been poisoned. In public. In plain sight.What starts as a tragic collapse quickly spirals into a murder investigation with explosive implications. The victim? A well-respected candidate running against a long-entrenched political family. The suspects? Nearly everyone in Spencer with something to lose.Enter the Bishop cousins—Josie, Ashton, Noah, and Ella—already known in the county for solving a string of chilling cases tied to the region’s buried history. This time, however, they’re not just dealing with long-dead secrets; they’re up against living, breathing power.With the town polarized and the courthouse square under constant surveillance, the Bishops must navigate not just mystery, but manipulation, backroom deals, and generational corruption.As Josie digs deeper, she uncovers:A secret meeting minutes before the murder…A trail of forged absentee ballots…A hidden family link between the victim and her opponent…And a symbolic marionette left near the body, hinting at control from the shadows.The murder is only the beginning.More strange events follow—a campaign bus torched, witnesses silenced, and a second body dumped in the same dress as the first victim. Whispers of a “ghost vote” conspiracy begin to circulate. Then, Josie finds a message scrawled inside the old schoolhouse:“Count the dead, not the votes.”Each clue draws the cousins closer to a shocking truth: someone has orchestrated a campaign of terror, using fear, murder, and deception to hold power in a town too scared to fight back.But the Bishops aren’t scared. Not anymore.What You’ll Find in Chalkboard Death:A taut, small-town mystery steeped in real Southern political dynamicsThe return of the Bishop cousins, each evolved and struggling with new emotional stakesA behind-the-scenes look at the old-school election process in rural AmericaThemes of family loyalty, civic duty, and the cost of silenceA deeper dive into Josie Bishop’s personal reckoning as she questions the town she’s trying to saveSet Against the Backdrop of:The Van Buren County Courthouse, with its eerie presence and crumbling facadeThe rolling hills of Fall Creek Falls, misty and full of secretsSchool gymnasiums turned polling placesChurch halls filled with whisper campaigns and casserolesA town where truth lives in rumor, and safety depends on who you knoAuthor’s Note:Chalkboard Death is more than a mystery. It’s a love letter to everyone who’s watched power be abused and wondered who’d finally stand up. This book was born from the real tension of election nights, from seeing women erased from town history, and from remembering that every act of courage starts small—sometimes as small as a name in chalk.The Bishop cousins are growing up. And this time, they’re not just solving a case—they’re shaking a system.