Mountain Campus Murder (Flagstaff Mysteries Book 2)

A Modern Campus Mystery

When a controversial professor disappears from a northern Arizona campus, what begins as a missing-person case quickly spirals into something far more dangerous. Detective Luis Ortega is drawn into a tangled investigation marked by academic rivalries, viral outrage, and a crime that doesn’t add up. As a body is discovered in a downtown parking garage and another soon follows, the case reveals a web of resentment, ambition, and buried secrets within the university’s walls.

Journalist Miles Harper chases the story from another angle, uncovering connections that point to jealous colleagues, powerful media figures, and students caught in the fallout. Meanwhile, newcomer Maddy Sullivan finds herself pulled into the investigation, offering crucial insights from inside the university—while putting herself at risk.

With mounting pressure, conflicting confessions, and lives on the line, Ortega must separate truth from deception before more damage is done. Set against the backdrop of Flagstaff’s striking landscape and social tensions, Mountain Campus Murder delivers a sharp, character-driven mystery where motives run deep and nothing is as simple as it seems.

Discover the next installment in the Flagstaff Mysteries series—where every clue leads deeper into the truth.

Excerpt from the book

Professor Leta Lang’s hand froze above her class notes when her computer dinged, alerting her to a new message. It was too late for a text from a colleague and she didn’t have friends. Which could only mean one thing. Any digital notification, expected or not, made her tense ever since that damn social-media campaign had gone viral. Strangers from across the country had joined the mob targeting her online. Mostly, the alerts popped up on her cell phone, currently buried in a leather briefcase under her desk, but occasionally they made it onto her home computer. She never could figure out why.

When that happened, it was usually late at night while she was trying to forget the day’s annoyances with a glass of red, or two. She reached over to set her glass down on the desk and considered her next move. The IT geeks at the university were constantly, irritatingly, on her case to “think” before she opened texts or emails. As if she wasn’t always thinking, overthinking. Besides, as she often reminded them, it was their job to ensure her computer’s security. They were nearly as lazy as her students. Over the past few years, Leta Lang had come to believe the university would let anyone in—student or employee.

A strong wind blew through the trees outside her study, slamming rain against the windows, though the heavy curtains masked some of the storm noise.

Ding, ding, ding.

Before surrendering to the digital prodding, the professor jotted down a potential title for an article. Passive students here show dull scholarship. Now that would ruffle a few feathers! As a Communications Studies professor, Lang knew she could document the decline of her students’ academic abilities over the past two decades. But as she reread it, she saw it was not quite the right tone for an academic paper. She should get back to the final week of prep, only Thursday and Friday classes left, thank goodness, but was taken with the article idea. It had been a long time since she’d felt this excited. About anything.

She scratched out the last three words over and over, just as the computer alerted her again. She reluctantly pushed herself out of her blood-red armchair and walked to her desk. It was nearly midnight and she should have gone to bed hours ago but sleep no longer came easily. At this time, the last thing she wanted was to read more texts or emails from so-called journalists asking her about her controversial grading policy. Or from her colleagues about the threats—mild, to her mind—she had made against them. Still, better to take a look than wait until morning.

Her inherited cat rested halfway atop the keyboard, enthusiastically licking its privates.

“Move, Jack, or I swear I’ll smack you before you can cough up your next fur ball.”