Shadows of Millbrook High

Emily Carter arrives in Millbrook for her senior year, hoping to blend in and graduate quietly after her family's public disgrace. Instead, she becomes fascinated by the town's dark secret: five months ago, beloved student Cassandra Blake was found murdered in Miller's Creek, and while everyone suspects her boyfriend Hayden Brooks, no one has been able to prove it.

What begins as curiosity evolves into something deeper when Emily realizes that Hayden-now completely ostracized and eating lunch alone every day-might actually be innocent. As she observes him in the library, in hallways, and around school, she sees not a killer but a boy destroyed by grief and wrongful accusation.

Through careful investigation and conversations with the town librarian, Emily discovers that Cassandra had been researching something sensitive in the weeks before her death-something related to the school that made her nervous enough to ask about whistleblower protections. This suggests her murder might have been motivated by silencing her discoveries rather than relationship drama.