Publication Date: May 16, 2026
Twelfth-grade English teacher Mr. Lowell turns up dead one May morning. Cause of death: autoerotic asphyxiation gone wrong. Everyone at Ridgeview Alternative School is shocked. Everyone, that is, except honor students Jordan Byrne, Nick Moretti, and Chloe Underwood.
Back in September, aspiring civil rights lawyer Jordan, Juilliard-hopeful Nick, and budding actress Chloe land in Clifford “Call Me Cliff” Lowell’s classroom with big dreams of university scholarships and lucrative careers. Soon, they discover the well-respected educator and head of the Teachers’ Federation is actually a sexual predator with a long list of victims — a list that’s about to include the three of them. Facing a manipulative monster, a complacent administration, and grim futures, the trio hatches a desperate plot: plan a murder so perfect that maybe, just maybe, they can get away with it …
English teacher Clifford Lowell uses his classroom to hunt prey—vulnerable female students who blossom under his careful grooming.
And if you happen to get in his way, your scores will reflect his scorn.
Authors Edward Kay and Mikhael Klassen-Kay deliver a story of a predator who meets his match with students Nick, Jordan, and Chloe in Our Little Secret.
Jordan, an autistic girl, finds herself receiving unwanted attention from Lowell. As soon as she begins transitioning into a male, Lowell turns his attention to another student while marking down Jordan’s work.
She and her best friend, Nick, both rely on top scores in order to meet scholarship requirements upon graduation. With their English grade hanging in the balance, they team up with one of Lowell’s scorned females seeking revenge.
Is it the perfect crime? If this had occurred in the United States, the harassment presumably would have been dealt with swiftly without the students having to take action.
The target audience is likely teen readers, but more conservative readers may not appreciate the themes of gender dysphoria and homosexuality.
Our Little Secret highlights a revenge plot to punish a misbehaving teacher.
Mikhael Klassen–Kay is a Toronto-based author with an Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto. A fan of historical memoirs and Gothic fiction, his work explores themes of queerness and neurodiversity through a darkly comedic lens.
Edward Kay is an award-winning author and screenwriter with eight published books and more than 130 hours of produced television for broadcasters including BBC, Disney, CBC, France Télévisions, ABC Australia, and Bell Media.
