Wendy Watson teaches in the structured world of political science and oversees the chaos of an ice cream shop.

Watson, senior lecturer in political science, is the author of the Mysteries à la Mode series, which includes such titles as I Scream, You Scream and Scoop to Kill (Henery Press).

She centered the stories around an ice cream parlor because she loves the dessert. The shop may remind readers of Beth Marie's Old Fashioned Ice Cream on Denton's downtown square, "though there are some very real differences -- the body count, for example."

"I think people are surprised that I have this sort of 'left brain/right brain' life," says Watson, who also is the pre-law advisor. "Political science is ordered and structured, and writing is fluid. Sometimes even I have a hard time moving between the two worlds."