Archive for October, 2017

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Published October 11, 2017 Mystery Leave a Comment
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Genre:  Mystery

# of Pages:  360

Five students are mysteriously sent to detention after they are caught with cell phones in class that they claim aren’t theirs.  Once they get to detention they see that they are from completely different circles in the school.  Bronwyn is an honor’s student who hopes to go to Yale.  Cooper is a pitcher who is being courted by several universities.  Addy is dating a jock and one of the more popular girls in school.  Nate is the school rebel and is rumored to be on probation for dealing drugs.  Finally, Simon is a bit of an outcast due to a blog he writes in which he always manages to reveal everyone’s worst secrets.  Shortly after the five of them get to detention there is a fender bender in the parking lot and their teacher rushes out to help.  While he’s out of the room, Simon gets himself a cup of water from the science lab station sink and collapses shortly after.  Nate frantically digs through Simon’s bag for his epi-pen but can’t find it.  Cooper runs to the nurse’s office but comes up empty there as well.  Helplessly, they all watch as the paramedics arrive and aren’t able to revive Simon who dies shortly after from anaphylactic shock.  As horrible as this is, it gets even worse when these four become the prime suspects in the police investigation when it is revealed that Simon was about to post life changing secrets about all four of them the next day on his blog.  Could one of them really have done it?  How will they ever survive the suspicions and accusations being thrown at them?

This book contains quite a few language and sexual references, but the story itself is very powerful and will draw teen readers in.  The ending will be satisfying as well as unexpected, but before they get to that all four of the suspects will have quite a few difficult days ahead of them as they are chased by reporters, questioned by police, and realize for the first time who they’re real friends are.  The reality of the life teens live now with social media and everyone always looking to reveal everyone’s innermost secrets for their own entertainment is unfortunately all too real, but this book shows how no matter how advanced technology gets teens still need friends and family they can count on, especially when things get tough.

The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill

Published October 11, 2017 Historical Fiction , Mystery 1 Comment
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Genre:  Historical Fiction Mystery

# of pages:  349

Piper is living on the outskirts of 1920s Chicago.  As she nears the end of her senior year she is startled to learn that her best friend, Lydia, is suffering from seizures and her own family has not told her about them because they do not want to upset her.  Piper has witnessed two of these episodes and both have frightened her terribly.  She’s not that surprised when Lydia arrives on her doorstep one afternoon distraught because her parents want to send her to the Mayo Clinic mere weeks before graduation.  Piper is sad to see Lydia leave, but understands why her parents feel she needs medical attention.  She watches Lydia walk the short distance to her house and waves at her from her white picket fence and that’s the last Piper sees of her best friend before Lydia’s family notifies her that Lydia never came home.   As the police begin investigating Lydia’s murder Piper can’t help but begin investigating herself a bit by retracing Lydia’s last steps and finding that not everyone is telling her the truth about that night.  Many people around Piper believe she should leave the crime solving to the police and act more like a traditional lady, but Piper believes she may be the only one who can truly find out what happened to Lydia that fateful day.

This mystery is well written and engaging.  The 1920s backdrop is fun as Piper tries to become a more modern woman at a time when that earned you a ruler to the back of the hand in school.  When it counts, Piper’s family support her even if they don’t approve of her behavior all the time.  There are many intriguing characters which helps to keep the mystery more difficult for Piper to solve.  The mystery itself holds up as everything is properly explained in a plausible way, but it is still challenging for Piper to solve.  Highly recommended.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Published October 11, 2017 Fantasy , Mystery Leave a Comment
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Genre:  Fantasy/Mystery

# of Pages:  465

Kaz Brekker has been through a lot in his young life and has grown tougher because of it.  He has worked his way up to running his own gang, the Dregs, and always seems to be one step ahead of his enemies.  One day he receives an interesting proposal from a government official: to break something out of an impenetrable prison for an absurd amount of money.  The truth is that Kaz does not think this job is possible, but that amount of money could allow him and his crew to truly start fresh which is a luxury none of them ever expected.  So, he builds his crew which includes a sharpshooter, a wrongfully convicted convict, a mysterious runaway, an escape artist, a spy, and a heartrender ( who can manipulate emotions).  The plan is full of danger and challenges, but none of these people have ever backed down from a challenge simply because they’ve had to do whatever it takes to survive.  Can they succeed where so many others would dare not even try?

A heist plot in such a unique setting makes this book a lot of fun.  The characters are well developed and intriguing all at the same time.  Despite their distrust for everyone and everything, this crew finds they can depend on each other when they need to and that’s something many of them have been looking their whole lives for.  The heist adventure itself is exciting and full of twists and narrow escapes.  Recommended for fantasy and mystery lovers.

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