THE DEADLY DAYLIGHT

An Australian girl who works in a funeral home hopes to solve a murder.

Eighth grader Alice, who has muscular atrophy of one leg, loves to help out at her family’s business, Tranquility Funerals. She assists with aesthetic services—“the beautification of the corpse”—and she’s perplexed that anyone finds that odd. Alice also has a secret ability: Sometimes a body’s accessories are “resonant,” and they tell her a story about the owner’s previous life. It’s unsurprising that Alice has no friends. While she’s perfectly happy being friendless, she’s equally unbothered when a protective teacher matches her up with bullying victim Violet, who has a rare and extremely dangerous sunlight allergy called solar urticaria. Soon after, Violet’s uncle George is found dead on the pier where he worked, and Alice has a resonant moment while helping to prepare his body. She’s convinced he was murdered and ropes Violet in to her investigation. There are so many suspects! Was it George’s widow, the rough teens who gather under the pier, the overwrought security guard, the sender of an anonymous note, or the terrifying celebrity allergist? Alice possesses a precocious vocabulary, tends toward pedantry, is obsessive to an extent that annoys her new friend, and struggles with empathy and tact (“Tact meant concealing your curiosity”). But they do make an excellent team, Alice finds she appreciates having Violet in her life, and readers will have fun getting to know them. Most characters read white.

A series opener that introduces enjoyably quirky tween detectives.