THE MORGUE AND ME

A Michigan teen discovers small-town administrators have blood on their hands in this methodically paced mystery debut. Eighteen-year-old Christopher, whose “life’s goal is to become a spy, or at least a spyish-type figure,” takes a summer job at the local morgue in the hopes of learning a little forensic pathology. But instead he ends up honing his skills as an amateur sleuth when he manages to link the murder of a small-time hood to a much bigger blackmail scheme involving shady politicians, crooked cops and an environmental disaster cover-up. While Christopher’s character is sympathetic and the murder mystery well-constructed, many of the secondary characterizations are drawn in broad, cartoonish strokes, and a romantic subplot involving a classmate stalls out, only serving as an annoying distraction from the main event. But since true YA mysteries are scarce, larger libraries looking to satisfy genre fans may still want to add this one to the collection. (Mystery. 14-16)