DECEIVED

A 17-year-old girl tries to fit in at her new private school after a lifetime of moving around the country with her widowed father.

Since the car crash that killed her mother, Elle and her father haven’t stayed long in any one place, so she’s looking forward to the stability of boarding school. Although she’s shy about making friends, her artistic roommate, Pixie, helps her out. Handsome Brian starts coming to nearly all of her classes, but she can’t tell if he’s romantically interested in her or not. Meanwhile, she learns that a serial killer may be in the area. Odd events begin to occur. Someone puts a black ribbon, the kind her mother used to wear, in her locker. Brian keeps showing up everywhere she goes. Is someone stalking her or maybe Pixie? What does Elle’s father have to do with it? Lindsey writes in a matter-of-fact style with nearly every sentence a declarative statement, lending the narrative a choppy, Dragnet-like feel. It seems appropriate to the plot, however, especially when events foreshadow a serious threat to Elle and her friends from someone who may be closer than she suspects. The author stretches plausibility far beyond the breaking point to set up the required confrontation scene at the end, however, dealing the novel a fatal blow.

A decent crime story that’s hamstrung by its ending.