A touching, bittersweet, albeit contrived, whodunit.
In Woods’ YA paranormal mystery, secrets surface in the small town of Lazarus, Nebraska, when two teens investigate a murder.
Margo and Hank are deeply in love, their connection so strong it still exists two months after Hank’s death after accidentally being hit by a car. Margo alone can see and talk to him, which is hard to keep from her best friend Delia and her police chief father. Hank knows he stayed behind for a reason—to watch over Margo—although it pains him to see his family falling apart after his death. When a murder occurs and Margo’s father is sidelined by a heart attack, the two teens put their investigative minds to work. Suddenly, everyone in their little town is a suspect, and the couple’s research leads Margo down a dangerous rabbit hole. And then the clues seem to connect the new murder with the cold case of Margo’s mother, murdered years before. As time passes, Hank starts feeling tugged toward the afterlife, but how can he leave Margo behind with so much going on? The novel effectively toggles between Margo’s and Hank’s first-person perspectives in their small town full of secrets. Hank’s ability as a ghost to watch and follow suspects at will, as well as the help he receives from other ghosts, is a bit too convenient, but it allows for the young couple to form an engaging dynamic. It’s assumed the audience will understand why Hank and Margo are so devoted to each other—readers enter the story after their coupledom has developed—but their connection is well portrayed and authentic.
A touching, bittersweet, albeit contrived, whodunit.Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-945654-62-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Owl Hollow Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
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