YOU’VE GOT BLACKMAIL

Nancy Drew is hardly one of Lauren “Lozzie” Cracknell’s idols, but when she comes home one afternoon and sees that someone’s ransacked her bedroom, she finds herself caught in a web of blackmailing. With a little help from her friends, she uncovers a scam that she’s sure involves one of her teachers—the same teacher that she thinks is dating her mother. She’d have more time to solve the mystery, though, if she weren’t so worried about hiding from the school bully and avoiding her obnoxious older sister. This madcap British romp is more Pink Panther than Alfred Hitchcock, a mystery for the Georgia Nicolson generation. The subplot about Lauren’s parents’ divorce is handled well; it’s refreshing to see that although Lauren’s mother is upset, she acts like an adult about it. Some unresolved plotlines could lead to a sequel, but the blackmail case is solved right down to a slapstick citizen’s-arrest. Avid mystery readers won’t have the blackmail plot figured out immediately, though this is due more to a lack of clues than a crafty hiding of them in plain sight. A fun, quick read. (Mystery. YA)