MISSING CLARISSA

Two friends investigate a 1999 disappearance that happened in their fictional small town of Oreville, Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula.

Cameron Muñoz and Blair Johnson are, on the surface, unlikely best friends—Cam is tenacious and headstrong, with little concern for or even understanding of social norms, while Blair, a talented writer, doubts her abilities at every turn despite being a good reader of people. They undertake their dive into the decades-old case of Clarissa Campbell, a popular White 17-year-old who went missing following her high school graduation, as a project for their journalism class. Cam decides they should make a podcast about their research without really knowing how they’re made, which becomes a running joke. What follows is a familiarly framed whodunit, carefully plotted to parse information out to readers at intervals, that stands out due to its thoughtful characterization. A wealth of issues is touched on throughout the story, including welcome recognition that domestic violence is far more prevalent than violence perpetrated by strangers, the case for prison abolition, and the disproportionate attention and resources directed toward crimes against attractive young White women. The novel is narrated in the third person, and podcast transcripts are interspersed. Gay Cam is Mexican American and White; Blair reads White; and there is diversity represented in secondary characters.

A smart, engaging, and suspenseful mystery.