TO RIGHT THE WRONGS

In a follow-up to To Catch a Killer (2017), 16-year-old forensic enthusiast Erin finds herself in the middle of yet another murder mystery.

Fresh from solving her mother’s murder, Erin is ready to settle into a normal life. Her forensic-scientist uncle, Victor, is here to stay and opening up a crime lab at school, and she’s dating her longtime crush, Journey. But there’s one more case that needs to be solved: that of Journey’s father, who has been locked up in prison for murder. Victor is looking into the case, and Erin and her friends are not allowed to get involved, but what are they supposed to do when clues keep falling in their laps? Between that, dodging their malicious new principal, and getting tangled up with a mysterious skateboarder, how can life possibly be normal? Scarborough ties up loose ends from her previous novel and shines more of a spotlight on Erin’s best friends, Spam and Lysa. However, the main storyline is bland and often gets pushed aside for secondary storylines or breadcrumbs that lead to nowhere. Unfortunately, the scattered storytelling makes for a slow-paced read. Though race is rarely alluded to, Erin and Journey are white, Spam is possibly Latina, and Lysa is black.

In some ways this sequel is an improvement on its predecessor, but it still misses the mark