Truly Devious
Ellingham Academy is a special boarding school in Vermont where students are set up with a course of study that suits their individual passions and talents, whether that be art, opera, video game making, etc. For true crime podcast and mystery novel-loving Stevie, it's investigating crimes, in pursuit of her dream of growing up to join the FBI. And the thing she's going to study? One of the most notorious cold cases in history, the kidnapping of super-wealthy and eccentric founder Albert Ellingham's wife and daughter, some 80 years earlier. In the course of her look into the old mystery, the killer seems to have resurfaced; one of her classmates winds up dead, and on a closed campus, there are limited possibilities of who could have done it... So now Stevie has two mysteries on her hands, not to mention a demanding course load, parents who want to pull her from the school, and - of course - a bit of teenage relationship angst. When I heard about this book, I was warned that things don't wrap up in the end, and you really will need to get your hands on book #2 (which was just released, so I haven't done so yet), but still I wasn't quite prepared for how inconclusive the ending is - literally, there is a "to be continued..." at the end. Somehow though I am still not rushing out to a bookstore to get this - it was a fun read but fell just a bit flat; I was a little disappointed by the characters overall, hoping for something as engaging in the YA mystery genre as One of Us Is Lying but not quite getting it. That might partly be because the modern-day story was broken up by insertions of the 1930s storyline, which were less compelling. So probably I will read the next one, but you should know about the need to read #2 to get any answers if that is going to bug you! 3/5 stars
Sadie
Sadie is a teenager who has pretty much always had a difficult life, basically raising her sister because of her mom's drug addiction, shady boyfriends, and eventual abandonment of their trailer park home. She's doing her best by her sister, but everything completely crumbles when Mattie is found dead, and the police turn up no answers - but Sadie thinks she has some. She sets off on her own to track down the killer and bring him to justice herself, but with chapters alternating to the narration of a true-crime podcast about Mattie's cold case as well as Sadie's, the reader learns that Sadie has become a missing girl too. What made this story a great puzzle was how what you read about Sadie's journey in one chapter is just being uncovered by the investigative podcast reporter in the next segment, so you get two perspectives on the same events. Be warned, though - this one is quite gritty, with the child abuse that the sisters have faced, the tough situations that Sadie encounters on the way, the flashbacks of her memories of a terrible stepfather, and how vengeful she seems (though justified!). Definitely an engrossing page turner that feels innovative though, and with characters that feel very real and gritty, especially Sadie being old beyond her years but still making immature choices, reminding us that she really is just a kid - so it was a highly enjoyable read from those perspectives. 4/5 stars
The Black Jersey
A la Murder on the Orient Express, in which one amongst a traveling group must be the killer - but who?! And how can he be stopped from striking again? - this story follows the stages of the Tour de France, where it appears someone is willing to kill in order to win. Marc Moreau, a French professional cyclist with a military detective past, is pulled in by the authorities to keep his eyes and ears open for suspicious characters among the riders, directors, and mechanics who travel along the route of the 3-week race, after a series of suspicious injuries, and even deaths, befall several riders. This all while he is competing in each grueling stage of the race as the second in command to his best friend, his team's American star (think fame and sponsorship and winning level of pre-disgrace Lance Armstrong). It moves kind of slowly at first, and it kept feeling a bit unrealistic because in real life I think they would have to just cancel the race if this kind of stuff was happening, but eventually I got quite drawn in by the descriptions of the highly contested race stages and the twists and turns of who seems suspicious, along with the deteriorating friendship of Marc and Steve, especially as Marc considers taking the win away from Steve, which is a huge deal on a cycling team like this. I received a free e-version of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review; it releases in June and could be a fun father's day gift, or something to pick up for anyone in your life who might enjoy the intersecting of their cycling (or sports) and mystery interests. It's a fun inside look at riding in a Tour for those who are interested in cycling, with a whodunit twist. 3/5 stars
The Word Is Murder
Here's a real puzzle of a murder mystery setup: a woman goes into a funeral home one day to plan her own service. Six hours later, she is dead - murdered in her own home. It makes for a pretty great setup, and a very puzzling situation for the police, who then bring in disgraced and temperamental former detective Daniel Hawthorne as a consultant to make sense of it all. But then what really makes this a fun read is that Hawthorne, looking for some extra cash, brings in an author to write about him, and publish a book about solving this crime. So what we're reading is the account of all of this from the writer's perspective - a writer who just happens to be named Anthony Horowitz, same as the author of the actual book, so it all turns very meta, especially as he name drops actual other things he's written or famous people he's worked with, and the whole time you're just dying to look up Anthony Horowitz and find out how much of this character is actually him and how much of it is for the story. A fun line between fiction and non, and though not the most likeable detective or thrilling plot, the novelty of it (yet not - they really are set up as a modern Sherlock Holmes + Watson team) really hooked me. If you like a classic detective story, definitely give this inventive twist on the genre a try. 4/5 stars
Into the Night
I really enjoyed Sarah Bailey's first book, The Dark Lake, kind of in the vein of the Tana French and related detective books that I love (think The Dry, Faithful Place, etc.), so I was excited about installment #2 in the series... and unfortunately was a little disappointed. Part of what I love about books like The Dark Lake and the others mentioned above is how the current investigation is intertwined with some long-buried secret of the detective's past. Without that element to this newer book, it just fell a bit flat, leaving me feel like Detective Gemma Woodstock just had a bit depth, and a bit less empathy inducement. But the mystery is an interesting whodunit, I'll give it that: during the filming of a street scene of a high-profile zombie movie, a young heart-throb actor is stabbed to death. Thus everything is caught on tape, so the perpetrator should be one of a limited set of people and be identifiable - but of course the case doesn't turn out to be so simple. Gemma and her colleagues have to figure out which of the fellow actors and supposed friends they can trust - all the while, Gemma is dealing with having moved to a new city, leaving her son with her ex. This was actually one of the most compelling parts of the story, looking at how she handles her love of career and drive alongside her deep self-doubt as a mother and her self-destructive tendencies that go along with all of these conflicted feelings, even if all of these things do make her an occasionally frustrating character. Bottom line, if you like conflicted lady detectives like I do, pick it up, but there are others that I prefer... 3/5 stars
My other absolute favorite recent whodunit is One of Us Is Lying - making YA mystery the new category I want to read everything in! - and so I'm hoping that the author's new release, Two Can Keep a Secret, lives up to that enjoyment. I'll find out after the million person library holds list clears out...
**Note for any book lovers out there who might like to read along with one of my next picks**
Dana and I are going to be posting the second installment of our Blogger Reads: One Book, Two Takes series on May 5, and you're invited to link up a post on our May selection as well! We're going to be reading Taylor Jenkins Reid's new release, Daisy Jones & the Six, of which I have heard many good things. Check out the previous post in the series to see the Q&A form that we'll be using again, if you'd like to follow that format.Sharing on Show Us Your Books.
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