Promise Boys by Nick Brooks

Posted on by lynndellwatson

School mystery!

At Urban Promise Prep school, strict rules keep the students in line, even to the point of harassment. Donations are given to the boys’ school in large amounts but students are told no when they ask for help with extracurricular activity funding. On a day when Principal Moore sent three teens to detention, he ends up being fatally shot and those three young men are blamed. Trey, J.B., and Ramon have to work together to clear their names. They also need help from others to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Likes/dislikes: I liked the mystery and the story behind it. I enjoyed how the suspense built throughout the story. The alternating narrative made the book more interesting.
Mature content: PG-13 for implied sex
Language: R for 110 swears and 12 f-bombs.
Violence: PG-13 for fatal shooting with description of blood when finding the victim.
Ethnicity: mixed-white, Black, Mexican-American

Go Hunt Me by Kelly deVos

Posted on by lynndellwatson
The ending is jaw-dropping!

Alex is in the hospital recovering from injuries. A police inspector wants to know what happened from the beginning of Alex’s trip to Romania until the present time and her reason for traveling there. Alex tells the story starting 153 days prior. She’s making a movie with her friends; a movie she wrote based on Dracula. The story then jumps to 46 days ago. Alex and her sister are helping with the family business while waiting for their Dad to get back to normal after cancer. She and her boyfriend Jax go to dinner and check their film school letters together. Jax has been accepted. Alex has been placed on the waitlist. From there, Alex and her six friends travel to Romania planning on creating a film that will get Alex into her dream school and help her become a movie director. What starts as an exciting adventurous idea quickly turns into a deadly few days as someone hunts them down. The ending is jaw-dropping! 4 stars!

Nonlinear timeline
Ethnicity: doesn’t specify white or otherwise only that the teens are American, European
Mature content: PG, abstinence
Violence: decapitation, bloody stabbing, bloody bashing in of head
Language: R, 24 f-bombs

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

Posted on by lynndellwatson
Morbidly fascinating!

Weird. Psychologically twisted. Wow… This story is a mystery in itself because of the narrators. As I read, I was unsure if I could trust any of the narrators. They all seem unreliable in some way. Ted, the man with extremely odd behavior and lifestyle, Olivia, Ted’s cat, and Dee, a woman who moved into Ted’s neighborhood who’s secretly looking for her younger sister that’s been missing for years. Ted supposedly has a daughter, Lauren. It’s difficult to decipher her age and maturity. Also, it seems that Ted’s mother handicapped Lauren so she’s unable to walk. It took me a few chapters to get into the story but then I needed to finish it to figure it all out. By the time, I read the entire book, I was fascinated, albeit a bit morbidly. I completely appreciate the author’s notes at the end of the book, explaining everything and making sense of it all and her spoiler alert at the beginning of her notes. So, don’t read her notes until after you’ve finished reading the book. She shares her research also, which is impressive! I want to read more of Catriona Ward’s books now. She wrote an intricate and complicated story, The Last House on Needless Street, showing the fragility and capabilities we all have within us. 5 stars!

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Posted on by lynndellwatson
Intricate, enjoyable mystery!

Pip is doing her Capstone Project on a five-year-old disappearance case that took place in her town. She isn’t sure that the case was truly solved. She introduces herself to everyone that she thinks was involved in Andie Bell’s disappearance and ruffles lots of feathers as she continues her investigation. Pip and Ravi become friends as they work on solving the mystery. Ravi’s older brother was accused of killing Andie and then committing suicide afterward. The amateur sleuths dive into the case and unravel a complicated weave of problems. Soon, Pip is receiving threats to stay away from the case and it seems that every time she finds a piece of evidence to someone’s guilt, she inevitably discovers more to the story. An enjoyable and intricate mystery, 5 stars!

Come Find Me by Megan Miranda

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Kennedy has lost her family in a shooting so she’s currently living with her uncle. Nolan’s brother, Liam, has been missing for two years and there doesn’t seem to be any clues to help find him. Kennedy and Nolan meet unexpectedly because of a weird radio signal that shows up while Kennedy is looking at her brother Elliott’s satellite equipment and while Nolan is reading an EMF monitor. The two of them work to figure out what has happened to their loved ones. Nolan is hoping to find Liam and Kennedy is hoping to find information that will clear Elliott’s supposed guilt of shooting their mother and her boyfriend Will. Nolan and Kennedy figure out connections that no one, not even police or detectives have been able to find. Eerie mystery that I couldn’t put down, 5 stars!

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

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The mystery begins early in the book and the story unravels backwards in a period of two weeks. I admire the author for her ability to make this work! I couldn’t put the book down and on Day 14, I kept wondering why and how Nicolette had the missing girl’s key. Down the rabbit hole I went. Nic (Nicolette) travels to her hometown to help with her father’s estate. When she arrives, she walks back into her past. Toxic acquaintances, loyal friends, twisted and changing relationships morph into one big mystery that’s lasted a decade. One mystery turns into two and somehow the mysteries are connected. Megan Miranda creates an ominous atmosphere with characters who readers are unsure of trusting. This is the second book that I have read by this author and she’s a capable and talented writer of mysteries! Highly recommended, couldn’t put it down, 5 stars!