Hanging by a Thread by Sophie Littlefield

Coming back to her hometown of Winston hasn't been the happy homecoming that Clare had hoped it would be. Her father has moved on with a new life, her mother and her grandmother barely talk, and her old best friend Rachel seems to have changed in different ways. The town is also gripped by the threat of a serial killer: two years ago a boy was killed, one year ago a girl disappeared. The anniversary of that date is coming up, and no one knows what might happen. Clare also has a secret gift - the ability to touch a piece of clothing and relive the memories and experiences of the wearer. A torn and bloodied jacket has recently come into her possession...could it be a clue to solving the mystery?

I quite enjoyed this story. There was a wonderful old-school Lois Duncan vibe to it while being thoroughly modern at the same time. Clare is a likeable heroine who deals with things both down to earth (trying to get her mom and grandmother into the same room) and otherworldly (figuring out how to deal with her psychic gift). She does some questionable things (particularly when she's around the missing girl's old boyfriend, a suspect in her disappearance) and rarely thinks of her own safety, but in a way that makes sense for a teenager who is slowly becoming overwhelmed by her circumstances. I could see this book being an excellent pilot for a series and it would have fit in perfectly among the psychic/special talent crime solvers who had TV shows not that long ago. A solid pick for mystery fans who like a bit of the supernatural (but not vampires or werewolves).

Check out Sophie Littlefield's website. 

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Random House.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan
A Bad Day for Mercy by Sophie Littlefield
Vintage Veronica by Erica Perl

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

Kendall knows exactly what to expect in her small-town life. She's grown up with the same people, done the same things, and thought the same thoughts. She dreams of a life beyond Cryer's Cross - a life where she can study dance and never have to hear about potato farming again. Then Cryer's Cross is rocked by the mysterious disappearance of a young girl..and just when things are settling back into a routine, someone close to Kendall disappears as well. Everyone fears the worst, and Kendall struggles to find the strength to keep on living. One of her distractions comes from the new guy in town, Jacian,  a moody loner who gets under Kendall's skin. As she struggles to understand the mystery of long-buried secrets, Kendall herself might just be in danger.

Cryer's Cross mixes real-life things like college applications, relationships, and obsessive-compulsive disorder with an eerie, other-worldly twist. Kendall's life is made up of routines; some routines are put on her by nature, like the potato harvest each fall, while other routines are ones caused by her OCD that she must do to keep dangerous thoughts away. I can't comment on how accurately McMann portrays a character with OCD, but she did do a great job of creating a character who slips in and out of rationality. She is deliberate in her actions and precise in her words; she won't even call her best friend Nico her boyfriend because she can't promise the future commitment that that implies. As she spends time with Jacian, though, she starts opening up more of herself. The two are attracted to each other (I don't think that that needs a spoiler alert - almost any time that a guy and a girl clash so hard in the first part of a novel will have them attracted to each other before very long) but it's complicated - both Kendall and Jacian have their own issues that they need to work through. This book is for people who like the creepy, ghosty kind of supernatural more than the action-packed vampire or zombie supernatural; it would be a good read-alike for someone who likes the supernatural mysteries of Lois Duncan or Mary Downing Hahn.


Check out Lisa McMann's website.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan
Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn
Dead to You by Lisa McMann

The Mount Rushmore Face that Couldn't See by Steve Brezenoff

Cat and her friends Egg, Gum, and Sam are on a field trip to see Mount Rushmore. It was a long, hot trip to get there, but once they see the presidential faces carved into the side of the mountain, it makes the journey all worthwhile. But then things start going wrong. Their tour guide is tied up - literally tied up - in his cabin, people start shouting about a ghost, and spooky stuff starts happening at night. Cat might only be in the sixth grade, but it's up to her to solve this mystery...before things get even worse!

This book, part of the Field Trip Mysteries series, combines a gentle mystery with lots of facts about Mount Rushmore. When I first saw a thumbnail of the cover, there was something about the girl's clothing (her longer skirt and hairstyle) as well as the lack of cars, buildings, or anything around that made me think that this book took place in a long ago time. It doesn't, though; it's firmly set in the modern day. The book includes a bit of very balanced information about why there might be controversy over Mount Rushmore; all of the information is at a very appropriate age level for the target audience. Cat and her friends are intrepid sleuths in the way that fictional children sometimes are (see everyone from Encyclopedia Brown to Theodore Boone to the Babysitters Club) and they don't really do anything that's too outlandish. Some parts of the mystery reminded me of elements of Murder, She Wrote episodes, but being the major MSW fan that I am, I mean that in the best way possible. A solid pick for school classrooms, school libraries, and public libraries to consider for their collections.

See more information about Steve Brezenoff at his website. 

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Capstone.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
The Ghost Who Haunted the Capitol by Steve Brezenoff
The Crook Who Crossed the Golden Gate Bridge by Steve Brezenoff
On the Bus, On the Case by Steve Brezenoff

Treasure in the Graveyard by Roberto Pavanello illustrated by Blasco Pisapia

Echo, a mystery-writing bat, likes living in a cemetery because of all of the peace and quiet. Then one night he hears something suspicious... and before he knows it he's flying for his life! That's how he meets his three best friends: Becca, Michael, and Tyler. These three siblings each have special talents and abilities that will help Echo figure out what is going on in the cemetery...and how to stop whoever is behind it.

A graveyard is a great setting for a story. It has a certain creepiness while still being a believable place for kids to be able to visit. The chapters are a good length - not too long so as to scare readers off, but not too short that getting through the chapters isn't an accomplishment. The full-colour illustrations, many of them full-pages, also provide the book with a cartoon-like energy. This looks like it will be a good series for young readers who like mysteries in the Scooby Doo vein; look for these meddling kids to thwart one mystery after another (with the help of their new bat friend).

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Capstone Young Readers.


See more of Roberto Pavanello's work at his (Italian) website.


Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Katie Woo Rules the School by Fran Manushkin
Fangs! by Alan MacDonald
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Midnight Witches by Robert Pavanello

Floors by Patrick Carman

Leo's day starts out like a pretty ordinary day. Well, that is, an ordinary day in the Whippet Hotel. Owned by Merganzer Whippet, a billionare inventor with a love for ducks, the Whippet is home to wild rooms like the Pinball Room or the Cake Room, has live ducks living in a pond on the roof, and has talking robots living within a special robot room. While dealing with the ducks, Leo discovers a mysterious purple package; it has his name on it. Inside are clues to a mysterious quest that Leo must finish in two days. But the clues are not straightforward... will Leo be able to figure it out? He'll need a little luck, a little help, and it never hurts to bring a duck.

This book won me over. I found the beginning to be a bit slow; there was lots of wacky details, but I had a hard time putting the pieces together. I read fifty pages, though, and something kept me going for the next fifty. Then I set the book down and did something else, and in the mean time I realized that I was wondering about Leo and the Whippet and the whole adventure. The book had crept into my brain! The book has its own internal logic that I still couldn't quite follow, which kept me from puzzling out too much of the story. I liked the blossoming friendship between Leo and Remi (and the moments of frustration that Leo felt rang completely true), the relationship that Leo and his Dad have, and the competence that Leo displays throughout the book. There's a pretty hiss-worthy villian in Ms. Sparks (although I tired of her pretty quickly, the book needs someone like her posing a threat to the boys) and a magically mysterious semi-presence through the specter of Merganzer Whippet. This is a good book to hand fans of other puzzling books (The Westing Game comes to mind).  Looking at the cover of the first book (and the cover of the second book, due out this September), it seems like this is going to be a series of at least three books. Bring it on!

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Floors #2: 3 Below by Patrick Carman
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin

The Mystery of the Messed-Up Wedding by Elspeth Campbell Murphy illustrated by Chris Wold Dyrud

Sarah-Jane, Timothy and Titus are cousins who also like to solve mysteries. That's why they formed the Three Cousins Detective Club! They're visiting their grandparents and there's going to be a wedding a their Grandpa's church (he's a Pastor). Sarah-Jane is excited, because she thinks weddings are wonderful; Timothy and Titus think that weddings are weird. Before the wedding, the groom shows up to say that the wedding ring is missing! The three cousins are on the case! But instead of finding the ring, they discover that the bridge/groom topper has been inverted into the cake, and someone is popping the balloons on the wedding car. Someone is out to stop the wedding, but can the T.C.D.C. stop that person before it's too late?

Caution: spoilers below!

When I was younger, I read one of the books in this series (mysteries based on the Ten Commandments); I think it might have been The Mystery of the Laughing Cat.  Later, when I realized what the word meant, I wondered how a children's book would cover the topic of "You shall not commit adultery." The answer is: vaguely.  Before heading to the wedding, the family discusses their favourite Bible verses (including the Ten Commandments). Titus asks what adultery is, and Grandpa answers: "That commandment is a special law for husbands and wives, Titus. When two people get married they make an important promise to God and to each other. They promise they will love each other - and only each other - in a special way. That's why people wear wedding rings The rings show that the people have made a promise. Adultery is when the promise is broken." The ring is used in this book as a promise between the bride and the groom. When the ring went missing I had hoped (foolishly) that the real thief was someone the groom was having an affair with, but of course it wasn't. This book does a great job at balancing a grown-up topic in a children's book. The mystery is a bit flimsier, mainly because aside from the cousins, their grandparents and the groom there's really only one other character who's even introduced. But, at only 40 pages, what more could really be done in this book? The series is long out of print but if you're curious about it you might be able to find it at a library or bookstore.

Check out Elspeth Campbell Murphy's website. 

Find it at Amazon. 

Read it with:
The Mystery of the Laughing Cat by Elspeth Campbell Murphy
The Mystery of the Gravestone Riddle by Elspeth Campbell Murphy
The Mystery of the Carousel Horse by Elspeth Campbell Murphy

One Moment by Kristina McBride

Maggie has been looking forward to the summer for a long time. She's sure that it's going to be full of great days hanging out with her friends and her boyfriend, Joey. But Memorial Day weekend changes everything. Joey dies in a horrible accident, and Maggie is the only one who knows what happens in his last moments. But her memory has blocked out those events, and she has no answers for her friends, Joey's parents, or herself. As she tries to discover what went on in those final moments, she uncovers a number of secrets being kept by people she thought were her closest friends. One moment can change everything...and Maggie isn't sure what to do next.

(Mild spoilers below)

Kristina McBride is very skilled at writing about the death of a teen who was so full of life. His closest friends experience the horror of watching him die, his family searches for answers, and there's a rush to remember him as a perfect person (followed by a tentative emergence of their less-than-ideal qualities). This comes out so well in Maggie's descriptions of Joey and how, when you think about them, you can see some jerkish qualities (or, to put it less harshly, some human qualities) in her glowing description of him. At times it felt like the book was framed as a mystery (with 'what happened?' being the unanswered question), but that approach didn't quite work for me because I felt like if it was going for mystery the first part of the book gave too much away. I had a pretty good idea of what happened between Maggie and Joey, and so rather than information being revealed I felt the story unfolded. I found it more useful to keep coming back to the the idea of "one moment." One moment Joey was alive... and then he wasn't. One moment Maggie had everything she wanted...and then she didn't. One moment really can change things, even when it's not strictly a matter of life and death.


Check out Kristina McBride's website.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Egmont USA.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride
Freefall by Ariela Anhalt
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Emerson sees things that no one else can see. They're not ghosts, exactly, but more like representations of people from the past - southern belles, soldiers, musicians. When you touch them they pop and disappear, which is an unsettling experience. Emerson has been seeing them for years - since around the time that her parents died in a terrible accident. Now she lives with her brother and sister-in-law and is trying to keep everything under control. That's when Michael Weaver enters her life. He says he can help her, but what does that mean? How does he understand her so well? And what is Emerson supposed to do about the deep attraction that she feels toward him?

Once I got into this book, I had a very hard time putting it down. Luckily, I read it during the 48 Hour Reading Challenge, so I was able to read it all in one sitting. It had come highly recommended by a librarian colleague of mine, and I can see why. It's a great mix of the supernatural and science fiction, romance and adventure. I have no idea if the science put forward in this book is even possible, but that's so besides the point (at least for me, and probably for most readers who pick it up). The southern setting, the characters, and the storyline make it a natural for a screen adaptation of some kind. I'm looking forward to picking up the sequel, Timepiece, particularly because I want to know more about Kaleb, one of the minor (but important) characters from Hourglass.

Check out Myra McEntire's website.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Timepiece by Myra McEntire
The Time-Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Summer at Forsaken Lake by Michael D. Beil

Nicholas isn't sure how great his summer is going to be. His parents (recently divorced) have sent him and his sisters to their Great-Uncle Nick's place on Forsaken Lake. After living all of his life in New York, Nicholas isn't convinced that small-town life will have anything to offer him. Of course, that's before he discovers his love of sailing, the girl with an amazing pitching arm, and all of his father's secrets. Nicholas' dad spent his summers with Uncle Nick, and now Nicholas is uncovering a part of his dad's life that he never knew about. Secrets have a way of coming to the surface...but are some things better left hidden?

As much as I enjoyed this book as an adult (and I did), I think I might have loved it even more if I'd read it as a child. Yes, that would involve a bit of time traveling, but I can see it really appealing to a younger me. The possibility and excitement of a new life, even temporarily, is one of the great things about a summer setting. Nicholas, as a character, is engaging and strong; Charlie, the girl with the great arm, shines as a girl who can do anything that the boys can do (and, in many cases, do it a lot better). Their growing friendship strikes the right notes of affection and awkwardness. While I loved where this book ended (and think it ended on just the right note), I wouldn't be sad to see a sequel. Something tells me that Forsaken Lake has enough secrets and mysteries (and character) to sustain a few more summer adventures.

(The review copy I read didn't have the final artwork in it, so I'm looking forward to seeing what the illustrations look like.)

Check out Michael D. Beil's website and see his own version of "The Seaweed Strangler."

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Random House.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamodour by Michael D. Beil
One Crazy Summer by Rita Garcia-Williams
Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn

The Mystery of the Silly Goose by Elspeth Campbell Murphy

Timothy, Sarah-Jane, and Titus are more than just cousins; they also solve mysteries around their neighbourhood. They've created the Three Cousins Detective Club (TCDC) and often find themselves in the middle of one mystery or another. When Lyddie, an older girl who isn't always very nice to the three of them, tells them that she needs their help, they have no idea what to expect. Lawn ornaments have gone missing from lawns all over the neighbourhood, including Lyddie's grandmother's darling goose. She wants the TCDC to find out what happened and bring the goose back. The TCDC isn't sure where to start, but the lawn ornaments won't be gone for long once they're on the case!

Years ago, when I was a young girl, I read a series of books that were based on the Ten Commandments. Years later this information surfaced to the front of my brain and I discovered the work of Elspeth Campbell Murphy. I don't think that I read any of the Three Cousins Detective Club books as a child, but there was something about them that seemed like it could have been familiar. The book started with a Biblical quote from Proverbs, but that was really the only overt mention of The Bible or religion in the book. There were themes of living an honest life and being true and fair with your actions, but it was worked into the life and behaviours of the characters. The mystery isn't too scary and the kids are never in danger; they use their head to piece information together and never do anything that goes against their moral compass. This series is, I believe, out of print, but if you are looking for Bible-inspired titles or books like that for young readers, do look up the work of Elspeth Campbell Murphy.

Find out more about Elspeth Campbell Murphy at her website.

Find it at Amazon. 

Read it with:
The Mystery of the White Elephant by Elspeth Campbell Murphy
The Mystery of the Silent Nightingale by Elspeth Campbell Murphy
The Mystery of Wrong Dog by Elspeth Campbell Murphy

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Nick and Amy have been married for five years. It's the day of their fifth wedding, in fact, when Amy goes missing. Their house is a mess and shows signs of a struggle...and Nick can't account for his whereabouts. Over the next few hours family, police, and the media get involved and Nick and Amy's seemingly-perfect life starts to crack away. Told in two voices (Nick's increasingly unbelievable one and Amy's diary entries), this is not the story you think you know.

This is going to be a terrible post (or, at the very least, a short post), because I don't want to say anything. The less you know about this book, the better it is to discover as you're reading. I knew very little going into to and was glad because I could experience the twists as they came (and boy are there twists). Once I started reading, I couldn't put the book down. So go, read it, and then tell other people to read it so you can talk about it.

See more about Gillian Flynn at her website.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Crown Publishing Group/Random House.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Murder, She Wrote: Trouble at High Tide by Donald Bain

Jessica Fletcher, world-famous mystery novelist and occasional real-life mystery solver, is ready for a bit of vacation. She accepts the invitation of a high powered judge (someone who shares her publisher) to spend some time at his Bermuda estate. Sun, sand, and solitude - that's just what Jessica is looking forward to. But she's barely been there 24 hours before a murder is discovered: the judge's beloved niece. Even worse, Bermuda is experiencing a wave of Jack the Ripper-inspired murders. Could the same killer have attacked the judge's niece? Or is the murderer much closer at hand?

After a long week at work, I was so ready to curl up with the latest Murder, She Wrote novel. I slipped quickly into the pages and surrounded myself with Jessica Fletcher's gentle judgement and moral compass. The murder came quickly and a number of people were reasonable suspects with believable motives. I liked learning about the details of life in Bermuda (like families are only allowed to have one car), although I did pause at the mention of "Wikipedia" in the resource acknowledgements. As an added bonus Jessica's frequent investigative partner and sometime beau Chief Inspector George Sullivan of Soctland Yard makes an appearance in this book (tied into the Jack the Ripper investigation aspect). I enjoy him, and a part of me hopes that in an upcoming book he and Jessica will finally take a step forward with their circling romance.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Murder, She Wrote: The Fine Art of Murder by Donald Bain
Murder, She Wrote: Majoring in Murder by Donald Bain
Murder, She Wrote: Dying to Retire by Donald Bain

Ruby Redfort: Look into My Eyes by Lauren Child

Clarice Bean's favourite series is finally a book that the rest of us can read. Meet Ruby Redfort: precocious child, code-breaker, and now a secret agent. The super-secret spy agency SPECTRUM has recruited her to help crack a case...but has Ruby bit off more than she can chew?

I love the story of how this book came to be. According to Lauren Child, so many people (kids) wrote to her asking if Ruby Redfort was a real book and if not, could she write it? So she did. Ruby is a fun character and the book has an energy that's like The Myserious Benedict Society mixed with Turtle from The Westing Game (and multiplied by Clarice Bean). I don't think that I fully understood everything that happened in the book (there were a few too many characters and a few too many twists), but it was a fun ride and I never doubted that (does this even need a spoiler alert?) Ruby would triumph at the end. It's easy to see why she's so popular with Clarice Bean, and I have no doubt that this will be a popular book with real-life children, too.

See more at Lauren Child's website.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Candlewick.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Clarice Bean, That's Me by Lauren Child
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Rush for Gold: Mystery at the Olympics by John Feinstein

Being aspiring reporters means that Susan Carol and Stevie are often in the right place at the wrong time...or the right place at the right time to foil someone else's plot. Susan Carol also has other special skills. She's a top swimmer who is on track to compete at the Summer Olympics in London. It should be a wonderful time, but she's weighed down by agents and coaches and everything that goes along with being an elite athlete. But it's more than that; is it possible that there's an international conspiracy going on in her event? Susan Carol and Stevie have solved mysteries before...but this time it's personal.

This is a great tie-in with the upcoming Summer Olympics. I love reading novels about athletes and the Olympics. Susan Carol and Stevie are both highly motivated, smart characters with believable moments of naivete. It was a little weird to see real life people (mainly swimmers) appearing in the story as fictional characters; I don't know why this strikes me as stranger more than in movies, but it does. Overall, though, it's a fun sports story with a bit of a mystery and a friendship (and possibly more) between two likeable teen characters.

Check out John Feinstein's website.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Random House.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Go for the Gold by Elizabeth Levy
Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery by John Feinstein
Beneath the Surface by Michael Phelps

172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad

NASA is going back to the moon to set up a long-abandoned base called DARLAH 2. NASA stopped sending astronauts to the moon decades ago...so what would make them want to go back? In order to cover up the real reasons for their trip - and to gain some money and publicity - they host a lottery to find three teens to take into space. It's the opportunity of a lifetime for the three winners: Mia from Norway, Antoine from France, and Midori from Japan. Before long the three are training for their space adventure...but it quickly becomes clear that NASA hasn't told them everything.

With the set-up of sending teenagers into space, you know that things aren't going to go well. I kept waiting for the book to shock me, and while I think the elements were there, when reading the book I felt a series of whimpers, not a bang, and I was really expecting a bang. Maybe this had to do with it being a translation, although in general I think that the book read very well. The short chapters kept me reading along at a fast pace, wanting to know what came next. A lot of time was spent in the first part of the book introducing the teenagers, although I felt like I knew more about Mia than either of the other two. I can see this book working very well as a movie, or (perhaps even better, though much more unlikely) a TV series - as long as it was in the hands of exactly the right person. I did like the blending of real-life events and fictional (I assume!) twists, as well as the more Lost-like elements of shared experiences and hidden codes. The cover design definitely got me interested in the story, and I think teens looking for a sci-fi supernatural read will definitely be interested in this book.

Check out the book's website.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Moonshot by Brian Floca
Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity by Dave Roman

The Girl in the Park by Mariah Fredericks

Wendy and Rain were opposites in many ways, and now they're opposites in one more: Rain is alive, and Wendy is dead. She was killed in Central Park after leaving a party. As the media starts to tell a sensational story of a dead party girl and their high school whispers about Wendy's wild ways, Rain is determined to show everyone the Wendy that she knew. She doesn't believe that Wendy's death was an accident, and the only way to prove that is to find the real killer.

This book oozes atmosphere in a really great way. The exclusive New York prep school has an elite, claustrophobic air. Wendy exists through snatches of memories and stories; I never feel like I really get to know her, only the her that we see through the eyes of others. The mystery part of the story wasn't as strong to me (possibly because I identified the killer early on), but I was more than willing to stick with Rain as she explored suspects and motives. There are a number of neat choices that Mariah Fredericks makes, like keeping the main suspect in Wendy's death (another girl's boyfriend who Wendy had publicly gone after) 'offstage' until the last part of the novel. If readers are looking for a book filled with secrets and lies, definitely check this one out.


See more about Mariah Fredericks at her website.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Random House Children's Books. 

Read it with:
Crunch Time by Mariah Fredericks
All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Swift Edge: A Mystery by Laura DiSilverio

Charlie Swift is skeptical when a young figure skater shows up at her office. The girl, Dara Peterson, is desperate - her partner Dmitri Fane has gone missing and the Olympics are only weeks away; the US National Champions are even sooner. Lots of people think that Dmitri has just gone away to clear his head (or is hidden away with a new boyfriend), but Dara knows that something is wrong. Charlie accepts the case and soon finds herself immersed in the strange world of figure skating. There are a lot of people who are happier with Dmitri gone, including Peterson and Fane's biggest rivals. But Dmitri might have been up to more that just triple jumps, and as the bodies start piling up Charlie Swift could be in mortal danger. Good thing she had an extra-large Pepsi to start the day.

I picked this book up for the figure skating aspect of it rather than being attracted to the mystery part, so that's the lens that I'm viewing it with. There were parts that made a lot of sense (such as being set in Colorado Springs, home to one of the biggest US training centres and some top-level coaches) and then details that didn't (such as the focus on the National Competition being incredibly important when the US would almost definitely have two entries to the Olympic Games, so it wouldn't matter who won Nationals, or the idea of a pairs team doing side-by-side triple axels), but I think only a big skating fan would make a note of these issues. The mystery gets a bit convoluted as more characters are introduced, but plots and suspects dovetail and tie-in nicely, building to a big finish. Charlie maintains her sarcastic tone but also displays the characteristics that make her good at her job. Gigi, her partner, often plays for comic relief, but she's given enough of a back-story to make me root for her and want her to succeed. Many reviewers have written that this is a good pick for fans of Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich, so if you like those writers be sure to give Laura DiSilverio a try.

See more at Laura DiSilverio's website.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Swift Justice by Laura DiSilverio
Swift Run by Laura DiSilverio
Murder She Wrote: Skating on Thin Ice by Donald Bain

The Other Side of Suffering by John Ramsey

John Ramsey knows why you know his name. On December 26, 1996, his daughter JonBenet was reported kidnapped from her bed; she was later found murdered in their basement. While John and his family lived in a world of grief, they also lived under the shadow of suspicion by the Boulder Police Department. The police thought that John and his wife Patsy were the most likely suspects, and tabloids soon published all kinds of outlandish stories naming John and his family as the guilty parties. Over a decade later, John and Patsy were finally cleared of all suspicion in a formal announcement where it was revealed that there had never been any evidence that connected them to the crime. How could a family stand it? How could John Ramsey deal with so much tragedy in his life and come through to the other side of suffering? This is his story of how his life changed and shattered and how his faith in God helped him to put the pieces back together.

I was twelve at the time of Christmas 1996, so I have very strong memories of the Ramsey murder case. I remember the way that the media tore into the story; I remember the images splashed all over televisions and tabloids. This book, while about John Ramsey's journey of suffering and healing, starts out with and spends a fair amount of time on the loss of his youngest daughter. There are details that I knew along with things that I had known at the time but forgotten (such as John losing his oldest daughter in an accident only years before) and things that I never knew about the family (like how they never went back into their Boulder home after leaving it after the murder was discovered). The book talks a lot about John's religious faith and how it has provided comfort and guidance to him over the last two decades. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he frequently goes to the book of Job, but it's clear that his faith is something that is very deeply a part of his identity. This will be a book that will be of interest to readers of true crime as well as people looking for spiritual guidance through tough times.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of FaithWords.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
The Death of Innocence by John and Patsy Ramsay
JonBenet: Inside the Murder Investigation by Steve Thomas with Don Davis
Madeleine by Kate McCann

The Invitation by Diane Hoh

Cass throws the hottest party of the year and only the hottest kids in towns are invited. This year her parents are out of town, she has a brand new sauna, and an awesome band is going to be playing. But to make sure it's a party that no one forgets, she also has something special planned...something different. Sarah and her four friends were surprised to receive invitations; they aren't in Cass's group of friends at all. Sarah doesn't really want to attend, but her friends convince her to go. It will be a night that none of them ever forget.

(Some spoilers below.)

The Invitation starts off a bit slowly as it introduces characters and sets up the plot, but once the story got going I didn't want to put it down. Some elements were predictable (of course Sarah and her friends weren't invited because Cass was trying to be friendly), but trying to figure out who was behind the creepy turn of events made for a nice suspenseful mystery. Who was the real target? Several of the guests had people from their past who might have been the culprit. I didn't know that this was an older book until I was finished reading it (it looks like it was originally published in 1991), but that accounts for some of the questions/observations that I had while reading the book (for example, why don't these kids call each other on cell phones? And I think something that is described as a huge source of shame in the book is something that, while still illegal, would be less of a big deal now). Still, even with those time differences, this is a creepy, suspenseful mystery for kids who like to read books that might scare them just a little bit.

(The eBook file that I was reading had a number of spelling/typographical errors, but it was also clearly marked as an uncorrected proof, so I do hope that that gets addressed before it's released.)

I read a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Open Road Media.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
The Silent Scream by Diane Hoh
Virus by Diane Hoh
The Accident by Diane Hoh

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Rory is really looking forward to starting her new life in London. Wexford Academy promises to be an incredible scholastic environment and she's sure to meet lots of new friends. But she didn't count on London being in the grips of terror. A murderer is terrorizing the city by reenacting the Jack the Ripper murders. As the violence gets closer and closer to Wexford, Rory discovers that she might have a deeper connection with these murders - and that no one around her is safe.

It was quite easy to forget about the Jack the Ripper aspect of the book when I started reading. The first third of the book involves a lot of scene building and introductions: Wexford, students and teachers, London details. This makes sense, because this is the first book in the Shades of London series. But Maureen Johnson has a talent for changing the atmosphere at a moment's notice; one minute there's a school dance and everything's fun and light, and the next minute there's a life and death situation. It's not that it's jarring; the lack of a set-up sometimes enhances the drama, like anything can happen at any time. Speaking of jarring, though, I was listening to the audiobook and when the narration (Rory's voice when not in actual dialogue) has no accent, but Rory's voice has a strong Louisiana accent. So every time she actually started speaking, it felt a bit off. But the book itself was a fun adventure and I'm interested in seeing where the series goes from here.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
Portrait of a Killer by Patricia Cornwell