The Murder Notebooks

April 1, 2012
A bumpy series opener takes readers to modern London. After a disastrous year at boarding school, 17-year-old Rose Smith has transferred to a dodgy local high school in London. The disappearance of her mother and mother's boyfriend five years earlier has landed her with her posh grandmother, who forbids her to see the boyfriend's son, Joshua. Just as Rose and Joshua reconnect, Rose's classmates start turning up dead, and she can't resist the temptation to investigate on her own, even when it puts her in danger. Meanwhile, Joshua draws Rose closer in his own pursuit of the truth about their parents' disappearance, leading Rose to struggle with conflicting feelings that will resonate with readers of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. Rose's thorny personality--several characters tell her that she's hard to like--is only partially mitigated by stiff, third-person glimpses into her personality. In clipped sentences, this formulaic mystery supplies the usual panoply of suspects and red herrings. The plot is awkwardly elliptical; crucial historical details are withheld from readers until nearly halfway through the tale, and repeated allusions to a devastating betrayal at boarding school are never explained. As the first installment in the Murder Notebooks series, the tale leaves most questions still unanswered. For murder-mystery fans, there is enough suspense to keep the pages turning, but this story is not likely to convert teens to the genre. (Mystery. 12 & up)

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May 1, 2012

Gr 7-10-At 17, Rose Smith still wonders what happened to her mom and stepdad, who disappeared when she was 12. She lives in London with her grandmother, and her stepbrother, Joshua Jackson, has just come there to study and lives with an uncle. One evening, Rose runs into her tormenter, Ricky Harris, who insults her and is murdered minutes later. After the investigation is underway, Rose goes to meet a friend, but she has been killed as well. With two mysterious deaths and Rose's missing parents, the stage is set for a fast-paced mystery. With the help of Josh's friend, Skeggsie, a hacker wiz, the two murders are solved, and the outcome will keep readers guessing. But is there a connection between the murders and the disappearance of Rose and Josh's parents? Readers will have to wait for the next installment to find out. The mystery is easy to follow, and the thorny relationship between Rose and her critical, socialite grandmother and the renewed and supportive relationship between the teens are well drawn.-Karen Alexander, Lake Fenton High School, Linden, MI

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