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Family

Review

The Murder Party

by Dodie Ownes

June’s older sister Lily is perfect—gets all A’s in school, has a gorgeous boyfriend, and is respectful to Ma and Pa and their Asian heritage—while June is messy, not a scholar, and questions everything. When Lily dies in an accident involving a malfunctioning prop knife during a secret Murder Club, her family is devastated, and June blames herself, since she knew that her sister was sneaking out at night. But something doesn’t seem right, and with the help of best friend Zoey and cute guy Alex, she starts to put together the pieces and decides to throw a Murder Club of her own. As June continues to pull on the strings holding together the lie about what happened on the night Lily died, we discover that her sister’s perfect circle of friends are anything but that. June wants justice for her sister and is willing to put herself at risk to out Lily’s murderer, no matter the cost. Author He constructs a tightly wound thriller against the backdrop of high-school reality with a shocking conclusion that will leave readers breathless.—Dodie Ownes

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Review

Beth is Dead

by Dodie Ownes

Readers will find all the timeless themes of Louise May Alcott’s Little Women—family, independence, selflessness, love, ambition and sisterhood—in Katie Bernet’s debut YA novel, but in a contemporary setting with all the flair and complications of modern life. Mr. March, a hopelessly optimistic writer, pens a thinly disguised novel about his family, including his four daughters Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. He feels it is his masterpiece, but the book is quickly disparaged as an unfair exposé. Most importantly, Beth dies in the novel, which results in him getting death threats; for the family’s safety, he goes into hiding. Even with all this publicity swirling, the March girls and their mother keep their heads up, and Beth and Amy even go to a New Year’s Eve party. When Jo discovers Beth’s bed empty the next morning, she and Amy soon find her—dead, with a halo of blood around her head. Nearly everyone in town is a suspect, including the March sisters, who it seems have all been keeping their own secrets. Beth may have been having second thoughts about attending the prestigious Plumfield Academy, Meg could be in love with Beth’s piano tutor, Amy and her cousin Florence’s art talent may not be the primary interest of their mentor, and Jo’s journalistic nose for clues is quite useful. Each chapter alternates among the sisters, offering “Then” and “Now” points of view, adding to the story’s layers. This has all the romance and heart of the original, with clever twists and darkness in the reimagined storyline. Readers are kept guessing until the very end as these little women find Beth’s killer

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Review

The Stalker

by Brian Kenney

nitially, this novel seems weighed down by clichés: the weak, timid wife; the macho, type-A husband; the island rumored to be haunted. But keep going and you will be rewarded with a top-rate thriller which is nothing as it seems. Liam and Laura chose to spend their honeymoon on a remote Scottish island, empty except for the two of them. Their lovely cottage is stuffed with a week’s worth of fine foods and wine, and all they plan to do is explore the island’s ancient burial sites and ruined castle. Until things start to get weird—is someone in the bushes watching them?—and they wake to find a message scratched into the window. Clearly they aren’t alone, and their one way of contact with the mainland, a satellite phone, is missing its charger. Then the electricity goes out. From there, it’s clear that their stalker isn’t playing trick or treat, he’s out to murder them. You would expect this book to end with a face-off between the newlyweds and the villain, but a 180-degree twist ends up rewriting the whole book, leaving readers absolutely stunned.

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