By Lucy Carver (MacMillan Children’s Books)
This is the second in the Lucy Carver series about Alyssa, a scholarship pupil at posh St Jude’s Academy in the English countryside.
Alyssa is drawn into another murder and her eidetic memory leaves her pondering the leads on why a local comprehensive (government) school girl might have died.
During her investigation, Alyssa receives texts and is targeted by a Facebook bully, which leads her to the conclusion the killer is someone close to home. So far, so teen horror movie.
Which of her schoolmates can it be?
My biggest gripe is that the plot is a tad transparent and I guessed the killer long before the end.
I was somewhat nauseated by the teen lovefest that is Alyssa’s perfect relationship with tennis star, Jack – absolutely nothing nuanced about it.
And as a mom of teens, I found myself wondering if it was strictly PC to write (however obliquely) about youngsters ending up in bed together in dorms at boarding school.
Teen lit sure has changed since my day if that’s the case, and I’m pretty sure school librarians will think twice about stocking the book for this reason.