DEADLY COOL by Gemma Halliday
Fiction, YA, Cozy Mystery
5*****
Blurb: Hartley Grace Featherstone is having a very bad day. First she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club. Then he’s pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And if that weren’t enough, now he’s depending on Hartley to clear his name. Seriously? Not cool. But as much as Hartley wouldn’t mind seeing him squirm, she knows he’s innocent, and she’s the only one who can help him. Along with her best friend, Sam, and the school’s resident Bad Boy, Chase, Hartley starts investigating on her own. But as the dead bodies begin to pile up, the mystery deepens, the suspects multiply, and Hartley begins to fear that she may be the killer’s next victim.
Thoughts: This was a very different cozy mystery from the ones I usually read. The main characters are teens in high school. With all the teen angst that goes along with being sixteen/seventeen/etc. Throw in a couple of murders and you’ve got the makings for an interesting story.
In this one, Hartley’s boyfriend cheated on her… with the president of the chastity club, and the first dead body. Hartley is sure he didn’t do it, but he’s on the run and the cops are keeping a close eye on her in order to catch him. Meanwhile, Hartley and her best friend and the editor of the school newspaper go on the hunt for the real killer. Then Hartley discovers another body and things go from intense to dangerous. Especially for Hartley.
There’s all the stuff that goes into a cozy—clues, suspects, danger—in addition to being forced to sneak out of her house under her mother’s watchful eyes, trying to do her homework while chasing down clues, and more. All in all, a fun read and, maybe, a way to get teens more interested in cozy mysteries.
Recommended.
Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own are not solicited or influenced by anyone or anything.
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