The Boyfriend

 The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden, 2024 Penguin

     Online dating is not how any young woman dreams of meeting Mr. Right, especially Sydney Shaw. When her latest potential conquest is a flop of the highest caliber - including expecting favors in return for investing his time in their dinner plans - Sydney doesn't think life could get any worse. 

     Tom is a teenager struggling with his attraction to the beautiful Daisy Driscoll. As a sixteen-year-old he knows dating the police chief's daughter isn't in line with his dark desires to cause her harm. When one of their classmates goes missing, Daisy looks to Tom for protection even though his best friend, Slug, is a little bit creepy. Tom worships the ground that beautiful girl walks on. 
     She is proven wrong when she discovers her best friend Bonnie's mutilated and murdered body in her apartment. The murder drives the thirty-four-year-old to be ever more cautious of her surroundings and back to her police officer ex-boyfriend. Jake is investigating a serial murder and keeping tabs on Sydney when she meets and begins dating Dr. Thomas Brewer. Thomas had saved Sydney from her disastrous foray into online dating, but what is his connection to the 16-year-old Tom who is in love with Daisy. 

     As Sydney's and Tom's relationships grow and develop, the parallel investigations into so many deaths around both of them lead to some shocking conclusions. Whether those conclusions are truth, only time will tell. 

     The Boyfriend is a contemporary murder-mystery suspense told from two points of view in two timelines. Sydney surviving Bonnie's murder with her friend Gretchen, ex-boyfriend Jake, and new boyfriend Thomas are in the present day. But how are they linked to Tom in the past with his friend Slug, the murdered teenage girls, and the love of his life: Daisy? McFadden's signature twist is sharp and unexpected. The novel is intended for mature readers with graphic violence and risqué content. 

The Clue of the Broken Locket

The Clue of the Broken Locket by Carolyn Keene, 1965 Grosset & Dunlap

     Nancy, George, and Bess are vacationing at Misty Lake when they meet Cecily Curtis. Mr. Drew has sent the girls to give Cicely the key to her lodgings - the owner refuses to go near the lake because of a ghost ship. Cecily asks for Nancy Drew's help to solve two mysteries: one concerning her fiancee, the other involving a family secret. 

     Cecily's fiancee is Niko Van Dyke a musician who believes his record company is cheating him out of earned royalties. 

     The clue to her family secret is half of a golden locket that Cecily was told leads to a pre-civil war cache of buried treasure. 

     The investigation leads to Pudding Stone Lodge and the Driscoll family who may be involved in Niko's misfortunes. They also discover Cecily's look-alike -- an unknown cousin held in the thrall of the Driscolls.   

     When twin children go missing Nancy, Bess, and George are set on finding the answers to all of their questions. They call in the help of Ned Nickerson, Dave Evans, and Burt Eddleton - the girls' respective boyfriends. 

     Through quick thinking and perseverance, Nancy and her friends solve the mysteries in front of them. Middle grade and young readers will enjoy the mystery, with enough suspense to keep them wondering who is who and what will happen to Nancy on this next adventure? 

Wait 'Til Helen Comes

Wait 'Til Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn, 1986 Harper Collins

     Molly is twelve, along with her ten-year-old brother, Michael, she aims to avoid their new seven-year-old step-sister Heather. Molly and Michael's mom married Heather's dad and the new family moves to a creepy old house - which used to be a church.
     Heather makes Molly and Michael's lives miserable, especially when she insists on playing in the cemetary in the back yard and Molly becomes responsible for looking after her step-sister.
     Young Heather starts talking to a ghost named Helen. She tells her step-siblings Helen will come for them and Molly begins to worry something is wrong. Every time she tries to say something to their parents, Heather twists the story around to get Molly in trouble.
     Molly's worries seem to be unfounded, until Helen comes and Heather is in bigger trouble than anyone could have guessed.
     Readers who enjoyed The Dollhouse Murders and other children's ghost stories will find a continued trend in Wait 'Til Helen Comes. With some concerning themes, including a homicidal history the story is aimed at elementary readers. Most young readers discount the darker elements of Hahn's writing, but when in doubt, please read the story before suggesting it.

Nancy's Mysterious Letter

Nancy's Mysterious Letter by Carolyn Keene, 1968 Grosset & Dunlap

     Nancy Drew receives a letter that plunges her into another mystery. When Nancy and the girls invite the postman in for tea and cocoa his bag of mail is stolen. The authorities ask Nancy to come in for questioning; they believe she had something to do with the theft.
     When Ned Nickerson invites Nancy to visit him at Emerson College for the big football game she meets another woman whose mail was stolen. The woman believes Nancy to be part of a criminal enterprise.
     When the mail is re-sent Nancy, and others, receives a letter. While the letter is addressed to Nancy Drew, it is not intended for River Height's Miss Drew. Upon investigation with her friends Nancy discovers a Nancy Smith Drew teaching at the Emerson.
     The Nancy S Drew our detective finds is an heiress and there are those who would stop Nancy. They will even go so far as to kidnap the detective to stop her. Nancy Drew, along with her friends, searches for the answer to their newest mystery. Older elementary readers will enjoy the condensed mystery.

The Agency: Rivals in the City

Rivals in the City by Y.S. Lee, 2015 Candlewick Press

     Mary Quinn and James Easton have developed an understanding after the collapse of the Agency. But Mary is hesitant to allow James control over her life as his spouse. Victorian Englishwomen are their husband’s property and Mary’s radical upbringing leads her to strongly object.

     James hopes to allow Mary time to overcome her qualms. When a villain from their joint past returns, he is concerned not only for Mary’s safety, but also their hoped future together. Mary is asked to return to the all-female Agency for her part in the plot. But to continue protecting the man she loves Mary suggests they remain separate to minimize the chances of retaliation.

     James is hesitant to give Mary any time to make up her mind against him and manages to insinuate himself into her mission. 

     She discovers more than simply one extension of her past during the new case. A mystery from her personal history is answered by a Chinese pugilist who is strikingly familiar.

     She completes her final case for the Agency amidst much danger to both James and Mary herself. Mary faces the danger with more than her characteristic abandon and struggles to reconcile her past with the beliefs inherited from her eccentric education and the hope of a future. Directed at teen readers Rivals in the City concludes the Mary Quinn Mysteries. 

Benedict Hall

Benedict Hall by Cate Campbell, 2013 Kensington Books

     No one believed her when as a child Margot Benedict's younger brother repeatedly acted violence on her. The daughter of a Society Bride and wealthy businessman, Margot has risen above the expectations set for her by society and her family to become one of the few female doctors of the United States in 1920.
     Preston Benedict has never liked his siblings, but especially not the overly-smart, unfeminine Margot. Preston joins the Great War and finds himself in the East. He meets several characters during the war, including Major Frank Parrish and Preston's batman, Carter. When he returns home, Preston Benedict is in possession of a strangely powerful jewel. The Sapphire of Roxanna - the sultan's bride - appears to give the young Benedict an unusual power over the world around him which only enhances his inherent malice.
    Frank Parrish was sent from the East to an Army encampment where his arm, damaged in an explosive clash between Arab and British forces outside Jerusalem, is amputated. His journey takes Frank through a Virginia hospital . There his childhood sweetheart erases any hope from their understanding. Frank decides to travel beyond his Montana home to Seattle, Washington.
     In Seattle, Frank runs into Preston Benedict again, and their enmity reignites. When Frank appears to form an attachment to the Benedict doctor-daughter, Preston's already unstable temperament finds new ways to display itself. Frank and Margot, along with others from Preston's past, must find a way beyond the sapphire to freedom before Preston Benedict has a chance to spoil the chance.
     The first installment of the Benedict story introduces the reader to a world of luxury and the elite. Though the Benedict family is blessed with anything they could hope for, something in the youngest son's make-up dictates danger for the rest of the family. Strong themes of class and race relations weave through the Benedicts' story. Relationships both familial, platonic, and romantic play a key role in the development of both Margot and Frank's story. With intermittent violence and mature events this is an adult read; though more mature high school readers are able to follow Campbell's complex storytelling.

Among the Hidden

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix, 1998 Simon & Schuster

     Luke has never had a friend, he's never had the chance. Luke is a third child, one of the illegal Shadow Children born against the Population Police's edicts. When a housing development goes up replacing the woods behind Luke's family farm even Luke's ability to go outside is taken from him.
     Trapped inside Luke spends his time watching the world which has been taken from him. In looking out the window Luke discovers a face in one of the new homes across the way - another third child.
     While the world in their sleepy suburb is away at work Jen and Luke meet and become friends. Jen will do anything to escape the shadows, but is Luke willing to go with her? When the Population Police appear in the neighborhood Jen and Luke are both at risk, as are their families.
     Sheltered by his very existence as a third child in a world which only allows two children in each family Luke is easily excited by someone and something new. Like a small child Luke latches onto his new friend and attempts to adapt to the world her presence creates.
     Among the Hidden is the beginning for Luke; his entire life has been surrounded by family and the open air, with the addition of hundreds of eyes the idea of living in hiding becomes a reality. Luke must grow and learn to become a fugitive in truth and in doing so undertakes a dangerous journey. Readers who enjoy suspense will find Luke's adventure thrilling while still mild enough for younger readers.