Reviews by Tag: murder

The Secret History by Donna Tartt mainly takes place at the elite Hampden College, a liberal arts university in Vermont. The novel follows Richard Papen as he leaves his poor California home and joins a tight-knit exclusive group of students studying Classics at the school taught solely by Professor Julian Morrow.

Five Survive is a thriller novel about six friends who are going on a road trip for spring break. On the way, their RV breaks down in the middle of a forest at night. They quickly realize that it was not an accident. There is a sniper outside of the RV who wants one of the people in the RV to reveal one of their secrets. Throughout the book, many secrets are uncovered, trust is broken, and tensions rise.

Till Human Voices Wake Us, by Rebecca Roque, chronicles the twisting journey of seventeen-year-old Silencia “Cia” Lucero as she attempts to uncover the secrets buried in her hometown, Summerset. Cia has her own dark history, her own secrets. Including a traumatic past as Silence Bennett, living in a house with three sisters and a father that ended up blowing it all up. And when her best friend Alice says that she has answers to secrets that lead back to the Bennett house, Cia isn’t ready to hear any of it.

After being left haunted by her last case, Pip is done investigating mysteries. But when online threats turn into being followed in real life, Pip is forced into solving one more case. This book was easily the most action packed in the series. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. It has a very different tone from the other two books and it definitely gets way darker, but the progression of Pip’s character was amazing. I think this was a great way to end the series.

House of Earth and Blood is the first book in the Crescent City series written by Sarah J Maas. The story follows a half human, half fae female named Bryce Quinlan who is trying to solve the murder of her best friend. In a world full of magic, Bryce has very little and has to rely on her wits and her new companion and assigned protector, Hunt Athalar. Bryce and Hunt work together to uncover the truth about her friend's murder and what power lurks beneath the city.

“Some people will never believe you no matter how hard you explain yourself. Trust me, there's no pleasing people. If they're determined to think the worst of you, they will.” 

When she’s found walking through the streets covered in her best friend’s blood, everyone assumes Lucy killed her. Years later, a famous crime podcast called Listen for the Lie is looking into the death of her best friend, and Lucy is determined to get to the bottom of the night she can’t remember, even if she was the one to kill her friend, like everyone else believes.

Heart-shaped Lies is a young adult mystery novel that follows three girls through a hectic trip to Florida. These three girls : Navaeh, Kiara, and Priscilla are all intertwined through the viral prank star, Tommy. When Tommy mysteriously dies after a video that exposes Tommy cheating on his girlfriend, Kiara, with Priscilla and Navaeh, a full-fledged investigation breaks loose. Who saw Tommy closest to the time of death? Was it really an accident? Or maybe it was all the alcohol he had that night?

In a beautifully scripted book, this story tells the tale of a royal family who go through intense drama within their kingdom. It starts with the death of King Hamlet, his son, prince Hamlet, is devastated and approaches a spirit. The spirit claims to be the soul of King Hamlet and informs Hamlet of the cause of his death and who did it. After finding out that it was Claudius, King Hamlet’s brother who killed his brother, Prince Hamlet goes out to avenge his father's death. Claudius soon becomes king after marrying Prince Hamlet’s mother, the Queen.

Sadie is an amazing novel that blends mystery, thriller and social commentary into one story. It is about 19-year-old Sadie Hunter, a girl whose world completely changes after the brutal murder of her little sister, Mattie. With no parents to protect them, Mattie was everything to Sadie. When the police failed to find Mattie’s killer, Sadie takes justice into her own hands, embarking on a dangerous journey to track down the man who was responsible.

An RV trip over spring break with friends to the beach, what could possibly go wrong? Eighteen-year-old Red is on an RV trip with her friends, and everything is going pretty well until the group loses signal and gets lost trying to navigate to the campsite. With no means of getting help, they attempt to get out of the RV and figure things out. Just as they’re confident about getting back on the road, shots are fired at them and it’s clear that the gunman has an agenda and is after the friend group in particular.