WATCH US CRACK

A high school junior becomes entangled in a murder case after her friend’s boyfriend is found dead at the train station by her house.

Aspiring criminologist Sadie Morelli lives with her dad in the western New York state town of Hailing. After her parents split up and her mom left, her dad encouraged her to transfer to high school in nearby Arcadia, which has a better reputation. A fierce hockey rivalry exists between the schools. Kai, Sadie’s best friend Quinn’s boyfriend, plays for Arcadia, and he and his friends are part of Sadie’s social group. But reconnecting with Cason, a guy she knows from middle school who plays for Hailing, feels truly meaningful to Sadie, even though they have to keep their relationship secret. When Kai is killed and the police begin an investigation, it turns out many people are hiding things—but Sadie and Cason are the ones everyone suspects, and they’re desperate to clear their names. The narrative shifts among the first-person perspectives of Sadie and Cason, police interviews, text message exchanges, and transcripts from a true crime podcast, incrementally ratcheting up the tension and keeping readers on their toes. Sadie and Cason’s burgeoning romance is compelling enough but Sadie’s friendship with Quinn, who seems one-dimensionally self-involved and melodramatic, is less so; it’s hard to see why smart, straightforward Sadie is so dedicated to her. All main characters read white.

The engaging and unpredictable plot will sustain readers’ interest despite the uneven characterization.