ONE KILLER PROBLEM

An Ohio teen becomes a sleuth when her favorite teacher is murdered.

Sixteen-year-old Gigi Ricci’s reputation as a troublemaker with a penchant for getting into fights precedes her, especially after she broke a queerphobic bully’s nose. But despite her record of detentions and jujitsu training, her math teacher, Mr. Ford, believes she’s more than her abrasive exterior suggests. So Gigi is horrified to discover his corpse—especial since it seems his death was no accident. This looks like a job for the Westbridge High Mystery Club, helmed by Gigi’s best friend, Sean, and her crush, Mariela, who’ve honed their sleuthing skills by reading cozy mysteries. But it doesn’t feel very cozy when the killer starts targeting the club members. Gigi’s nemesis, Cedar, also joins the case, adding verbal barbs and romantic tension to the suspense, since Gigi views Cedar as a rival for Mari’s affections. While readers might quickly peg whodunit, the mystery feels secondary to the exploration of Gigi’s relationships and emotional issues. Though her anger is largely unexplained, her struggles with expressing her emotions are sympathetic. Her working-class, “seventy-five-percent-queer Italian family”—Gigi is bisexual, her brother is gay, and her mom is nonbinary—is heartwarmingly supportive. While the dialogue is sometimes stilted, Gigi’s narration, which is peppered with quips about her sexuality and her irritable bowel syndrome, is appealingly wry. Most characters read white; there’s diversity of ethnicity and sexuality among the cast.

A snarky, queer, character-driven twist on cozy mysteries.