MURDER BETWEEN FRIENDS

Former friends reunite to exonerate a convicted murderer.

Two years ago, Grace Topham testified that she saw Jake Hanson going into high school English teacher Miriam Appelbaum’s backyard the night Ms. Appelbaum was killed. The person she saw was wearing Jake’s unusually decorated jean jacket, but now Grace is wondering whether she might have made a mistake. Jake has just been released from prison on a technicality, and the prospect of another trial looms. Grace approaches her former best friends, Ally Copeland and Henry Hanson (Jake’s brother), both of whom have shunned her since she told the police about seeing Jake. The three of them form an uneasy alliance as they try to figure out who the real culprit is. Ally wants to be a journalist like her late father, who was killed in a car accident two months before Ms. Appelbaum’s murder, and her investigative skills help the trio uncover other crimes at school and in their community before the final, shocking reveal. Lawson’s latest, which is as much about the friendship dynamics among Ally, Grace, and Henry as it is a whodunit, will keep teen mystery fans up into the wee hours, eager to see how the various threads come together. Central characters present white.

A twisty and fast-paced mystery.