THAT KIND OF GIRL

Two young women’s lives collide after a gruesome murder.

Twenty-one-year-old Inez works as a maid and sex worker in Asheville, North Carolina. Following the death of her mother, she’s been scraping by, dreaming of a better future, when she finds herself involved in something horrible…that involves a lot of blood. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Roxie is an amateur detective and a scholarship student at an elite Catholic girls’ school where she doesn’t quite fit in. Known for helping her classmates find things (for a fee), she’s approached by her former bully, Kirsten, for help locating the person who stole her phone. Roxie reluctantly agrees, but when she arrives at Kirsten’s house to learn more, she discovers Kirsten’s brutally murdered body and quickly becomes a person of interest in the investigation. At the same time, Roxie gets drawn (with her aunt and ex–FBI agent uncle) into a search for her late great-aunt’s hidden diamond necklace. The treasure hunt game, a family tradition, leads to Roxie’s discovering connections between her family and Kirsten’s. As Roxie grapples with trauma from her childhood and Inez’s and Roxie’s paths converge, Roxie pieces together a web of secrets tying them both to the crime. Told through alternating perspectives, this fast-paced mystery builds a trail of clues, culminating in a jaw-dropping conclusion that’s bigger than both Roxie and Inez. Main characters are cued white, and racial diversity is represented among secondary characters.

An engaging and suspenseful read.