THE STEPS

A teen adrift in a sea of loneliness is drawn into a mystery surrounding her dysfunctional family’s fortune.

Ruby and her cousin, Sterling, were close until their fathers’ bickering following the death of both their mothers in a car crash created a wall between the girls that neither could cross for fear of triggering paternal wrath. While their fathers (who are brothers) are petty and self-involved, they’re not even the worst that the white-presenting Vossen family has to offer—their grandmother, Oma, plays her family members off against one another and views relationships as transactional, and Ruby’s stepmother and stepsiblings leave much to be desired. Readers will feel a sense of relief when, after a ring of Oma’s that’s worth $3,000,000 is stolen, one of the investigators, Detective Raven (nicknamed “Nevermore” by Ruby), clearly seems to feel for Ruby and have her back. As the mystery of the stolen ring unwinds in suspenseful increments, Ruby, a skilled chess player, also finds much-needed camaraderie in the school chess club. The members include Izaan, a boy she used to be close to until an awkward dance invitation strained their relationship; through chess, they repair their friendship. She also grows close to Tante Katrina, who was estranged from the family. Plenty of welcome heart is built into this whodunit that imagines a wealthy, backstabbing family that’s so stereotypically horrible that they tip toward the darkly comic.

A fun, twisty mystery with a likeable narrator.