Book Blurb:
Gramps always said that when the crickets were quiet, something bad was coming. And the crickets have been as silent as the dead. It started with the murdered deer in the playground with the unmistakable purple of a foxglove in its mouth. But in the dying boondock town of Emerald Cove, life goes on.
I work at Gramps's diner, and the cakes―the entitled rich kids who vacation here―make our lives hell. My best friend, Alex Pace, is the one person who gets me. Only Alex has changed. He's almost like a stranger now. I can't figure it out...or why I'm having distinctly more-than-friend feelings for him. Ones I shouldn't be having.
Then one of the cakes disappears.
When she turns up murdered, a foxglove in her mouth, a rumor goes around that Alex was the last person seen with her—and everyone but me believes it. Well, everyone except my worst enemy, Jenika Shaw. When Alex goes missing, it's up to us to prove his innocence and uncover the true killer. But the truth will shatter everything I've ever known about myself — and Alex.
My Review:
3.5 Out Of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery, Suspense--
Nova and her friend Alex stumble across a dead body of a dear that had been mutilated, with a foxglove flower placed in its mouth. That is just the start of the strange and dangerous happenings in their small dying town. Nova is receiving secret "admirer" letters, a girl has gone missing, the wealthy kids in town for vacation want to start trouble, and Alex is acting strange. Nova wants to solve the mystery of what is going on, but it may be closer to her than she knows.
I really liked that I had a list of 6 potential suspects that I kept shuffling through because I just was not sure. I was thrown off each time a new piece of evidence showed up or a new event occurred. I did not agree with Nova's potential suspects, the two she was dead set had to be involved, and no matter what she felt the signs pointed that way. I do love a good mystery, especially one that keeps me on my toes right until the end. To be honest, I found the book in general to be a little bit of a downer to read and if it wasn't for the intrigue of the mystery I wanted to solve I probably would have stopped reading the book. I don't have a problem with depressing books normally (books that are depressing due to disease and death are one of my faves to read) but this book made me feel kind of down after I would read it. The town is a pit of lost souls, the kids the story focuses on have no future but to stay in the trailer park, the story deals with violence, abuse, name calling, harassment, and lack of emotions. These people are a hot mess and I felt it. I understand that mysteries can deal with such topics, but not all of them are so doom and gloom as I found this one to be.
Overall, I found the story to be compelling. I don't want to say too much and give something away because the best part of the book was trying to figure things out. I will admit that I did love the strange relationship the formed between arch-enemies, it made me irrationally happy, but whatever. The mystery was really well done and the emotions of the characters were palpable. This was my first book by this author and I will certainly read more from her in the future.
I received this title from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
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