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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

"Deadly Cool" by Gemma Halliday

Release Date: October 11th, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format: eBook
Age Group: Young Adult


First I find out that my boyfriend is cheating on me. Then he’s pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And now he’s depending on me to clear his name. Seriously?
 
As much as I wouldn’t mind watching him squirm, I know that he’s innocent. So I’m brushing off my previously untapped detective skills and getting down to business. But I keep tripping over dead bodies and I’m still no closer to figuring out who did it. And what’s worse: all signs seem to point to me as the killer’s next victim.
 
I really need to pick a better boyfriend next time.


I love murder mysteries and I love YA murder mysteries even more. Even though teenagers solving murders are highly unrealistic and you constantly want to scream at them not to go into that dark place, in the middle of the night, by themselves, they are still a heck of a lot of fun to read. Especially when it takes most of the book before you start piecing it together yourself. This was a fun book, minus the murdering, of course. I fell for a couple of the red herrings and even made some random off base guesses as to who was the killer. I didn't really start figuring it until pretty close to the end. I don't know if I'm crazy about the motive behind the murders, it seemed a little to far fetched for me, but other than that I really enjoyed the read.

Hartley, our crime soliving heroine, cracked me up. She was funniest when she was dealing with a particular bad situation. Humor as a crutch, that's something we share. After finding a condom wrapper in her boyfriend Josh's locker, she does what any logical girl would do, she assumes he's doing a science project on reproduction. Once she admits to herself that doesn't make sense, she goes to confront him and instead finds a dead girl in his closet. It's not really her day. Before Josh goes into hiding he begs her to figure out who really killed Courtney, and she actually agrees to help him. And so her adventure begins. She enlists the help of her best friend Sam, who I hope we get to know a lot better in the next book, because she was pretty funny, too. They end up partnering with Chase, too, after they need his help with the investigation. I loved Chase! Of course, who doesn't love a beautiful, muscled, bad boy? I can't wait to read more of him in the next book, either!

This was a fast paced, well written mystery. It was full of colorful characters and lots of humor. I am eagerly anticipating another adventure with Hartley and crew. I sure do hope she starts carrying pepper spray or something :0)

5 comments:

  1. I've really been wanting to read this one! I love YA mysteries (probably because I read way too much Nancy Drew/ Hardy Boys growing up), but there really aren't that many out there. I'm glad you liked it. Great review!

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  2. Spiffy review, dude! This book sounds interesting. =)

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  3. This book sounds like a very fun read, and the cover is very eyecatching with those incredible blue eyes! I will be adding this one to my TBR, new follower :)

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  4. This book was hilarious! I acn't wait for the next one. Hartley is very likeable heroine)))

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