Seven Dirty Secrets

Gr 7-10–Cleo has an extra eventful birthday. Her parents are away for work, and Cleo is in the shower when an unseen intruder drops off a ring box in her bathroom. The box contains the beginning of a series of clues requiring her to retrace the landmarks in her relationship with Declan, the boyfriend she believes is dead. Cleo is a crime-solving fiend and forensics is her hobby, so this is either the best birthday present ever or a really sick joke. More and more of their friends are pulled into the “game” as it is revealed that they all played a part in Declan’s disappearance. Along the way, readers get deeper glances into what was a terribly abusive relationship that ended in a drowning that starts to look not like an accident but instead like self-defense. Cleo is white, and her half brother Connor has a Black father. Connor wants to protect her, but given his past experiences with the police, he is reluctant to contact the authorities. Readers will need to suspend significant disbelief, but those who do will be rewarded with a fast-paced whodunit that they won’t see coming.