The Agathas

Gr 9 Up–One small, coastal Californian town has a lot of terrible history. Castle Cove has had its share of missing people, loss of fortune, and unexplained deaths. The town was just settling back down after Alice’s runaway stunt the previous summer and now her ex-best friend, Brooke, is missing. Brooke isn’t just any Castle Cove citizen, but the granddaughter of billionaire make-up icon Lillian Levy. It still takes the police a bit too long to really start the search, thanks to Alice’s antics. Alice’s parents aren’t around a lot, even after she was missing for days, so she’s been matched up with a peer tutor to make sure her academic work gets back on track. Lucky for Iris, peer tutoring comes with a paycheck which she desperately needs to get her and her mom out of Castle Cove as soon as possible. The unlikely friendship between Iris and Alice forms as they study, search for Brooke, and learn more about each other than either was willing to reveal. Alice’s obsession with the OG mystery queen, Agatha Christie, is intertwined in her POV chapters and adds charm to this mystery that is reminiscent of Karen M. McManus’s work.