Very Dangerous Things
By Lauren Munoz
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young
Readers
Publisher’s Blurb:
Everyone in town knows about the game. For decades, J.
Everett High has staged an annual murder mystery to put its criminology
students to the test. And this year, crime junkie Dulce Castillo is dead set on
winning. Soon, the game kicks off, and the student playing the victim, Xavier
Torres, is found poisoned in the school’s greenhouse . . . except his death is
not pretend.
It’s murder.
When the authorities open an investigation, all the evidence points to Sierra
Fox, Xavier’s ex-girlfriend and Dulce’s ex-best friend. Claiming innocence and
desperate to clear her name, Sierra begs Dulce to look past their bad blood and
find the culprit.
After all, Dulce knows this school better than any investigator ever could, but
she must use caution to solve this mystery. Because these historic halls are
full of suspects with no shortage of motives. And in this game of cat and
mouse, the other player kills.
My Thoughts:
Well, I didn’t see that coming.
I can frequently figure out the culprit in mysteries,
but this one was sneaky. It’s not that it was unbelievable…just that it was a
surprise.
Dulce and her late mother loved the detective novels
of Dorothy Sayers, and Dulce attends a magnet school for forensics and
criminology. Each year, the school stages a fake murder, and teams race to
solve the case. Dulce is tired of taking second to her former best friend. But
when the murder turns out to be real, and the former bestie is the prime suspect,
Dulce grudgingly takes the case.
She turns out to be…not that great of a detective. I
won’t tell you exactly how, but, while she does some things well, she bungles
others. Nontheless, she and her friends do solve the case.
The idea of a magnet school for future crime solvers
is an interesting premise. The school still has things like band and PE, so it’s
not totally out there.
Overall, I found the characters interesting. They all
have their flaws and are real and human. Zane’s sketchy past before
transferring to Dulce’s school is a strong motivator for his actions in the
story, although his attraction to Dulce is an equally strong motivator for
other actions.
All in all, it’s a fun detective novel with imperfect
people who still find a way to be successful.
I love Dulce’s dad, by the way. We don’t see him much,
but I love what we get.
Possible objectionable material:
Swearing, including the F-word. Teenage partying. Teen sexual activity (off page). Some teenaged petty crime. Kissing. A parent died in a car accident. Same sex couples. Murder, poisoning, and assault. A smear campaign.
Who might like this book:
Fans of mysteries and true crime.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
#BookReview #NetGalley #YA #Mystery
#VeryDangerousThings #LaurenMunoz #biblioquacious
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