The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

The quick cut: Two teen girls unexpectedly team up to solve the murder of their classmate. Drama ensues when the case gets complicated.

A real review:

While true crime is an interest for many people nowadays, actually solving a crime is harder than it looks. Could you put the pieces together to solve a murder? With Agatha Christie books as a guide, Alice and Iris try to do so.

Alice is having a hard time returning to school and public life. After her basketball boyfriend broke up with her and started dating her best friend Brooke,she decided to disappear for five days. When a Halloween party drop by goes south, Alice returns home to find out that Brooke has disappeared. Found days later, Brooke is dead and everyone's convinced its the guy that came between them. Can Alice find out who killed Brooke with her classmate Iris?

Alice and Iris are adorable together - they come from different worlds and experience life in very different ways at school. Seeing them come together and try to solve crime is rocky at first, but builds to a great partnership. So much so, I bought the sequel before I finished this one.

The crime itself and the turns the case takes does get unrealistic and unnecessarily twisted, but it also helps keep the focus of the book on the main characters and their partnership.

Iris' backstory takes a bit of a center stage and addresses some hot topics unrelated to the murder itself. It feels like a natural distraction though and is a well used opportunity.

A fun, enjoyable murder mystery.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5