Just So Stories

Harper Collins Australia

March 2024

• ISBN: 9781803705415
• ISBN 10: 1803705418
• Imprint: Usborne GB
• RRP: $19.99

I recently read someone ‘predicting’ that murder mystery for teens/YA was going to be a big new trend this year. I have news for them. It has been for quite a few years now as any of the devotees of Karen McManus, Holly Jackson or Robin Stevens will affirm – and I’ve had plenty of those I can assure you.

This is the second outstanding debut novel in this genre for me in recent months and I ate it up. It has all the prerequisites for a great read of its type: likeable protagonist, suspicious secondary characters, secret society, bullying, class bias/discrimination, the arrogance of wealthy privilege, the downtrodden with dogged determination and, most of all, plenty of twists and turns to make it great fun.

Jess Choudhary is one of two scholarship students at prestigious Heybuckle School and also one of the token PoC. She’s never quite fitted in, although she’s never been actively targeted. When popular, rich and good-looking Hugh Henry Van Boren is found murdered in the woods that are part of the school grounds, the entire school is in shock. Seemingly affected most of all, Jess’ best (and only) friend Clem, who has been dating Hugh for several months – in fact, Hugh’s been cheating on his girlfriend of years, Millie and there has been one helluva blowup about it all. What makes it all the stranger is that Hugh’s murder appears to be a ‘copycat’ of one that Jess has just contrived in a short story assignment.

Could it be that Millie murdered Hugh in revenge? She is pretty much overly-dramatic and prone to extremes. Or is there something else at play? The long-lasting ‘secret society’ of the school, the Regia Club, ismoving mysteriously in the shadows as well. The police don’t seem to be doing much at all, there’s an apparently ineffectual private investigator hired by Hugh’s family who also seems to be way off solving the crime, and somehow Jess has found herself right in the firing line of both suspicions and accusations. Worse, her scholarship is under threat, by virtue of the perceived ‘taint’ that she has something to do with the murder.

But, little by little, she finds that perhaps some of the students she had previously dismissed could, in fact, be allies as they combine their knowledge and skills, working together to fit the puzzle pieces together. And, just to add to the enjoyment, Jess’ crush, Tommy, is one of these – gotta love a bit of love interest thrown into the mix!!

All in all, it’s a cracking read. I was continually led up the garden path chasing red herrings, which were all cleverly laid with the skill of a veteran crime writer. Readers from around 12 upwards will relish this and thoroughly enjoy applying their own theories. I do hope there’s more to come from this writer as this was super. Highly recommended !!