Review:
Title: The Girl Is Murder
Author: Kathryn Miller Haines
Publication: July 19th, 2011 by Roaring Brook Press
Format: Paperback
Source: Independent Bookseller
Genre: YA, Mystery, Historical Fiction
Blurb:
It’s the Fall of 1942 and Iris’s world is rapidly changing. Her Pop is back from the war with a missing leg, limiting his ability to do the physically grueling part of his detective work. Iris is dying to help, especially when she discovers that one of Pop’s cases involves a boy at her school. Now, instead of sitting at home watching Deanna Durbin movies, Iris is sneaking out of the house, double crossing her friends, and dancing at the Savoy till all hours of the night. There’s certainly never a dull moment in the private eye business.
Thoughts:
I know what you all must be thinking, ‘Mary this is super backlist why did you wait until 2015 to read this book?’ And I know, I’m sorry, but I’m not a reader that is dominated by new releases, I’m also a fan of backlist titles that I missed when they came out.
So that is why on a cold March evening, two years ago, I picked this book up while I was on a trip. And this book traveled home with me and went on to sit unread on myself, for two years.
But no fear, I got around to it eventually. I’m a sucker for mysteries, and mystery wise, this wasn’t exactly a disappointment.
Jumping into this novel right away I felt a slight disconnect from our lovely protagonist Iris. The was uppity, a little cold, and too grief stricken to provide any useful information as the story unfolded. However, as her world continued to crumble around her and Iris’ vulnerable side began to show she instantly became more endearing and more enjoyable to read about.
While the actual plot of this book was childish, and honestly this is more of a Middle Grade book than YA, I enjoyed the way that Haines wrote her character interactions. The web of relationships that criss crossed all over this book was fun to read about, and the fact that all of our lovely secondary characters were fleshed out helped.
And yes, while this book does classify as a mystery, its not exactly mystery centered. Even though Iris is determined to solve whatever is going on, I would classify this as more of a relationship centered story because no matter how hard Iris tried to stay focused on the case, somehow the people around her managed to get her sidetracked along the way.
Final Thoughts:
Even though this wasn’t my favorite mystery ever, I did enjoy Haines’ characters and her wonderful historical setting. I will admit, I have found myself saying “Lets make tracks” among friends and getting strange looks… If only they understood. Bottom line, fans of lighter historical fictions and mysteries should pick this one up, but if you’re more of a serious guy or gal, I’d steer clear. Definitely geared towards more of a Middle Grade audience, although warning, suicide is a significant part of the story.
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