Rating: 4/5 stars

Genre: Ya crime/mystery

About: Barely three weeks after catching the killer of Erin’s mother and their biology teacher, Erin and her crew are back, up to their elbows in forensics projects. But this time it’s with the full approval of their parents.

With Uncle Victor at the helm, Erin and her best friends, Spam and Lysa, are prepping a new classroom for CSI summer camp, where they will serve as camp counselors. Meanwhile, Erin’s super-hot new boyfriend, Journey, is graduating, just in time for him to take a position as Victor’s intern in the new CSI lab on campus. Journey and Victor are going to take another look at the evidence in the murder trial that sent Journey’s father to prison. The girls are under strict orders not to meddle with the murder case, but that’s easier said than done… (Goodreads)

I bought the first Book, To Catch a Killer (review here), a while back and read it without realizing that it was part of a duology. I read it and loved it, then realized at the end that Erin’s story wasn’t over. I jumped online and ordered the second book, this one, so I could read it ASAP…

Which ended up being much later than planned. Because of assigned reading for school, I haven’t been able to read anything for the last month or so, and this month will be the same.

I decided to squeeze in this book in between the two books for school so I wouldn’t forget what happened in the first book, and I’m so glad I made the time for it. I really enjoyed this novel.

I haven’t read many crime/mystery novels…never thought it would be my thing. But after reading these books, I may broaden my horizons to them now!

The Character development from the first novel to this one is noticeable, but not a huge change. The characters are genuine and the dialogue is realistic which is something I have a tough time finding in YA novels.

The pacing for these books was really good. I don’t think any of it moved too slow or too fast, Scarborough gave just enough time to be hooked and emerged into the story.

I liked that the start of each chapter is opened with a quote from a character in the novel or another piece of media. For example, they used “Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten,” from Lilo and Stitch which was a nostalgic moment for me and it hit home.

As stated in the review for book 1, I liked learning about forensics and different elements of a crime and how they are solved. Discussions about the murder board and connections with that really interested me. Right now I’m taking a law class at school, and if we brought in more of that stuff I think I’d be much more interested in it than I am now (sorry to my teacher!).

I’d really like to be able to write a novel like this. Just Scarborough’s writing style… I love it. Anyone know her so she could give me some pointers?;)

Anyways, yes, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and the duology as a whole. I give it a 4/5 star rating and will be looking out for more novels by this author as well as other novels in the same genre.

Happy reading!

Xx

-Cass