Blood Will Tell

April 1, 2015
A teenage sleuth becomes the prime suspect in a heinous murder case in Portland, Oregon. Nick Walker isn't the most popular kid around, but he's felt at home working for the Portland Search and Rescue team. With crush Alexis and friend Ruby at his side, Nick has helped the police many times. When a woman's body is discovered six blocks from his apartment, Nick thinks nothing of jumping into action with his SAR team. But things quickly go south when circumstantial evidence places Nick at the scene of the murder and the police do a bit more digging. Soon Nick's world is turned upside down as secrets are revealed and friends become foes. The mystery moves along at a nice pace, mixing broad character strokes with chunks of investigative exposition, evoking the feel of a solid episode of Law and Order or C.S.I. Henry tips her hand a bit by providing chapters from the killer's point of view, thus negating some of the dramatic tension. The book's climax also feels a bit rushed, with exposition and action flying fast and leaving character in the dust. Regardless, the slow burn leading up to this climax with the ground disappearing beneath Nick's feet is solid entertainment. A sturdy if formulaic mystery. (Mystery. 12-16)

June 1, 2015

Gr 6 Up-Weeks following the events of The Body in the Woods (Holt, 2014), Alexis, Nick, and Ruby are still finding worth and friendship volunteering for the Portland Search and Rescue Team. They are called in to look for clues when a young woman is found murdered in a vacant lot in Nick's neighborhood. The Portland police are convinced that Nick is the prime suspect. Ruby and Alexis must find a way to hide their friend until they can find the real killer and clear Nick's name. However, the evidence points to either Nick or his brother as the killer. He is longer sure whom he can trust and whether he is prepared to face some very harsh truths. Similar to the previous volume, this work is a character-driven procedural, but this time most of the focus is on Nick and his situation. Alexis and Ruby only getting tertiary attention and development. And unfortunately, Detective Harriman and the Portland Police Department are contrived and one-dimensional, coming off as narrow-minded when they settle immediately and unwaveringly on an easy solution without exploring other possibilities. Once Nick becomes a suspect, the pace picks up considerably, but it is too slow in the previous chapters. Readers more interested in action-packed thrillers may have given up by then. VERDICT Not as strong as the first title, but this selection will satisfy faithful fans, who will anticipate the next installment in the series.-Erik Knapp, Davis Library, Plano, TX

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2015
Grades 7-10 Henry pens another solid mystery for teens in this follow-up to The Body in the Woods (2014). Still volunteers with Portland Search and Rescue, teens Nick, Ruby, and Alexis assist the police with an evidence search in a vacant lot where a woman's body was found. Nick, longing to be a hero like his military father, is embarrassed when he almost faints at the crime scene, but this vulnerability doesn't stop him from becoming a suspect when too much evidence, though circumstantial, implicates him. While the police upend Nick's life, in the process divulging hard news about his father, Ruby and Alexis work to identify the real killer. Like a good crime procedural, the story moves easily between Nick's personal story, the killer's story, and the criminal investigation, though little attention is given to character development. Chapters from the killer's viewpoint undercut the mystery's suspense, since the reader knows more than the characters, but there is still drama in the danger the three teens find themselves in, and Henry's forensic science is solid. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Henry's mysteries have taken her to the top of the New York Times best-seller list and are devoured by teens. Stock up!(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2015
Nick loves being a Search and Rescue volunteer and fancies himself a hero. But, when his DNA is found on a woman's dead body, the police think he's a murderer. It's up to Alexis and Ruby to prove Nick's innocence. This second accessible mystery installment includes an interesting subplot exploring Nick's vulnerabilities as startling revelations about his presumed-dead father come to light.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)