I Killed Zoe Spanos

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

Anna Cioconni just wanted a fresh start. So, she trades in alcohol ridden nights for a summer in the Hamptons as a nanny.  Unfortunately, in I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick, a fresh start is easier said than done when Anna realizes she has an eerie resemblance to a girl who’s presumed dead.  Told through podcasts, flashbacks and multiple perspectives, Frick’s fourth YA thriller novel readers venture to a sleepy suburb rocked by a teenage girl’s disappearance and try to answer a question along with the characters: What happened to Zoe Spanos?

When seventeen-year-old Anna took a nannying position in a Hamptons suburb she just hoped for a quiet way to reinvent herself and save money for college to put distance between the responsible Anna she wants to be and the party girl who regularly blacked out. But when she walks a few miles in the shoes of the beloved girl who disappeared on a New Year’s Eve, Anna makes the startling realization that she might have known Zoe. What’s worse is she realizes that she only remembers the night Zoe disappeared in bits and pieces. Throughout the summer as one jumbled memory after another comes back to Anna, she fears she might have killed Zoe and confesses to her murder. The desire to give Zoe’s family closure leads to many eager to paint Anna as a cold-blooded killer. However, a friend of Zoe’s family and aspiring reporter Martina Jenkins isn’t so convinced of Anna’s guilt.

By all appearances Anna and Zoe have never crossed paths. More than that, Anna’s confession contradicts the evidence when Zoe’s body is later discovered. Not only that, but in their desire to close the case law enforcement might’ve jumped to some wrong conclusions about Anna. But then how does Anna know things about Zoe that only a friend could know? Why does she look so much like her? Under the influence of drugs and alcohol did Anna make a fatal mistake or did she potentially throw away her future over a fantasy? Even Anna doesn’t know the answers to those questions.

Within the story Frick subtly examines memory, justice, privilege, law enforcement and family secrets. While Anna’s being tried through public opinion and Martina searches for answers through her podcast, Frick keeps the twists and turns coming without trying too hard to shock the readers. However, occasionally the flashbacks are confusing yet at the same time they manage to convey just how many unreliable narrators are involved.

I Killed Zoe Spanos is a good read for true crime fans who want a murder mystery without the gore. Additionally, every character involved from the absent Zoe to the determined girl reporter Martina are profoundly flawed, realistic and endearing. The ending itself provides some closure but reminds readers that sometimes not everything can be neatly resolved. Still, throughout the story, Anna’s plight is compelling enough that for her sake most readers will find themselves hoping that she’s not guilty of the crime she confessed to.