Suddenly a Murder

By: Jamie Steinberg

The murder-mystery young adult novel Suddenly a Murder is a modern-day version of Clue. Was it Izzy Morales in the bedroom with the gold knife? Or was it one of her six pals that killed Blaine? Author Lauren Muñoz crafts an intriguing who-done-it that will leave you guessing until the very end.

Izzy and Kassidy are best friends who spend their downtime binge watching 1920’s films. With graduation from high school sending them and their group of besties in different directions, Kassidy gets the idea to rent out the glamorous Ashwood Manor – the site where one of their favorite old movies was filmed. Along for the ride is Kassidy’s drug-dealer boyfriend Blaine, too cool cutie Marlowe, the dreamy Olympian in training Ellison, academic Chloe and theater nerd Fergus. All present-day clothing and devices are sent back to the mainland for an immersive weekend of partying in vintage outfits. Chloe was a last-minute addition by Kassidy as a way to smooth things over between her father and Chloe’s mom who are in a big business deal. Fergus is hoping that Blaine will break off a bit of time from Kassidy to actually act like a friend again. Marlowe is in attendance with hopes of making a romantic connection with Izzy. All is going well (with a few minor spats here and there) until Blaine turns up dead. When investigators arrive on scene, they deem it a murder and now every single partygoer is a suspect.

My one qualm was all the teenage drinking. Sure, the rich get away with a lot of things, but I am not sure if Ashwood Manor would have taken the risk of allowing their underage guests to consume alcohol out of liability risks (murder excluded).

Muñoz weaves a wonderful tale that leaves the readers truly invested in the investigation. With the entire estate on lockdown, the luxurious backdrop becomes a weekend long sentence with a murderer until the culprit has been captured. Take a read of Suddenly a Murder and see if you can figure out who committed the crime before I did.