Teen/YA Review: The Deadly Sister

The Deadly Sister by Eliot Schrefer is a murder mystery/thriller with some surprising twists and turns.  Besides the mystery at its heart, it takes a close look at what family means.  How far would you go to protect your family members?

Seventeen-year old Abby Goodwin has always watched out for her younger sister, Maya, from her problems at school through more recent and serious problems with drugs:

She slammed her car into a light pole.  The police found her partying in a construction site late at night, high out of her mind.  When the school threatened academic expulsion, I vowed to find her a tutor so she could get her GED.  I lied to our parents about where she got that wad of rolled-up bills they discovered in her messenger bag.  I kept quiet when she pawned the china our grandmother had left our parents; they wouldn’t know it was gone until they tried to set the table next Thanksgiving.  Every secure thing she pried up in our lives, I quietly followed behind and glued it back down.

I might have been able to protect her forever.

Until Jefferson Andrews showed up dead.

When Abby finds the dead body of a classmate of theirs during a morning run and discovers that Maya is missing, she launches into her role as protector.  After helping Maya to hide, she starts her own investigation to try to clear Maya’s name.  From there, nothing is at it seems, and the more she discovers, the less things seem to make sense.  Who can she trust?  And what is the right thing to do?

This novel moves along at a quick pace, with lots of unexpected twists and turns in the plot.  I read it quickly, wanting to know what would happen next.  Fan of mysteries and thrillers will enjoy this unique novel about sisterly devotion.

310 pages, Scholastic

Recommended for older teens and young adults, as it contains violence and drug abuse.