Valerie Biel
Description
★★★★★ 5-Stars from Readers' Favorite "A stand-out mystery...offering readers an unforgettable journey."
◆ Notable 100 Best Indie Book of 2024 ◆ Short
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-listed for the CIBA YA Fiction Award
When the police rule her dad's death an accidental overdose, 16-year-old Chloe refuses to believe it and vows to find his killer. Alone against a potentially corrupt, small-town police force, a persistent social worker seeking proof that she has adult supervision, and precariously low funds, Chloe learns that her dad's life as a cemetery caretaker masked a web of family secrets that quite possibly led to his death-and are now putting her in mortal danger.
Needing freedom to investigate, Chloe pretends that her only surviving relative, a famous war correspondent, has returned from an overseas assignment to be her guardian. But living alone in the caretaker's house in the middle of the cemetery, mere feet from the crime scene, puts Chloe's nerves on edge even before she unearths clues about the shadowy side of her small town. Help comes from unlikely and surprising allies: the colorful owner of the local retro diner, the quiet new classmate with his near-perfect memory, and a spirit who visits in her moments of greatest need.
But as Chloe gets closer to the truth, someone else is getting closer to Chloe, watching her every move. And when her aunt turns up on international news reporting from a war zone, Chloe's cover is blown. Now the race is on to reveal her dad's killer-but perhaps-Chloe isn't as alone as she thought.
"This taut, suspenseful mystery goes beyond the cemetery gate and settles, creaking, into our very bones." - Silvia Acevedo, author of the award-winning God Awful series.
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