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Searching... McMinnville Public Library | McClintock, N. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
In the depths of winter, a popular former teacher wanders off into the snow--but she's not the only one to go missing that night.
When Jodie's ex-boyfriend, school bad boy Ronan, shows up, Jordie decides that maybe Derek isn't the one after all. But before she can end it with him, Derek disappears. Did he run away? Or did something happen to him? Is there a connection between the disappearances? As Jordie slowly starts unraveling the truth, she finds that nothing about that night is as it seems. When she finds Derek's body, suspicion falls on her. And then on Ronan. But Jordie knows she didn't kill Derek. And she is sure Ronan didn't. So who is responsible? And why was Derek marked for death?
Author Notes
Norah McClintock was born in Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada in 1958. She received a degree in history from McGill University. She wrote over 60 young adult books including the Chloe and Levesque Mysteries series, the Robyn Hunter Mysteries series, the Mike and Riel Mysteries series, and the Ryan Dooley Mysteries. She won the Arthur Ellis Award for crime fiction for young people five times. She died following a nine-year struggle with ovarian cancer on February 7, 2017 at the age of 59.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7-10-Despite McClintock's strong reputation for page-turning mysteries, her latest novel, sadly, does not deliver. The premise-two missing persons later found dead and an angry ex-boyfriend looking for retribution-certainly has potential. The novel opens with Jordie vacillating between her too-good-to-be-true boyfriend Derek and her bad boy ex, Ronan. Ronan accuses Derek of stealing a bracelet he once gave to Jordie, and he demands Derek return it. After an argument, Derek leaves Jordie's house and is never seen alive again. That same night, a beloved former schoolteacher suffering from Alzheimer's also disappears. Too much time is spent listening to Jordie ruminate on Ronan's innocence (not Derek's death) in lieu of creating tension. For someone who initially appears intelligent, it does not dawn on Jordie that if she must lie for Ronan, something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Despite the promising premise, the flat writing, stale characters, and loose ends (the teacher disappears from the story and seems peripheral to the rest of the narrative) do not render this a compelling read. Readers may see a glimmer of hope at the novel's end when it appears McClintock has purposefully misled in order to deliver a twist, however, this is merely a tease and no solid resolution is achieved. Ultimately, this mystery lacks action, suspense, and a verdict, the very elements that readers of whodunits find gratifying.-Laura Falli, McNeil High School, Austin, TX (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
McClintock (the Mike & Riel Mysteries series) offers a slow-burning whodunit set in a snowy small town around Christmas. Sixteen-year-old Jordie Cross's ostensibly perfect boyfriend, Derek, is staying with her family for the holidays when Ronan, her volatile ex, shows up, accusing Derek of taking a bracelet he gave Jordie. After Jordie can't find the gift, she interrogates Derek, who sneaks out to retrieve a bracelet he claims he bought her recently, to prove his innocence and devotion. Soon after, both Derek and a beloved local teacher are found dead, and Ronan is the prime suspect. Lt. Michael Diehl, the late teacher's husband, returns from leave to investigate, but it's clear from the beginning that Jordie will be the one to solve the case and clear Ronan's name. McClintock's third-person, present-tense narration maintains a detached, procedural tone as it shifts attention among several characters, sharing snippets of their histories, establishing the novel's small-town setting, and creating many suspects. The details that McClintock meticulously places throughout the story lead to an ending that resists tying everything up too neatly. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
The discovery of two bodies yields numerous suspects.With its unspecified setting, this Canadian import could take place in almost any snowy small town in North America. One night during the Christmas holiday, a police lieutenant's wife suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's disappears and is later found frozen and dead. This unfortunate event is soon overshadowed by an even greater tragedy that same evening: the unexpected murder of high school student Derek Maugham. When it's discovered that his girlfriend, Jordie, was possibly the last to see him aliveand after a dispute no lessshe becomes one of the main suspects. An omniscient narrator focuses on the clues and motives rather than characterization as Jordie (as well as the police) tries to find the real killer. And as she pieces together the whereabouts of her missing bracelet that's related to the case, she discovers that she's not the only one with secrets to hideabout both deaths. The teens don't always sound their age ("how can anything be an anniversary after only one-sixth of an annum?"), but their mature speech, combined with plenty of adult characters, makes this a great crossover novel. The present-tense narration helps keep the mystery taut with concise pacing. A classic whodunit. (Mystery. 13 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Canadian mystery-writer McClintock delivers a tight-knit and compelling tale of two deaths in one night: Elise Diehl, a beloved former schoolteacher suffering from Alzheimer's who dies from exposure, and Derek Maugham, a popular high-school hockey player who had just fought with his beautiful girlfriend, Jordie. The prime suspect in Derek's murder is Ronan, Jordie's ex-boyfriend, a secretive young man with anger issues, who Jordie still loves, but the discerning eye will catch holes in other characters' alibis and motivations as well. McClintock avoids the usual patterns of murder mysteries, relying on detailed and believable characterizations that round out the plentiful plot twists. When she does employ a frequently used device, the characters often comment on it ironically, bringing the reader into the joke. Mystery fans will appreciate the thoughtful plotting, the complex characters, and an ambiguous ending that guarantees readers will be mulling over the story long after they finish. Of special note are the descriptions of landscape and weather: cold, forbidding, and characters in themselves, with their own secrets and dangers.--Carton, Debbie Copyright 2014 Booklist