Lucia isn’t sure what to expect when her mother tells her they will be spending the summer in Nantucket at her new boyfriend’s house. Todd
is a wealthy real estate developer and it’s a chance for them all to get to know each other better. Lucia figures that means that she makes herself scarce, and Mum and Todd spend quality time together.
Nantucket is more beautiful than imagined with golden beaches and sparkling clear waters in abundance. Meeting Todd’s golden-haired son Eric is an added bonus too. At least it will be a distraction from her melancholy after losing her best friend in an accident.
Todd and Mum announce that they expect Eric and Lucia to have summer jobs on the island, scarpering Lucia’s plans to just sleep and read and rest after a terrible year. Her new job in an ice cream store making smoothies is how she meets ‘the three’. This is the name she dubs three gorgeous teen girls who are full of life and don’t seem to care what anyone thinks about them. When they accept her into their fun, carefree group she relishes it.
Eric tries to warn her away from them, as he thinks they’re trouble, but Lucia enjoys breaking some rules for a change. Just when she is relaxing a little into her Nantucket summer, she discovers another girl on the beach… dead.
Lucia follows the news like a hawk, wanting to know who the girl was, and is increasingly alarmed that no one seems to know her, or report her missing. How can that be on such a small island?
The more she hangs out with ‘the three’, the more things don’t add up. Where do they get their money? Are they responsible for local thefts? Did they know the dead girl?
A YA murder mystery with a mythological twist.
“Nothing Bad Happens Here”, is the mantra of the island people of Nantucket, with their mansions, money and connections. So when a body is found, and a crime spree spreads, the tongues wag and fingers are being pointed at strangers on the island.
Main character Lucia is 16 and keen to break some rules, all the while filled with guilt at the death of her best friend back home. This guilt trickles through the story until she admits her part in it to a new brother-to-be family member.
A fish out of water in this glittering world of wealth, Lucia makes the most of it, trying to follow her mother’s rules, but wanting answers to a strange island crime. All the while, she is enjoying but wary of a group of girls who are equally fun and strange.
Author – Rachel Ekstrom Courage
Age – 13+
Find more YA Murder Mystery novels here
Publisher – Random House
Set in – Present / Nantucket
Point of View – 1st person
Violence – Yes
Real Life – Yes
Fantasy – Yes
Sex – No
Blend – Thriller / Mystery / Mythological Creatures
(2026, Random House, Mystery, Family, Crime, Blended Family, Friendship, Nantucket, Wealthy, Beaches, The Three, Parties,