What is Beware the Abbott Boys about?
A teenage girl is found dead in the woods behind a high school. The crime has happened during school hours after a fire alarm was set off. Blame instantly falls on the Abbott triplets who were implicated in a girl’s death the year before. Everyone knows it’s always the boyfriend. But is it?
Plot summary of Beware the Abbott Boys (No Spoilers)
After a girl is found in the woods behind their high school, the gossip is swift and merciless. The girl named Kennedy, was hugely popular in school and the easiest culprits to blame are the three Abbott boys, Bram, Henry and Adam.
A year before, Adam’s girlfriend died in a terrible car fire, leaving Adam scarred for life and unable to play football any longer. He also changed on the inside, losing his confidence and outgoing personality. Blame swirled around the brothers as they were working on the car only minutes before, and their town’s opinion was even further swayed when influential people got involved. The triplets spend the following months at home, doing their schooling alone.
Now, after no charges were laid and the triplets are only recently back at school, Kennedy’s murder threatens to wreck everything again. Surely, one of the Abbott boys did it. Certain clues, camera footage and rumours all point to them.
Their neighbour and close friend Hadyn sticks up for them once more, fiercely opposing any blame. She can’t imagine any of the brothers committing murder. Closest to Henry, they decide together that she will looks for clues, ask around at school, and try and figure out who was in the woods with Kennedy that day and why.
But the more she digs, the more complicated things get. She personally is confused with her own feelings about the brothers. She discovers rivalries between them over girls in the past. Was Kennedy a victim of this too?
Review
If you liked Good Girl’s Guide to Murder or The Reappearance of Rachel Price, you’ll love Beware the Abbott Boys. The Abbott Triplets are all very different, and they all have their parts in this mystery, told in third person. This gives the reader an insight into what happened the year before to earn these brothers the terrible reputation they have in their small town.
The narrative gets more twisty the further you read, making me wonder which brother was telling the truth about the murder that has thrown them all under suspicion once more. Their neighbour Hadyn is a good friend to them all, and after knowing them for so long, has mixed and confusing feelings about them.
They aren’t the only ‘villains’ in the novel however, and a popular person looked up to in the town is particularly nasty. All the dramas of high school are stirred into the mix, with all the gossip and local news stations making everything a whole lot worse.
An entertaining Young Adult mystery.
Book Style
368 Pages
FAQ’s
What age is it for?
13+
Where & When is it set?
A fictional town called Silver Creek, Vermont, USA
What is the Point of View / Tense of the novel?
1st person / Past tense – Now  +  3rd person / past tense – mostly 1 year ago
Multiple viewpoints
Is there Violence?
Girl found murdered
Is there any sex in the novel?
No
What genre is Beware the Abbott Boys?
Young Adult Mystery Thriller
Themes
Family / Friendship / Crime / School / Mystery
Is it part of a series?
No
Author
Chelsea Ichaso
Publisher
Penguin Random House
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