Book Review: Dead Girls Don't Lie by Jennifer Shaw Wolf

Rachel died at two a.m . . . Three hours after Skyler kissed me for the first time. Forty-five minutes after she sent me her last text.
Jaycee and Rachel were best friends. But that was before. . .before that terrible night at the old house. Before Rachel shut Jaycee out. Before Jaycee chose Skyler over Rachel. Then Rachel is found dead. The police blame a growing gang problem in their small town, but Jaycee is sure it has to do with that night at the old house. Rachel’s text is the first clue—starting Jaycee on a search that leads to a shocking secret. Rachel’s death was no random crime, and Jaycee must figure out who to trust before she can expose the truth.
In the follow-up to her powerful debut, Jennifer Shaw Wolf keeps readers on their toes in another dark, romantic story of murder and secrets.

Best Bits: Jennifer Shaw Wolf is the master of misdirection. I suspected who the killer was more than once, but I kept second-guessing myself because all of the potential killers are so interesting. No one is grinning menacingly or anything, and each time a character shows a dark side, they soon display kindness. Characters who have moments of goodness can't be murderers...right? So, when the killer was finally revealed I had an "OMG WHAAAAT" moment, and then went back and connected the dots. Jaycee weren't speaking when Rachel died, but little things trigger memories and guilt. I appreciated that it was a complicated situation, and that despite what had happened to their friendship, Jaycee was still determined to get some closure for someone who had a big impact on what kind of person she was.

Nit Picks: Much like my experience with another Netgalley read, this one had random letters throughout the book. It meant that I had to guess at what characters were saying, and occasionally what was happening. I can't fault the author's writing for this, but it's really hard to be engaged in a mystery and know exactly what's going on when you can't read all portions of the book. So, it gets calculated into the overall experience. I also would have liked some of the background characters to share a bit more of their histories in the story (assuming that wasn't in some of those sentences that I missed).

Dead Girls Don't Lie
By Jennifer Shaw Wolf
Published by Walker Childrens
352 Pages
Received via Netgalley