Turning for the first time to YA, Henderson (the Sam Jones mysteries; Jane Austen's Guide to Dating
) kicks off her Scarlett Wakefield series with a mostly captivating mystery. Sixteen-year-old Scarlett is trapped in social obscurity at St. Tabitha's, an ultra-ritzy, all-girls' school in London. Used to spending her free time at gymnastics practice and watching movies with her only two friends, Scarlett is stunned when the school's poshest set invites her to one of their parties. She eagerly accepts, hoping to see her longtime crush, Dan McAndrew, the most golden of the boys from the neighboring school. But when she and Dan actually kiss, he drops dead at her feet—and her classmates brand Scarlett a murderer. Forced to flee to Wakefield Hall Collegiate, a private school in the English countryside where her aristocratic grandmother reigns as headmistress, Scarlett launches her own investigation to discover the cause of death and clear her name. The marriage of chick lit and murder can be awkward: Scarlett can barely breathe in Dan's presence, but Henderson can't let readers get invested in him lest the treatment of his death seem casual. However, this author knows just how to time even the smallest revelations for maximum drama, and her mini-sleuth has a natural glamour and intelligence that Nancy Drew can only dream of. The audience will be rivited. Ages 14-up. (Jan.)
