Dig Two Graves

In Carlsbad, Calif., 17-year-old Neve Lanier, who comports herself in the style of her beloved film noir films, is attending GLAM—Girls Leadership and Mentorship camp—like her mother before her. It’s not the sort of place for a self-confessed social pariah, but Neve’s grandmother has promised to pay her college tuition if she goes—something her family cannot otherwise afford. And Neve finds that she likes GLAM, especially after acting in a scene directed by fellow camper Diane Russell, to whom she finds herself romantically attracted. In what Neve thinks is a joke based on Strangers on a Train, the two assumed-white teens agree to kill the other’s “problem”: Neve will take out Diane’s stepbrother, hazel-eyed Javier Flores, whom Diane indicates has been sexually assaulting her, and Diane will murder Neve’s ex-friend, Yasmin Attar, broadly cued through an instance of Farsi as of Persian descent. But the joke becomes all too real when Yasmin is murdered and the evidence implicates Neve and her father, portrayed as “frail” following a mental health crisis. Centering a quirky protagonist and a heinous killer, McNeil (the #murdertrending series) studs this unevenly paced thriller with noir references while neatly unspooling the plot. Ages 14–up. (Mar.)