Deadly Deception

Ashlyn Brennan is stunned when Mrs. Rothlis, the school's newly hired and well-liked guidance counselor, is brutally murdered--and Ashlyn's boyfriend, Drew, is arrested as the prime suspect. Drew has a history of drug addiction (his parents started feeding him cocaine when he was a child); his addictive persona is referred to here as ``Andy.'' Could Andy have killed Mrs. Rothlis when she was trying to help Drew? After much to-ing and fro-ing, it emerges that Mrs. Brennan is the murderer--Mrs. Rothlis is Ashlyn's real mother, and Mrs. Brennan had kidnapped Ashlyn in her infancy from Mrs. Rothlis. When Ashlyn figures out the truth, she and Drew become Mrs. Brennan's newest targets. Haynes (see The Great Dad Disaster , reviewed above) may entertain some readers with this soap opera, but she lacks the ability of, for example, Caroline Cooney or Susan Beth Pfeffer to make even an unlikely set of circumstancesbelievable and meaningful. Ages 10-up. (June)