About That Night

McClintock (the Mike & Riel Mysteries series) offers a slow-burning whodunit set in a snowy small town around Christmas. Sixteen-year-old Jordie Cross’s ostensibly perfect boyfriend, Derek, is staying with her family for the holidays when Ronan, her volatile ex, shows up, accusing Derek of taking a bracelet he gave Jordie. After Jordie can’t find the gift, she interrogates Derek, who sneaks out to retrieve a bracelet he claims he bought her recently, to prove his innocence and devotion. Soon after, both Derek and a beloved local teacher are found dead, and Ronan is the prime suspect. Lt. Michael Diehl, the late teacher’s husband, returns from leave to investigate, but it’s clear from the beginning that Jordie will be the one to solve the case and clear Ronan’s name. McClintock’s third-person, present-tense narration maintains a detached, procedural tone as it shifts attention among several characters, sharing snippets of their histories, establishing the novel’s small-town setting, and creating many suspects. The details that McClintock meticulously places throughout the story lead to an ending that resists tying everything up too neatly. Ages 12–up. (Sept.)