Middle-aged convict Nancy Drew? I’m in.

79. Games for Dead Girls – Jen Williams

This turned out better than I expected. I was pleasantly surprised by this tale of a seaside town separated through several time periods and with some disparate characters that come together rather well and in a very weird way in the end, but, like I said, better than I expected. Hithechurch and nearby Folkeshome have a history of pirate smuggling, beachside running, a funfair, and disappearing girls. Oh, and a story of a young girl in a smuggling family running from said pirates and hiding herself in a scarecrow. But, the disappearing girls and one particular murder in 1988 are Charlie’s focus when she returns as an adult with her niece, neither of whom are all they seem.

Charlie has her reasons and some pressure as a book that will truly ruin her reputation is about to come out and she’s getting some mysterious messages about it. She needs to resolve her side of the story and what she experienced overall back in 1988. However, there is also the ticking clock of another girl who has disappeared and it seems a bit like Charlie suspects the murderer from 1988 of potentially kidnapping the girl as well. Charlie stirs up trouble by talking to old locals, one of whom chased her away from the slot machines back in the 80s, and she also finds a nice bookshop and some sad tales and unresolved disappearances that may provide a pattern for what happened with the most recent one and a bit of a bigger mystery of what’s going on in those caves.

 

Danger Drew certainly would have figured it all out and then gone out for butter lettuce.