Erin and her friends have been pressured by parents and guardians and the police to promise they will not get involved in any more investigations. No one said they couldn't do research, though. When Erin's boyfriend Journey tells her that he thinks is father was wrongly imprisoned, and he wants to reopen his father's case, it will take all of her willpower to not investigate. But she can read up on the case files at least so she can talk to him about it. She's a bit put out that Victor chose Journey as his summer intern to work on this case and help get the new crime lab set up. She knows it is logical since Journey will be a graduate, and she still has one more year of school, but still it hurts. Victor has recruited her, Spam, and Lysa to be camp counselors for a new forensics summer camp and tasked them with coming up with activities/labs for the camp. That does keep them a bit busy. They are distracted, though, as it isn't quite summer break yet. They have finals coming up. The interim principal seems to be on a power trip and handing out detentions left and right for trumped up charges. And a cute skateboarder was almost hit by a car in the parking lot, and the girls (particularly Spam) want to figure out who he is, and when he's accused of causing the car to hit a pole, they want to clear his name. And that leads them to discover an even bigger crime. This summer is shaping up to be anything but boring.
I was a little worried at the start of this that it wouldn't live up to the first book, but it quickly picked up and the mysteries kept piling up to be solved. On top of all the mysteries swirling around, Erin's guardian Rachel is getting engaged and Erin is a little worried about what that means for her. And the school is building the new lab along with the crime lab (that will jointly serve the school and police) that their deceased biology/forensics teacher, Miss P, designed, which is dredging up their grief over her death all over again. On reflection, there's a lot going on, but in the moment of reading it, it didn't feel like there was too much going on. The author balanced all these plot points well and it felt natural. The mysteries were done well, and kept me mostly on my toes (though I did figure out one criminal well before the girls). This book wraps up most of the character arcs well enough I feel ok with the series ending here. Overall, a high-octane mystery/thriller that keeps the pages turning, is fleshed out with interesting characters, and lends empathy to some tough family situations.
Notes on content:
Language: I don't remember anything.
Sexual content: Journey makes one veiled suggestive, joking comment early in the book. Erin says they make out for a little bit (no details other than that), and some kissing on page. Rachel stays overnight at her boyfriend's house sometimes (no details other than that).
Violence: A past murder by shooting. Past deaths from drug overdoses. A couple people are whacked on the head and some people are drugged. There's a very perilous situation that results in building damage but everyone survives. There's a minor car crash.
Ethnic diversity: I didn't catch any descriptions of people that pointed to ethnic background, just hair color really.
LGBTQ+ content: Two women have dinner together, but it is unclear if it is romantic or just friends.
Other: One of the girls develops a tracking program and gives the new principal items so they can know when she is coming. There is a positive resolution to the tension between the principal and the girls. Parents with drug issues results in a child being kidnapped. Erin is still dealing with her mom and teacher's murders.