Crime Club

by Melodie Campbell

Sixteen-year-old Penny Capelli has moved with her mom and huge dog, Ollie, to live above a small-town pub owned by her aunt. It's a relief to start over in a place where no one knows Penny's father is in prison. It's summer and the only person she knows is her nerdy cousin, Simon. Soon she meets Simon's best friend, Brent, and Brent's twin sister, Tara, and their pug, Wolfgang. Penny starts thinking this summer won't be so bad after all. But then Ollie digs up a bone in the backyard of the pub. A human bone. And then a few more. It turns out the bone is over twenty years old. Who could it be? Penny and Simon decide to investigate. Together with Brent and Tara, they form the Crime Club. And before long they discover one thing: if you've killed before, you can kill again.

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, LGBT

128 pages, Paperback

Published September 14, 2021

About the author

"the Canadian literary heir to Donald Westlake"
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

NEWS: THE GODDAUGHTER DOES VEGAS is on the Ontario Library Association 2020 Forest of Reading GREAT STORIES list!

THE B-TEAM has been shortlisted for the 2019 Arthur Ellis Award for Excellence in Crime Writing! Melodie Campbell is a double finalist this year, with A SHIP CALLED PANDORA (Mystery Weekly Magazine) being a finalist in the short story category.

THE GODDAUGHTER'S REVENGE has won the DERRINGER AWARD and the ARTHUR ELLIS AWARD for Crime Writing!

The Toronto Sun called her Canada's "Queen of Comedy." Library Journal compared her to Janet Evanovich.

Melodie got her start writing comedy so it's no surprise that reviewers and editors have called her fiction "hilarious" and "laugh-out-loud funny". She has over 200 publications, including 40 short stories, 15 novels, and has won 10 awards for fiction.

"The Goddaughter" a comic mob caper, has been called "Just right for Janet Evanovich fans...impossible not to laugh" by Library Journal.

"The Goddaughter's Revenge" from Orca books, was dubbed 'Real Gold' by the Hamilton Spectator. It won the Derringer Award in the States, and the Arthur Ellis Award in Canada.

Book 5 in the series, "The Bootlegger's Goddaughter" was a finalist for the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak Award. Book 6 in the series, "The Goddaughter Does Vegas" is now available.

Top 100 Bestseller "Rowena Through the Wall," was the first novel in the Land's End comic time travel fantasy series. The entire Land's End trilogy is a Top 50 Amazon Bestseller (all books).

Reviews

[Lissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast-paced, quick read that is smart, funny and quirky. It packs a lot into a short amount of time.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Crime Club is the first YA book in what I hope will be a series. Penny is the teenage daughter of a man who has connections to the mob and is currently in prison for murder, She doesn't know if he's guilty or not but she is told its for her own protection not to know anything. However, her life since his confession and sentencing has been hell in school. Friends are friends no longer. She is forced to quit going to school. Her mother decides to move to Canada where her sister has a restaurant below her home and needs help. She sends Penny and her giant dog Ollie there right away.. On her very first day she meets two of her cousin Simon's best friends, twins Brent and Tara. Penny feels an attraction to Brent right away and she thinks her cousin Simon likes Brents twin sister Tara. The teens are all close in age and immediately form a friendship. Amazingly Ollie digs up a skeleton in the back yard and Penny fears having the police around. She doesn't want everyone to know her history. She was warned by her father to always have her protection and keep a low profile. One of the protections is Ollie, a giant of an animal sometimes mistaken for a bear, and teaching her to shoot and handle a gun when she was only 13. Penny, Simon and her new friends put their heads together to find out who's bones are in the backyard. The Crime Club is formed and they find they are pretty good at it. Penny is secretly in contact with her father which for her own protection she was told not to be. When she tells him what is happening he warns her to be very careful and never be without her weapon and her dog reminding her the killer thinks he got away with it and now won't like the bones being discovered.
Thank you NetGalley and Melodie Campbell for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I enjoyed this quick read and think YA who like mysteries will too. I'm not a YA and plan to read whatever comes next.

[Kate Church · Rating 5 out of 5]

I volunteered to read this book from netgalley. I absolutely loved it. It was well written and the characters were described well. Everyone y'all should read this book.

[Taylor Papera · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a fast-paced mystery from start to finish. The story covers a lot of ground in a short amount of time so you’ve got to be able to put the missing pieces of the story together on your own. When Penny and her mom move to a new town to start over after Penny’s dad was convicted of murder, they get more than what they bargained for. Nice short read with a happy ending and perhaps some budding romances?

[Grey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel this was good for a short mystery. It left me asking questions on every page, and wasn't overly complicated so that the reader was left in the dark about what was going on. I felt the ending was a bit rushed but not so much that it ruined the book for me. I only gave it three out of five stars because the story was interesting but not mind blowing; and the build up to the ending was (in my opinion) a bit anticlimactic.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I became familiar with Melodie Campbell's books through the work that she does with The Hamilton Literacy Council. This was a super quick YA read. Always love books based in my neighbourhood! This book got me out of a reading slump so I was very appreciative. It was good to pick up a light quick read. Thanks Melodie!

[Lobster Two · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet. Didn't blow me out of the water, but it did leave me wanting more. Considering the length of the book I felt for the characters and enjoyed their interactions. Some dialogue felt a little unnatural, but I think this was more than made up for with the settings and small tidbits which gave life to the world.

[Stacey Piper · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's nothing bad about it, but there's nothing good about it.
It's a mystery novel that gets solved in 100 pages with a large font. Best part about this book was Wolfgang the pug and the one sentence where he is described as 'plump'. I wish I would've liked it, but mysteries really need to have depth and length.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keeping in mind this is a Young Adult novel, it is really enjoyable for this adult too! Crime Club is a quick, fun read for younger readers who love a good mystery - and for adults who want a fast paced mystery too. It has friendship, mystery and cute doggies! 5 stars!

[Sylvia McNicoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Melodie Campbell's writing, always snappy and humorous, this time with an edge.
Have a listen to her read from it here:
https://youtu.be/AxT-QMtwvRg

Hear her chat about the story here:
https://youtu.be/JTI8T80ZeMY

[Erica Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 8/10

It’s a cute little quick read. A good book to read through if you’re in a reading funk and want something that kinda quirky and has cute moments throughout. Doesn’t go into much details about the main plot point but all in all not bad!

[Ashlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun, quick read. I like how the story was told and the storyline itself was pretty entertaining. I wish we got a little more on her dad’s backstory and/or had her mom reunite with her, but all in all, it was a solid read and I’m glad I read it.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great high/low book. A compelling, fully-formed mystery executed in about 120 pages, with room for a sequel or series!

[Gwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope that this will become a series. I liked the characters and the storyline.

[Greer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if you are not a Young Adult, you'll have fun reading this little mystery. Easy little read take less than an hour, it's a complete and flushed out story. Superb!!

[Zoey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little mystery novel with a surprise confession at the end. Short book with a fast plot!

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crime Club by Melodie Campbell is a mystery that I have mixed feeling about. As an adult I wanted more to the story. If this book is for middle school age, I thought it was pretty good. Penny is 16 years old, but seems younger, and along with her mom and dog move to her aunt's home to help with her pub. Penny's dad is in prison, and her uncle recently died. Penny has one cousin Simon, and his best friend, Brent along with his twin sister Tara. When their dog digs up a human bone, the mystery is on, and the murder club begins. I am looking forward to reading more books by this author, including the next book in the series.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you.