BOOK
REVIEW : To Catch A Killer
By
Sheryl Scarborough
BY SULPHIA IQBAL
MY THOUGHTS
It’s
been awhile since I’ve picked up a contemporary mystery after the Mara Dyer
Trilogy and A Study In Charlotte, which kinda set the bar high, but
To Catch A Killer wasn't half bad.
When
Erin Blake was a toddler, her mother was murdered right before eyes and she,
oblivious as to what actually happened, managed to survive three days alongside
the corpse. As her “Aunt” becomes more and more determined not to talk about
her mother, Erin becomes more and more obsessed with finding her mother’s
murder and who her father was ( who she suspects might be the same person
).
Erin’s
bio teacher decides to help Erin in finding out the identity of her father by
doing a DNA test. When Erin goes to her teacher’s house late at night, she
is shocked to find her dead in a pool of blood. She’s also shocked to see
one of her classmates running away from the scene when she sees him. Naturally,
her first suspect is him and naturally, against the wishes of the police and
her “Aunt” , she is determined to find out who her teacher's murder was, especially
after realizing it was the same person who killed her mother.
A lot
of things in the novel were oddly convenient. Like, conveniently a
string from the same shirt her mother wore when she had died had accidently
dropped in Journey’s, the classmate, van, allowing Erin to realize the
connection between the two cases. Conveniently, Erin’s aunt’s best
friend and boyfriend are police officers, her uncle an FBI agent, and her best
friend’s dad a lawyer. Conveniently, Erin had access to the special
computers in the Police Department because her aunt worked there. HMMMM…not
done on purpose at all.
Erin
repeatedly defies letting the professionals such as police officers,
detectives, and FBI agents handle the investigating. That’s not really very
accurate ( or safe mind you ), but I mean come on it’s a book for young adults,
so I let it slide.
ALSO,
I secretly enjoy tough cases where I’m not able figure out who the culprit is
because that tells me it’s a good mystery ( except in Sherlock Holmes
because if I CAN, I’ve accomplished the impossible ). In this case ( no pun
intended ), I was able to figure who the big baddie was like, 30 % into the
book and that was kinda disappointing.
I’ve
loved mystery and forensics since God knows when. Reading about Erin solving
tiny mysteries like whether a guy a cheated on other girl with lipstick
chromatography and hair analysis with home-based materials made me no joke
research for a straight hour forensic labs activities I could do at home : )
Hopefully it’ll make you want to do the same.
A
contemporary mystery that I recommend more for the middle grade, younger
young adults, and anyone loves a good quick mystery.
Check
it out at the library and goodreads :
RATINGS: 4/5
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