Kathleen Glasgow

The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson is a 2022 Delacorte publication.

When Alice’s boyfriend, Steve, dumps her and starts dating her best friend, Brooke, Alice pulls a disappearing act. Now that’s she back home, she needs help getting caught up with her schoolwork and is assigned a tutor….

Enter Iris- a super smart girl with a secret troubled life who is desperate to scrape up enough cash so that she and her mother can leave town.

But when Brooke goes missing, and Steve becomes the prime suspect, Alice and Iris team up to find out what really happened to Brooke….

This book has been on my TBR list for two years. I honestly can’t remember what prompted me to add it- except maybe the ‘Agatha Christie’ theme- because everyone knows I usually avoid anything that reeks of teen/young adult material.

The story is indeed a homage in a way to Agatha Christie and I thought it was pretty cool that a book targeting a younger audience was featuring the great ‘Golden Age’ mystery writer. The mystery is solid and has some very nice, well-timed twists. The surprise ending was a nice touch, only deflated a bit by the rather thin motive.

Overall, this was a pleasant surprise for me-mystery-wise- and a nice diversion and change of pace as well.

3.5 stars

END OF REVIEW

Note:

*My understanding is that this book is recommended to ages 14 and up. I'll have to respectfully disagree and say sixteen-maybe even seventeen and up due to language - ( A PG13 movie can only have one F-bomb- if ia movie is rated R- then one must be seventeen or older to see it and this book had multiple F-bombs),and very adult topics that might land a trigger warning in adult novels- including domestic violence, and date violence, as well as talk of sex tapes and teen drinking, and foul language-(not mild swear words.)

Anyone following my reviews over the years can tell you, I have a running objection to adult content and language in books marketed to younger audiences. I no longer leave these rants in the body of the review- but I will always, on the rare occasion I read one of these books, include my thoughts on this topic.

Authors feel by including this material the story depicts teens in a more authentic way- but... just a thought... not all young people mature emotionally at the same pace. It would be nice if books geared to this audience were written with all people in mind. Pushing adult language and themes on teens before they are emotionally capable of handling it- though, they may seem more mature- is a missed opportunity to set a better example- giving them a bit of accountability instead of offering up disclaimers for their bad behavior - and give them a break from the flood of images and material thrown at them from all directions these days... a safe haven, if you will- as books were for me when I was this age.… (more)