The Underdogs
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
Who killed Annabel Harper?
When a popular teen beauty’s body is discovered by the pool at an elite tennis club, the regulars are shocked—especially twelve-year-old Evie and her best friend, Chelsea. While everyone else is haunted by the teen’s death, Evie and Chelsea jump on the case, dogging the footsteps of the lead detective as he investigates. As temperatures soar over the summer, tensions rise, fingers are pointed, and a heroic act sets in motion a chain of events readers will never see coming.
In the tradition of The Westing Game comes this debut mystery with a breathtaking twist.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Evie, 12, and her best friend Chelsea, spend their summers on the periphery of the social scene at the tony New England pool/tennis club where their parents work. Both from single-parent homes, the girls bond over being social outcasts because of their physical differences. Evie is shy and slightly overweight while Chelsea is still recovering from the abuse she suffered years before being adopted by her mother, Beth. The girls usually spend their summers hiding in the cool, dark corners of the club eating snacks, but this year is different. Evie begins to secretly train to play tennis, and 16-year-old Annabel Harper, the golden girl of the club, is found murdered at the pool. Determined to discover who could do this to a young woman both girls admired, Evie and Chelsea decide to help the police solve the crime. Told from Chelsea's perspective in chapters that alternate before and after Annabel's murder, debut novelist Hammel cleverly disguises Chelsea's true identity, leaving that mystery for readers to solve just as the girls pinpoint Annabel's killer. Ages 10 14.
