Now She's Dead
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Last summer, Sara Ellis was found dead by the lake, and only Mandy knows what really happened.
This summer, she's desperate to keep it a secret.
For a few weeks every summer, Sara was Mandy's best friend. At Highmark, the lake resort where their families vacationed, the two were in a world of their own. Or at least Mandy got to be part of Sara's world.
But now Sara’s dead. The police ruled her death an accident; a tragic mistake after a night of impaired judgment. For the past year, Mandy's coped by escaping: leaving home and barely keeping it together at school. The last thing she wants to do is return to Highmark this summer—even if she does need "closure." As soon as she's back, though, she hears the whispers: someone killed Sara Ellis.
And if she’s not careful, they'll figure out it's all her fault.
As evidence resurfaces and anonymous accusations are scrawled in angry red spray paint, Mandy must confront the truths she's been avoiding about last summer. Because someone wants to make her pay for what happened to Sara that night.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A teen reluctantly returns to the site of her best friend's death in Clarke's tense debut murder mystery. Despite having personal reservations about the trip, 18-year-old Mandy agrees to accompany her family on their annual vacation to Highmark Inn and Resort, where her BFF Sara died the previous summer in a gruesome fireworks accident. For Mandy, who struggles with guilt about her involvement in Sara's death, this two-week trip is her only opportunity to show her parents that they don't need to worry about her mental health while she's away at college. Mandy finds herself on edge upon learning that her younger sister, Kelsey, has brought her high school friend Natalie—the host of a popular true crime podcast—who is determined to investigate the circumstances behind the accident. As the trip progresses, other people in Sara's orbit are brought into question, each of whom is hiding secrets and navigating tumultuous relationships. Chapters alternate between the current summer and the year before, building suspense and drawing out revelations. The shifting timelines, paired with Mandy's increasing anxiety and guilt, add an air of uncertainty to the protagonist's close first-person narration. Main characters cue as white. Ages 14–up.
