After Dark with Roxie Clark

August 1, 2022
Two sisters take a murder investigation into their own hands in this story set in small-town Indiana. Roxie crafts wildly creative ghost-story tours for the public about Whistler's local lore, many of them based on her own family's history. Her embrace of all things macabre is a huge part of her style and identity. However, the grisly killing of her sister Skylar's boyfriend, Colin, a year earlier hit too close to home for her and has destroyed Skylar, leaving the once-driven student ready to forfeit her spot at Yale and completely retreat from life. When new information spurs Skylar to look into his still unsolved case, Roxie throws her weight behind the effort, hoping it will help her sister turn a corner. Tristan, Roxie's best friend, is also Colin's half brother, and their long-standing potential to become more than friends, in addition to the secrets he's keeping, complicates things. There is a lot packed into the plot, which can feel unwieldy at times, but the central mystery is unpredictable, carefully building tension to the end. Themes of family trauma are nicely balanced by the sisters' adoring, tough Grandma Gertie. There is also some dissection of Roxie's experience of feeling like a misfit and the pain it has caused her. All characters seem to be White. A gripping, if occasionally overstuffed, thriller. (Thriller. 13-18)

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August 22, 2022
Rather than fearing her family’s purported curse, 18-year-old Roxie Clark embraces it with theatrical flair until tragedy forces her to reevaluate her perspective in this eerie thriller from Davis (The Hollow Inside). Whistler High School student Roxie knows that many of her relatives have died under mysterious circumstances, which they blame on a generational curse. Even so, Roxie is a fan of all things morbid, and regales anyone who will listen with woeful tales of her family history. She’s even developed a ghost tour about it, busing patrons around town to the locations of the historical and more recent deaths. When the repeatedly stabbed and partially burned corpse of Roxie’s sister Skylar’s boyfriend is found in a cornfield, however, Roxie will do anything to help her sibling move on. A year after his death, new evidence prompts Skylar to enlist Roxie to find his killer, but when she insists that the murderer is Roxie’s best friend, Roxie is torn between wanting to prove his innocence and securing closure for her sister. The narrative’s suspenseful ambiance and Roxie’s distinct, loyal-to-a-fault voice make for a riveting meditation on generational trauma and fierce female relationships. Characters cue as white. Ages 12–up.

October 1, 2022
Grades 9-12 Roxie Clark is the youngest in a long line of women who proceeded down dark paths often enough that most people in her small Indiana town think the family is cursed. She has turned this into a small business, leading tours and detailing the exploits of long-dead family members. However, after Colin, her sister's boyfriend, is mysteriously murdered, Roxie turns from storyteller to investigator, following twisty clues in pursuit of his killer. Can she outpace the Clark curse before it swallows her, too? This book is less a whodunit and more a story about transgenerational haunting, of the legacies, responsibilities, and sentiments passed on from old to young along a family line. It is patient in showing the relationships Roxie has with her sister, her deceased mother, her grandmother, and the larger town. As a result, when the action ramps up, the reader feels the tension and the stakes much more deeply. All in all, this book is a wonderful change of pace for thriller lovers--a slower burn, but a rewarding one.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2023

Gr 8 Up-The women in the Clark family are cursed; except for her sister and her grandma, all of Roxie Clark's female relatives have met an untimely demise. Roxie has made the macabre her hobby, passion, and part-time job. She has embraced her family's grim history and created an elaborate ghost tour that earns her a bit of extra cash during the Halloween season. She's even added a tour bus. Meanwhile, there is a fresh murder in town. Her sister's ex-boyfriend has turned up dead, and suspicions abound as to who may have done the dastardly deed. As all eyes look toward the recently released local felon, a second body is discovered. A tame romantic subplot helps the story clip along as Roxie finds herself dividing loyalties between her sister and her best friend-turned-crush. A presumably all-white cast is featured. The ghost tour is so well-painted that readers would eagerly hand over the money to be included on the next trip. VERDICT Suspending disbelief about a teen's ability to conduct a thorough murder investigation, readers will enjoy this solid mystery with a satisfying resolution; the ghost stories are great.-Leah Krippner

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