Bel Reviews: Anne Cassidy's - "Killing Rachel"
“Rose’s mother and Joshua’s father have disappeared. Police inquiries have gone nowhere and the case, it seems, is closed: Rose and Joshua have been told that the police believe their parents are dead. But Rose and Joshua still hold out hope that they are alive. Joshua is determined to follow up his own inquiries, which includes working out the meaning of the cryptic notebooks – the murder notebooks – they have discovered. Then Rose is distracted by odd, desperate messages she receives from Rachel, a former best friend from her school, followed by the terrible news that Rachel is dead. But perhaps Rachel’s death will provide one more piece of the puzzle about what has happened to Rose and Joshua’s parents . . .” Blurb thanks to goodreds.com
The writing style changed a fair bit between Book 1, Dead Time, and Killing Rachel, book 2, in the Murder Notebooks series. To be perfectly blunt, I preferred Dead Time, but I think that had to do with spending so much time in memory sequences in book 2.
By the time Rose and Joshua began looking into what really happened to Rachel, I was starting to wonder why anyone would bother. Rachel was such an awful character, I just didn’t understand Rose’s loyalty to such a bunch of horrid memories of an even worse person.
I DID like the progress in their search for their parents. This storyline is all that matters in my mind and it is the lifeblood that kept me reading. What the heck went on to make their parents leave the kids unprovided for? Why didn’t they take their kids with them, and who’s after them?
The big unanswered question is what will happen when Rose and Joshua find their respective parental units?
Anne has created a world that both teens and adults can enjoy equally from different points of view.
A great winter read over a nice warm cup of tea.
Paperback, 336 pages
Published March 14th 2013 by Bloomsbury Childrens
ISBN 1408815516 (ISBN13: 9781408815519)
