Beyond Suspicion
A Whispering Springs Mystery
$35.99
- Paperback
240 pages
- Release Date
5 May 2015
Summary
Her mom’s remarriage has been hard on fifteen-year-old Shelby. Step-dad Roger is strict and treats her like a child. At least they’re letting her go to her first boy-girl party. That is until she gets home from school and finds that Roger has changed his mind-he wants Shelby to babysit her year-old brother Josh. It’s so unfair! Fuming, Shelby takes Josh in his stroller to the park. After all, it’s not his fault. Someone sets off fireworks, distracting Shelby. When she turns around-Josh is gone.Shelby tells the police she’s seen a white van cruising the neighborhood lately, and she thinks she saw it at the park as well. But to her horror, the police are not interested: Pointing to angry texts to her girlfriends about getting back at Roger, they accuse her of causing Josh’s disappearance! The police focus on the woods around the park, driving Shelby wild with fear and anger that the kidnappers will get away. With TV reporters all over the front yard, Shelby sneaks out the back to find her brother, any way she can.So begins Shelby’s race against time-and against a world that has turned on her. And yet she finds help along the way. There’s mysterious Matt, who says he wants to help, but doesn’t seem to want anyone to know it. And there’s Jess, who watches out for Shelby as, against the odds, she tracks down the kidnappers just as they are leaving town.
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781929345106 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1929345100 |
| Author: | Catherine Winn |
| Publisher: | Sourcebooks, Inc |
| Imprint: | Poisoned Pen Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 240 |
| Release Date: | 5 May 2015 |
| Weight: | 299g |
| Dimensions: | 140mm x 216mm |
| Series: | Whispering Springs Mysteries |
| Audience Age: | 14-18 |
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Critics Review
When someone kidnaps her baby brother, the police accuse 15-year-old Shelby of his murder, and the national media run with it.Shelby gets hate email and death threats, and the press besieges the family, but nothing can stop Shelby from slipping out the unwatched back way to do her own investigation at the park where the kidnapping occurred. There, she gets into more trouble with the police but meets Matt, who may or may not become a romantic interest. Offering to help, Matt takes her out to look for the white van Shelby insists was involved in the crime. (Why is it always a white van?) Events finally take some pressure off Shelby, but she’s determined to solve the crime. She thinks ahead of the police at every step, possibly at her own peril. Winn’s writing moves along nicely, although she relies on more than one credulity-straining incident to solve major problems. Her initial portrayal of the police detectives comes across as outrageous with their over-the-top persecution of Shelby, but she later redeems them with words if not with their actions. Her characterization of Shelby’s parents is equally one-dimensional, initially portraying them as selfish and uncaring and then instantly switching their portrayals to sympathetic after the kidnapping. Still, if the plot and characterizations don’t make much sense, the story has enough suspense to satisfy undemanding mystery fans. * Kirkus Reviews *
Catherine Winn
Catherine A. Winn, a former art and elementary school teacher, lives and writes in Texas. An avid reader of all types of mysteries from cozies to thrillers, she’s found writing them to be equally thrilling. She is currently working on her next Whispering Springs mystery.
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