18803085Title: Buzz Kill

Author: Beth Fantaskey

Publisher: HMH Books for Young

Publication Date: May 2014

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Contemporary Mystery

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

 

 

 

Synopsis can be found here.
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

Review:

The football coach has been murdered, and Millie’s father is the prime suspect. Can Millie and new boy Chase figure out who the real murderer is? Before they strike again?

Millie Ostermeyer is a pretty unique girl. She’s fearless, proud and totally quirky. I know, I know. You’re going to say a lot of heroines are like that these days but really, Millie is something else. She says the wrong things, is maybe a tad over aggressive, and is really smart and clever. Millie uses the library, loves philosophy and has a wide collection of cute nerdy t-shirts. Perhaps I enjoyed Millie’s internal dialogue way too much because it sounds like my own.

It’s so easy to like this book. It’s fun, easy to read. The plot, while not overly complicated, is still intriguing and I kept reading to find out what happened. The mysterious new boy Chase is handsome and tortured, but not too dark or too dangerous. It’s easy to see why they like each other. They are each unique in their own way, fascinating the other.

What I liked most about this book is the Nancy Drew references. I grew up on Nancy Drew, renting them from the library at every chance I had. And, might I add, there is a pretty awesome librarian in this book! Like all the Nancy Drew books, Fantaskey does a great job of leaving every chapter with a cliffhanger and starting the new one with a pretty fantastic opening dialogue line. It propels the reader forward, on and on, until, will you look at that? Two hours have gone by? How did that happen?

There are also many funny little turnsĀ of mystery that many Nancy Drew fans will pick up on and appreciate how Fantaskey styled the story after the clever girl detective. Don’t get me wrong. Millie is her own kick butt detective, which is why I like her. Nancy is too nice, too soft spoken and formal. But Millie- that’s a girl I want to snoop around with!

Overall, Buzz Kill is a fun nostalgic read for me. It’s a great book on it’s own, if you haven’t read the Nancy Drew series. But to me, this book holds a special place in my heart. It’s who Nancy might have been if she was solving crimes in our day.

I hope this is the beginning of more adventures with Millie.

Rating 8 Cookie Worthy