How to Find a Missing Girl

High school senior Iris Blackthorn is the gutsy lead investigator in her three-person amateur detective group, the Blackthorn Agency, which she started with best friends Imani and Sammy shortly after her cheerleader older sister Stella disappeared a year ago. When Iris’s ex-girlfriend Heather, who hosts a podcast about Stella’s disappearance titled How to Find a Missing Girl, also vanishes, Iris knows that she and her partners must investigate. Police immediately assume that Heather’s football player boyfriend is responsible for her disappearance, but the clues Iris unearths tell a different, and far more complicated, story. With local detective de Rosa breathing down her neck for “sabotaging my investigation,” Iris must be careful to stay a few steps ahead to avoid reprimand. But scary anonymous texts sent to Iris make it clear to the teen sleuths that they have more than the police to worry about. An action-filled climax introduces new characters and unique dynamics that elevate this emotionally raw mystery from an anticipatory whodunit to an introspective and high-stakes thrill ride. The cast is intersectionally diverse. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jessica Errera, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Sept.)