A Cute Little Murder

Two Illinois high school friends reunite to tackle a notorious cold case in this so-so standalone from Harper (A Proposal to Die For). Years ago, teen investigators Harlow Drake and Lainey Piper annoyed their local sheriff’s department by being the first to figure out their high school principal was a murderer. After graduation, the two drifted apart; Lainey started an accounting business, and Harlow went on to host a successful true crime TV show where she cracks cold cases. Now, Lainey’s accounting business is faltering, and she reaches out to Harlow in hopes of consulting on the show and making enough money to fend off her creditors. Harlow pulls Lainey into an episode on the 1927 disappearance of a beautiful young woman named Marguerite Devereaux, “the gold standard of missing persons cases before D.B. Cooper.” Old tensions soon rise to the surface, with Lainey feeling resentful over being relegated to the background, and the stakes ramp up when a member of Harlow’s team is murdered. The tone is light and charming, but sluggish pacing and some clunky prose (one character exhibits “wild annoyance” at being accused of murder) distract. It’s a mixed bag. Agent: Natanya Wheeler, Nancy Yost Literary. (Apr.)