Frozen Beauty

Sisters Kit, 17; Tessa, 16; and Lilly, 15, and the brotherly boy next door, 16-year-old Boyd, have been close since childhood, but crushes and loyalties begin to shift once they enter their teens. When Kit is found dead in the woods one freezing winter night, Lilly, convinced she saw Kit with Boyd that evening, accuses him, landing him in jail. But Tessa—whom Boyd kissed two days before Kit’s death—has strong doubts, and she sets out to find the killer, hoping that the DNA she shares with her older sister, which “slimed off on her... in her mother’s womb,” a trait known as chimerism, will help allow her to relive the experiences leading to Kit’s death. Hillyer (Winter Glass) tells the story from several perspectives—the sisters’ (including Kit’s, via poems she wrote while living), Boyd’s, and that of high school sophomore Patrick Donovan, new in town and of questionable character—carefully structuring this compelling murder mystery into “Before” and “Now” chapters, subtly weaving essential clues into the narrative, and imperceptibly casting suspicion on several characters. Her adept craftsmanship, however, is shattered by a deus-ex-machina ending that results in an awkward resolution to an otherwise skillfully built and evocatively written tale of suspense. Ages 13–up. Agent: Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management. [em](Mar.) [/em]