Her Final Words

At the start of this cleverly plotted mystery from Labuskes (Girls of Glass), teenager Eliza Cook presents herself at Seattle FBI headquarters, asks for agent Lucy Thorne, and confesses to murdering 12-year-old Noah Dawson in Knox Hollow, Idaho. She tells Lucy the body’s location and that alongside the victim is the knife that killed Noah and was used to carve a psalm into his skin. But something doesn’t feel right to Lucy. She wonders why Eliza traveled more than five hours to report the murder rather than inform local authorities. Lucy’s superior gives her the weekend to see whether her instincts are correct. What Eliza discovers at Knox Hollow is more than just a simple murder. One of Eliza’s best friends, Molly Thomas, has gone missing, and in the past other people, all members of the True Believers of Christ Church, have also disappeared. As Lucy probes further, she realizes the town’s citizens aren’t who they seem, and she has no idea whom to trust. Labuskes skillfully ratchets up the suspense. Readers will eagerly await her next. Agent: Abby Saul, The Lark Group. (Aug.)