Heiress of Nowhere

In 1918, an orphaned teen must prove herself innocent of her guardian’s murder in this atmospheric historical mystery from Lee (Kill Her Twice). As a baby, Lucy Nowhere washes ashore on Orcas Island, Wash., where shipbuilder and estate owner Darkon Sanders takes her in. Now 18, Lucy yearns to see more of the world and learn about her origins; she believes that her acceptance to the University of Washington is her ticket off the island. After Sanders’s decapitated head appears on the shoreline, islanders worry that the sea wolves, commanded by the legendary demon Orkus, are responsible for his death. But when Lucy is named heiress of the estate instead of Sanders’s dashing nephew Nash, she finds herself under suspicion as well. Science-minded Lucy works to unravel the mystery surrounding the sea wolves and Sanders’s murder, along the way becoming romantically entangled with both her watchful friend, Koa, and “presumptuous city rat” Nash. Descriptive prose and sensorial imagery bring the intersectionally diverse people and beguiling setting of this gothic whodunit to vivid life. Realistically rendered characters navigate fast-paced events with a dash of romance, culminating in a captivating adventure that perceptively ruminates on themes of colonization, gender discrimination, and environmental collapse. An author’s note concludes. Ages 12–up. Agent: Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary. (Mar.)