Missing Clarissa

 Thanks to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for sending “Missing Clarissa” for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Besties Cameron and Blair decide to do their high school journalism project about a 20-year-old missing persons case in their small town. Clarissa had disappeared from a party in the woods a month after she graduated from high school. As Cam and Blair navigate their own complicated lives, they realize their project has the power to hurt…or heal those Clarissa left behind.

I love a fast-paced mystery and “Missing Clarissa” definitely fills the bill. I had a hard time putting it down. The dialog is snappy, rarely getting bogged down in either Clarissa’s disappearance or Cam and Blair’s life outside of the journalism project. Characters are quirky and flawed, but so very likable.  Forays into questions about the meaning of justice, lack of confidence in young women, and the challenges of growing up in a small town shine a light on tough topics and draw connections between Cam and Blair and those who came before them. 

This is a great book for mystery lovers of all ages, those who like strong and reflective female characters, those who like stories set in small towns where everybody knows who you are. I’ll be getting a hard copy of this book for my classroom library.