Murder on a School Night by Kate Weston (review)

Reviewed by: Murder on a School Night by Kate Weston Wesley Jacques Weston, Kate Murder on a School Night. Tegen/HarperCollins, 2023 [384p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780063260276 $19.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780063260290 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 8-12 The small town of Barbourough is a relatively uneventful place, at least until feminist [End Page 76] best friends and markedly unpopular high school juniors Kerry and Annie happen upon a dead mean girl asphyxiated by a menstrual cup at a party. Despite the police insisting there was no foul play (after having menstrual cups explained to them), aspiring detective Annie is determined to infiltrate the popular kids and find the killer while Kerry dutifully tags along, with some reservations. Kerry narrates the investigation with the relatable energy of someone who would much rather be at home reading the story she's telling, critical of every character involved instead of anxiously delving into the case herself. Soon enough, however, she's as smitten with one of the prime suspects as she is loyal to Annie, who is annoyingly persuasive when she's not just being annoying in her dogged sleuthing and clout-chasing. As bodies start piling up—blindfolded by pads or with tampon-stuffed ears—Kerry begins to take this menstrual murders mystery a bit more seriously, recognizing that her new beau may not be the killer but that he is at the center of a whole mess of deadly secrets. The bestie protagonists are reliably charming, admirably supportive, and refreshingly transparent about their horny, frustrating, unfair experiences as young women in this Agatha Christie-esque mystery for the Pretty Little Liars set. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois