Saturday, February 11, 2012

Haines, Kathryn Miller The Girl is Murder


Haines, Kathryn Miller  The Girl is Murder       
Roaring Brook Press see macmillan children's pub      2011  342p  16.99 978-1-59643-609-1     ms/hs VG    Historical  

     In war time 1942, Iris is determined to help her widowed father in his detective agency.  Iris has not only lost her mother, but also her affluent lifestyle. She befriends a gang to help save her father’s failing business and uncovers a murder mystery.              
    Iris Anderson’s mother has committed suicide and her father and she are forced to leave their home and affluent lifestyle from the Upper East Side and move to the Lower East Side. Struggling to fit in at her new public school and adapt to her new life, Iris becomes friends with Suze who is a member of the Rainbow gang. One of the gang members has gone missing and Iris is curious about this disappearance.
    Iris is determined to help her Pop’s failing private investigation business when she discovers that the case he is working is this missing boy. She inserts herself into Suze’s gang to find answers and help her father solve a case. Her father is furious when he discovers her involvement. She secretly continues her quest and eventually persuades him to teach her the business as she solves the case.
     Kathryn Miller Haines creates a realistic look at this war time era by utilizing the slang and popular sayings of the time period as well as the New York City setting and events. The plot is well paced. The author places Iris in an unfamiliar and somewhat humiliating predicament which develops an engaging, suspenseful, well written historical fiction novel.
                  Historical fiction     Virginia McGarvey

 

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