McClintock, Norah. Out of Tune.

McClintock, Norah. Out of Tune. Orca           2018  222p.  $10.95          ISBN 978-1-4598-1465-3          ms/hs            Mystery/Detective VG

In this murder mystery, the third in the Riley Donovan series, our sleuth Riley figures out who killed one of her classmates, a girl who had everything going for her. The mystery will keep readers turning pages, but the author's choice of words can sometimes be a bit confusing. Will definitely appeal to those who like a good mystery story, in middle school and high school. Use of the word "bitch" and "perky breasts" but no really bad language.

Summary: When one of Riley’s classmates turns up missing, and murdered, the search is on for her killer. Suddenly, it seems there are several suspects, with sufficient motives and no alibi, who may have wanted the girl dead.     
                                   

Murder-Fiction                                                                     -- Carol Kennedy

McClintock, Norah Out of Tune

McClintock, Norah     Out of Tune   Orca    2018   222p   10.95  978-1-4598-1465-3            ms/hs Mystery/Detective    VG       
When one of Riley’s classmates turns up missing, and murdered, the search is on for her killer. Suddenly, it seems there are several suspects, with sufficient motives and no alibi, who may have wanted the girl dead.         In this murder mystery, the third in the Riley Donovan series, our sleuth Riley figures out who killed one of her classmates, a girl who had everything going for her. The mystery will keep readers turning pages, but the author's choice of words can sometimes be a bit confusing. Will definitely appeal to those who like a good mystery story, in middle school and high school. Use of the word "bitch" and "perky breasts" but no really bad language.
                                    Kennedy, Carol

McClintock, Norah . Trial By Fire.

McClintock, Norah .  Trial By Fire.  Orca  2016  231p  $10.95     ISBN 978-1-4598-0936-9    ms  Conflict  VG     

In this new Riley Donovan mystery, McClintock brings the issue of prejudice to her plot in a small-town setting where the issue of rightful ownership of a farm comes to the forefront.  When a barn is set on fire and its owner nearly dies, dons her detective hat and examines all possibilities.  Along with a cast of characters that is certain to entertain, Riley uses her wits and all of her sleuthing abilities to solve the crime.  Her Aunt Ginny has accepted a job as a police detective in a nondescript small town where a farm recently went on the seller’s block due to a lack of funds to keep it going.  Nearly half the town resents the new owner, as much for his ethnicity as for the fact that they believe he “stole” the farm from its rightful owner.  Naturally, Mr. Goram tries to protect his new property, and this leads to a potentially deadly fire as the inciting incident.  Intrigue grows when Mr. Goram’s son, who is not above suspicion, returns from Afghanistan to look after his father.  Riley meets local teen Ashleigh, and the two hit it off.  At a party Riley meets several teens with whom she has had a struggle, and they, too, become suspects. As luck has it, Riley learns that a lovely bamboo arrangement has been delivered to Mr. Goram’s hospital room from a local florist, and she traces the buyer to the local bank. From that point on, she is clearly on the path to solving the crime.

McClintock’s mysteries have solid plots, interesting characters and appropriate numbers of mysterious clues for young readers to figure out.       

Summary: Riley Donovan must figure out who set a barn on fire, nearly causing its new owner, a foreigner, to die.  Prejudice, ownership, guilt and innocence come together as a small town watches and waits.

Mystery-Fiction, Prejudice-Fiction              --Martha Squaresky

McClintock, Norah. My Side.

McClintock, Norah.  My Side.  Orca  2013  110p  $9.95  ISBN 978-1-4598-0511-8  ms/hs  Realistic fiction  VG-BN   

Norah McClintock has readers on the edge with her new Orca Soundings book, My Side.  Addie is vulnerable and foolish.  When a new guy invites her to meet him in the woods, she willingly accepts.  While en route to their “date”, she is abducted by a masked marauder and forced into the basement of a building in the woods.  Terrified, she discovers that her abductors are high-school acquaintances who have targeted her.  To add insult to injury, she is filmed, and the film appears on the school’s website.  McClintock shares Addie’s feelings through first-person point of view, then switches the point of view to that of Addie’s best friend Neely.  Addie’s best friend is as involved as she can be in the entire incident.  However, Neely tells a story of manipulation at the hands of her new friends, a group of girls from the better side of town.  Neely has been equally tricked.  McClintock’s cleverness in combining the two points of view into an intriguing story of friendship and cyber-bullying is amazing.  Her resolution is unique, her theme is contemporary, and her creativity is sublime.  The book is short but sweet.  Readers won’t be able to put it down.        

Summary: Addie finds herself in a terrifying setting, alone in the woods with an attacker.  When she realizes that her attacker is a fellow high-school student, Addie suffers further humiliation upon discovering that the kidnapping was filmed and spread throughout the school by mean girls.      

Bullying-Fiction, Kidnapping-Fiction                        --Martha Squaresky

McClintock, Norah. Close To The Heel. (Seven the Series)

McClintock, Norah.  Close To The Heel. (Seven the Series)  Orca  257p  $9.95  978-1-55469-950-6  2012      ms/hs   VG    Mystery/Detective

Close to the Heel is the fifth installment in the Seven series, but readers will not have to read the previous volumes to enjoy this story.  The series, written by seven different authors, can be read in any order and follows the adventures of seven cousins who each must complete a task assigned to them by their grandfather via his videotaped will.

Rennie arrives in Iceland to carry out the task given to him by his Grandpa McLean, the  patriarch whose strong personality holds the series together even after his death.  Rennie has a lot to prove -- to himself, to his father, and to others -- and Iceland’s uncompromising, bleak setting is the perfect scene for a dark mystery and a man-against-the-elements coming-of-age novel.  Rennie’s task is to return some journals to the site of a plane crash that his grandfather survived decades ago in Iceland.  Instead, Rennie is caught up in a murder mystery.  Readers are immediately propelled into an action-driven plot with an intriguing back story.  An unexpected plot twist will keep readers rapidly turning pages to the very end.

Iceland–Fiction, Mysteries-Fiction                  --Hilary Welliver