The Girl Is Murder [Hardcover]

Kathryn Miller Haines (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 19, 2011

Iris Anderson is only 15, but she's quickly mastering the art of deception in this YA novel for fans of Veronica Mars.

 

It's the Fall of 1942 and Iris's world is rapidly changing. Her Pop is back from the war with a missing leg, limiting his ability to do the physically grueling part of his detective work. Iris is dying to help, especially when she discovers that one of Pop's cases involves a boy at her school. Now, instead of sitting at home watching Deanna Durbin movies, Iris is sneaking out of the house, double crossing her friends, and dancing at the Savoy till all hours of the night. There's certainly never a dull moment in the private eye business.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Adult mystery author Haines's YA debut is a meticulously crafted slow burn…. Haines writes gracefully, immersing readers in Iris's perceptive thoughts, suffering, and transformation. Nuanced relationships and a social climate shadowed by ethnic tension and war result in a compelling reflection on a complex era.” --Publishers Weekly

 

"...the compelling characters, superb setting, and myriad twists and turns will keep readers intrigued till the very end." --SLJ

 

"Take a powder, Nancy Drew. 1940s girl sleuth Iris Anderson is on the case. A stylish, slang-filled teen noir that is as entertaining as it is absorbing." --Kirkus

 

“What makes this such a standout is the cast. Sounding like they’re right out of the 1940s (well, a 1940’s movie, anyway), the characters, young and old, pop off the pages. Iris, intriguing and infuriating, captures the tension inherent in the teenage years, no matter what the decade. This joint is jumping.” —Booklist, Starred Review

 

"Iris’ story has considerable crossover appeal, enticing both mystery lovers and historical fiction fans, with a cunningly devised plot and a cast of period-specific characters..." —BCCB

About the Author

KATHRYN MILLER HAINES is an actor, mystery writer, and award-winning playwright. She lives in Western Pennsylvania with her husband, son, and their three dogs. The author of the popular Rosie Winter mystery series, this is her first novel for young adults. Visit her at www.kathrynmillerhaines.com.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press; 1 edition (July 19, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596436093
• ISBN-13: 978-1596436091
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #624,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kathryn Miller Haines is an actor, mystery writer, and award-winning playwright. In addition to writing the Rosie Winter series for HarperCollins, she's also writes a mystery series for young adults also set during World War II for Roaring Brook Press. The first book in the series, The Girl is Murder, is about 15 year old Iris Anderson whose life is turned up side down when her mother kills herself and her father returns injured from Pearl Harbor. She also blogs about World War II and pop culture at www.thegirlis.blogspot.com

Here's a brief Q&A with Kathryn about why she decided to write a young adult novel:

This is your first mystery for young adults, after penning several of popular mysteries for adults in your Rosie Winter series. What made you decide to write for this new audience?

I love reading YA books and, as when I first tried my hand at mysteries, I wanted to see if I could write one for myself. I also felt like there was a whole world of World War II that hadn't been explored very much - what was the war like from the perspective of teenagers? In fact there's a great non-fiction book called Teenage that talks about adolescence through history that really got me buzzing about what life was like then.

What were some of the mysteries you enjoyed reading when you were young? I'm assuming Nancy Drew, due to the mention in the book, but I'd love to hear a few of your early faves.

Absolutely loved Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Truth told, though, I didn't read a lot of mysteries as a young 'un. I was a big Judy Blume fan (particularly Blubber, a book that has stayed with me all these years). Bridge to Terabithia will still make me cry. And I never met a Lois Duncan book I didn't tear through (though I guess those kind of are mysteries/thrillers).
What kind of research did you do to create an authentic early 1940s-New York City setting? Was there any difference in your research process for a young readers title compared to your work for adult titles?

I read a lot of great non-fiction books about the war, went through contemporary to the war issues of newspapers, magazines, comic books; listened to music and radio shows; looked at fashion; watched movies - pretty much surrounded myself with the kind of pop culture that I would've probably been into had I lived during that time.

With the adult mysteries, I think readers are looking for the nitty gritty details about the period whereas I don't think YA readers have the patience for a four page info dump on the history of air conditioning. It was freeing in some ways because I didn't have to be as specific and heavy handed with creating my world. I felt like I could create a flavor of the period without having to drown each scene in period detail. It became a lot more about experiencing the world through the character for me.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars For fans of the Rosie Winters series, Iris Anderson is worthy successor September 14, 2011

By D. White

Format:Hardcover

I'm an enormous fan of Haines' Rose Winters mysteries and was broken-hearted when the series was discontinued. I had never read a YA mystery before and was thrilled that Haines snappy dialogue and penchant for historical accuracy came through intact. As a historical mystery writer, Haines is especially good at immersing the reader in a specific time and place in a way that's poignant and enthusiastic without ever falling into the trap of nostalgia or sentimentality. THE GIRL IS MURDER is no exception. The New York of Iris Anderson is substantially different from the haunts inhabited by Rosie Winters, but both are complimentary and fully realized. Iris is a neat character. She's not overly precocious but she isn't a frustrating teenager either. She thinks about boys (a lot) but never descends to the level of a helpless swoon. She's not a superhuman, Holmesian detective or an idealized Nancy Drew. Iris is just a really smart girl who grieves, laughs, worries about fitting in and somewhere along the way discovers that she has a thirst for justice and a strong sense of morality. She's a fantastic role model for young readers but she's an ideal protagonist for adult readers as well. You won't be disappointed.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Well written, but no big Ah-ha! July 19, 2012

By mudwoman

Format:Kindle Edition

Well written, engaging characters, and obviously well-researched for the time period that serves as the setting of this story. The protagonist is likable. You are rooting for her, cringing for her, and hoping she'll pull it off. But what's the "it"? The narrative, and even the title, hints at several mysteries, and I was waiting to see which one of them would be the actual climax of the book. Would it turn out that our heroine is investigating this mystery over here, but unbeknownst to her she is actually on the path of another? Will she be as surprised as the reader, once the real mystery is revealed? Alas, while one mystery is solved, the teasers are left dangling, and not in a "Tune in next week" kind of way. They are dismissed as if they don't matter. The book is not really about what the title and set up suggest it is about, and that is disappointing.

What the book IS about is a girl finding her way through a challenging life change, in circumstances foreign to most of us (a country hunkering down and sacrificing, rationing, changing "normal," to support a war), while coming to grips with her rearranged family and her distant father. As a somewhat tame teenage adventure, and a taste of what life was like in WWII America, it is a worthwhile read.
But the reader might well miss it if they are looking for a mystery.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of The Figment Review at Figment[dot]com July 29, 2011

By The Figment Review

Format:Hardcover

Iris is the daughter of a private detective living in the Lower East Side of New York City in 1942, and she's not who you'd expect her to be.

You see, Iris used to live in the Upper East Side and attend a private school and associate with "all the right people." That was until her mother committed suicide, and her father, who is essentially broke, moved the family.

As the book begins, Iris attends public school for the first time. The first day, she meets Tom. Tom is the kind of kid who could be really studious and handsome, but chooses not to be. He's one of the only people in Iris' new school to whom she feels connected.

A while later, Tom goes missing. One day, Iris comes home to her father talking to Tom's parents about the case. Iris, of course, wants in, but no matter how many hints she gives, her father is adamant about keeping the facts of the case from Iris.

Soon enough, she's drinking, sneaking out of the house behind her father's back, and disobeying what seems to me to be every rule she has...

Kathryn Miller Haines employs a writing style that I quite like. She does an especially great job writing the mystery. I love the twists and turns she adds to The Girl is Murder. Although some plot elements are very small, they add a lot to the story. In this sense, the story is similar to some of Agatha Christie's tales, but not as complicated.

I'm also impressed by Haines' ability to produce emotions in her readers similar to those Iris feels throughout the story. For example, there were times that I was as annoyed by Iris's Pop as Iris was because he seemed to be `holding back' the story by not asking Iris for her help.

Though, as with any story, I have complaints. Mainly, they are about Iris. Although her actions are necessary for the story, I was quite annoyed by her at some points. She continuously lies to her father after she's gained his trust back, even after being yelled at and even grounded multiple times. By the end of the book, I was pretty much like "Oh my God, you idiot, again?"

A mystery should be addictive; you should feel like you must read the next chapter and it should be difficult to physically put the book down to allow yourself to go on with normal human life. The Girl is Murder is missing that addictive element. You read to know the ending, not what happens in the next chapter.

But the end of the book is unexpected, making The Girl is Murder a worthwhile, albeit not outstanding, summer read for mystery fans.