The Dark Maidens

November 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-By all accounts, Itsumi Shiraishi is the queen bee of prestigious St. Mary's Academy, an all-girls high school. She is not only beautiful, rich, and the center of the St. Mary's universe, she is also president of the invitation-only Literature Club. An invitation from Itsumi to join the literati of St. Mary's is the pinnacle of status, granting members exclusive access to the "salon" (a state-of-the-art library designed and furnished by Istumi's wealthy father). However, her sudden death and rumored murder casts suspicion on the other club members and fractures the tenuous friendships formed through their leader. When the remaining members meet for their annual mystery stew in honor of their esteemed queen bee, each shares a theory on what happened and "whodunit" through their original short stories. The entries reveal the members' opinions of one another, their understanding of their relationship with Itsumi, and their version of the truth. This wasei-eigo, or light novel, is a slow-simmering and clever murder mystery that starts off slow but deftly interweaves the characters' short stories into a jaw-dropping ending. Akiyoshi's writing is intelligently consumable and cleverly sprinkled with literature references to pique interest in other literary works. VERDICT Recommended for all teen mystery collections.-Tamela Chambers, Chicago Public Library, IL

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