Better Left Buried

Starred review from May 20, 2024
Roach explores class differences and unbalanced power dynamics in this expertly paced debut thriller. Gay 16-year-old Lucille Preston knows almost nothing about her private investigator mother. So, when her mother is called by a mysterious Pierce Anselm, it’s the first time Lucy has ever seen her cool composure crack; the pair’s discovery of Pierce’s corpse at the base of a roller coaster shatters it. While uncovering her mother’s history with the Anselms—a wealthy family of amusement park tycoons—Lucy becomes entangled with teen Audrey Nelson, also gay, who was at the scene of the crime. As Audrey endeavors to clear her name of Pierce’s death and Lucy digs up more of her mother’s past, it soon becomes clear that the danger is far from over. Whether it’s revenge or a cover-up they’re after, the Anselms will stop at nothing to achieve it. Roach’s profound prose teems with strong depictions of character relationships—including an opposites-attract sapphic romance and multiple mother-daughter bonds—set against the moody backdrop of an abandoned amusement park. Lucy describes her mother’s skin as a “soft brown” while hers is “as pale as my dad’s”; Audrey reads as white. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jay Mandel, WME.

June 1, 2024
A pair of queer teenagers attempt to unravel the mysteries of a small town's murderous history. Lucy is begrudgingly spending her spring break in Haeter Lake, Tennessee, population 1,376, because her mom, the renowned private detective Katy Preston, has made an unexpected detour. She's there to investigate the death of Pierce, the powerful Anselm family patriarch. Audrey Nelson is at the scene of the crime, stealthily hiding, when Lucy and her mom arrive, and the two teens lock eyes; Lucy doesn't say anything, though she's intrigued. While Katy tends to the crime solving, Lucy discovers that her mom has a whole history of her own that's connected to Haeter Lake that Lucy knows nothing about. Her curiosity piqued, she begins her own investigation, but she's warned by Arthur Joyce, the town's longtime librarian, to stop digging around. Audrey and Lucy are attracted to each other and immediately become entwined--and as they grow closer, the stakes ratchet up, especially when the town sheriff looks to pin the murder on Audrey's mother. But beyond the suffocating grip the Anselm family has on the town, the atmosphere seethes with racist overtones. Audrey (who's white) and Lucy (whose dad is white and mom is cued Black) are determined to find out the truth--and stay alive while doing so. The chapters alternate between the girls' first-person perspectives. An intriguing and quick-moving thrill ride of a whodunit with a fledging amateur detective driving the tension. (Thriller. 13-18)

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August 1, 2024

Gr 8 Up-Sixteen-year-old Lucy had no idea her mother, Katy, grew up in Haeter Lake, TN, in a mansion with the untrustworthy Anselm family. It's a family that local teenager Audrey, from the impoverished side of town, blames for her father's death. Then private investigator Katy, abruptly summoned home, finds family head Pierce Anselm dead at an abandoned amusement park near the mansion. Lucy is there with her mother. Audrey is there with a motorcycle and a knife. And they see each other. As Katy investigates Pierce's death, Lucy and Audrey conduct their own risky investigation-and fall for each other. Death isn't finished with Haeter Lake, though, and it is not finished with Audrey and Lucy. With trust thin on the ground for everyone in town, this well-paced mystery digs into generations of family secrets and scandals. The world of tiny Haeter Lake is well built and described, and who doesn't love a mansion with secret passages? Audrey and Lucy are distinctive characters, and their sweet romance is limited to kissing. However, Lucy's hazardous investigative tactics and total disrespect for her mother's expertise may strain belief, as will the disappointingly slight motive for the first murder. Lucy has curly red hair, curves, and her father's "pale" skin, where her mother's skin is "soft brown." Audrey has short brown hair and dark eyes. Strong language reflects the iconoclastic characters. VERDICT An additional purchase where suspenseful murder mysteries and sapphic romances are popular.-Rebecca Moore

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2024
Grades 9-12 Lucy's mother, Katy, is a well-known private investigator. While en route for vacation, Katy takes a detour to a tiny town and stops at a derelict amusement park, much to Lucy's annoyance. Katy is there to meet someone from her past, but instead she finds his body at the foot of the roller coaster. Lucy is astounded to learn that they're in her mother's hometown, where Katy lived with the family of the dead man (the town's leading family) after her parents died. When Katy won't tell her anything, Lucy finds a source of information in Audrey, a girl about her age who also has a connection with this family and who suspects them of having something to do with her father's death. Together, the girls conduct their own investigation, uncovering long-buried secrets. Lucy and Audrey take turns narrating the action; the contrast between their perspectives and personalities is revealing as well as humorous. The pace and plot are intense and tightly wound. Roach is off to a great start with her debut mystery.

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