The Girl Is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines

It’s 1942, and everything has changed so quickly for Iris Anderson. Her mother is gone, and her father has just returned from the war with a missing leg. They’ve moved to a new neighborhood for financial reasons, and Iris is finding it difficult to adjust to life on the Lower East Side. The only constant in her life has been Pop’s job as a private investigator, but even that is challenged as Pop finds it harder to keep up with the more physical demands of his job. All Iris wants to do is help out, but Pop isn’t really receptive to that idea. But when Pop takes a case involving a student at her new school, Iris realizes that she needs to take matters into her own hands. Soon, she’s lying to her friends, sneaking out at night, and cozying up to some different people at school. Her investigation will take to old and new neighborhoods and will draw connections between the unlikeliest of Iris’s acquaintances. But Iris can’t stop until she finds the truth—even if some horrible secrets close to home are dredged up in the process.

The Girl Is Murder is a simply fantastic mystery that whisks readers into the glamorous past of the World War II era. Haines has creates a wonderful heroine in Iris. Readers will be drawn to her spunk and fierce loyalty to her father even when Iris appears to be just a lonely girl in a scary new place. Iris is really the perfect protagonist for this story, with a great blend of girlishness and daring that allows readers to access both the investigation and the day-to-day struggles over friends and boys. I initially thought that his novel would merely focus on the historical mystery, but I was thrilled by the way Haines makes the mystery so much more personal for Iris. I did feel that the solution to the mystery was a little bit of a letdown after such a buildup of suspense, but I can’t deny that it was very realistic. Despite this, The Girl Is Murder is an utterly charming read with historical and detective flair. I know I can’t wait for Iris’s next adventure in The Girl Is Trouble.

The Girl Is Murder will definitely be enjoyed by fans of Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher and What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell.

Rating: 4.5

Review copy from publisher Macmillan