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Who doesn’t love a thrilling mystery? And it’s even better when an author skillfully weaves together dual timelines to ratchet up the suspense; after all, the past usually looms large in most literary crimes.
These stories are all whodunits, but, equally important, they are WHYdunits in which the events of the past set in motion the situations the protagonists must wrestle with in the present.
The Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson
Maureen Johnson is an actual wizard.
This series, starring the haphazard, awkward, indefatigable teen sleuth Stevie Bell, is a delight… even as it probes some really dark places. In the first book, Stevie is just beginning her academic career at Ellingham Academy, where she has been accepted based on her desire to solve a decades-old cold case involving the school’s founder. The investigation evolves in books two and three. Throughout the trilogy, Johnson flips back and forth seamlessly between modern-day Stevie and the 1930s cast of characters, building suspense and gradually revealing secrets until everything gets wrapped up in a nice bow by the end of book 3–sort of.
Book 4 is Box in the Woods, a stand-alone that stars most of the same supporting cast from the original trilogy, Stevie gathers the gang to investigate a trio of unsolved murders at a summer camp.
In the fifth installment, Nine Liars, Johnson plays with the “deserted English manor” trope, presenting Stevie with a seemingly impossible double murder from the 1970s that still has ripple effects in modern London.
The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe
Wow. Just…wow.
In the opening scene of this book, Nora and her two friends are taken hostage by bank robbers. Those criminals have no idea who they’re dealing with.
Raised by a con artist mom, Nora has an… unusual set of skills for a teenage girl. Sharpe reveals Nora’s history in tight flashback scenes interspersed with her modern-day struggle to survive the bank robbery, culminating in a terrifying climax. Netflix is turning it into a film starring Millie Bobbie Brown.
Deposing Nathan by Zack Smedley
Nate spent sixteen years behaving himself. Then, he met Cam, and everything changed.
In the aftermath of a fight that turned violent, landing Cam in jail and leaving Nate with a stab wound, Nate must testify about what happened… and risk sending his best friend to jail. Smedley handled the dual timelines masterfully, using flashbacks to gradually fill in the gaps as the legal proceedings spin inexorably to a stressful climax.
Distressing and compelling–it reminded me a little of The Perks of Being a Wallflower–this is realistic fiction that reads like a thrilling courtroom drama. By the end, I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t.
Whether you like playing armchair detective from the comfort of your own couch or just strapping in and letting the author take you on a heart-stopping ride, these three YA options are for you. And they prove that the past is never really past…at least when it comes to these crimes.