Blood on My Hands by Todd Strasser

Blood on My Hands by Todd Strasser

EgmontUSA, 2010

Summary from Goodreads:

Callie is at an October keg party in the woods, when she notices that her friend Katherine has gone missing. The kids spread out to look for her and Callie finds her, lying on a path, with a big, bloody fake knife in her. She reaches for the knife and raises it, only to discover, to her horror, that it is real. At that moment, another of the search party stumbles on them, and takes a photo of Callie holding the bloody knife. Now she is the suspect in a grisly murder. How can she prove her innocence - and find the true murderer?

I love me a good murder mystery, and Todd Strasser does a great murder mystery. Blood on My Hands is the second in Strasser's cyber "thrill"-ology (the first was Wish You Were Dead--also great!), but is definitely a stand-alone book. Readers know that Callie is not responsible for Katherine's death (although, to be honest, some of the wording towards the end had me second-guessing myself), but the list of who could be the killer is long, and it's up to Callie alone to figure it out. The story is realistic enough (I mean, there has to be some stretch in a murder mystery), the characters are just sketchy enough (everyone, it seems, hates Katherine just enough to want her dead), and the back and forth between past and present provides great insight into the character's actions. Anyone who enjoys reading mysteries should like this one. It's a fast paced and quick read.

Borrowed from the library.

Enjoy your reading!
Christi