Very Dangerous Things by Lauren Muñoz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Very Dangerous Things is set at J. Everett High, a private school that annually stages a murder mystery game for their Criminology students.
Basically, a fake murder occurs, the students form teams, and follow clues to try to solve the murder. When Xavier Torres is found dead in the greenhouse, the students initially believe that the game has begun. Sadly though, Xavier’s death has not been staged.
He’s actually been murdered.
We follow Dulcie Castillo, a crime junkie and Criminology student, who was determined to win this year’s game. Xavier’s sudden death has certainly shocked the student body, but Dulcie remains determined to solve the crime.
Xavier’s ex-girlfriend, and Dulcie’s ex-best friend, Sierra Fox, seems to be everyone’s main suspect, including the police, but Sierra swears she is innocent.
Sierra reaches out to Dulcie for help. She figures if anyone can prove her innocence it would be Dulcie, and though Dulcie has some hurt feelings regarding their relationship, she doesn’t really believe Sierra is capable of murder.
The thing is, the school is an isolated place. No one else has been arrested, or even suspected. If Sierra didn’t do it, that leaves a killer among them. Can Dulcie get to the bottom of it, before anyone else loses their lives?
Very Dangerous Things is a super delightful YA Mystery. I loved the private school setting, and the cast of characters, in addition to the mystery elements, were super-compelling. Lauren Muñoz is underrated, IMO.
This kicks off so quickly. We get to the heart of what we’re going to be investigating within the first 10% of the book, and I really appreciate that. Muñoz didn’t waste time introducing every person and having a big run-up to the murder. It’s just like, here we are, let’s get cracking.
I also loved how in the dark I was for the longest time. I had zero suspects in mind. We were getting so much information on various characters, but they all seemed so believable and earnest. I couldn’t imagine who out of this cast could have possibly wanted to kill poor Xavier.
It was fun the way Muñoz set-up the way Dulcie went about solving the crime as well. The various techniques and her thought process as she was assessing various clues. I felt that aspect was so well done, and in a way sort of paid homage to some of the great classic fictional detectives.
I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good YA Mystery, particularly if you enjoy a private school setting.
Thank you to the publisher, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I cannot wait for whatever Muñoz writes next!