In keeping with my promise to review all the mystery novels I read over the month of March, today’s review is of The May Queen Murders by Sarah Jude and Broken Things by Lauren Oliver.
Fans of Nova Ren Suma’s Imaginary Girls are bound to enjoy these well crafted mysteries and their questionably reliable narrators. Fraught with high emotional stakes, these were two of the most intense books on my March reading list. Without resorting to excessive gore or gross-out scares, these stories simply captivate you with strong characters and refuse to let go until you’ve confronted the darkness within.
The reason I chose to pair these up for my second review is that they share a common element which drives the narrative in both novels. That element is the inexplicable -sometimes consuming- power of stories. In The May Queen Murders, local legends and town lore feature heavily. The lines between legend and reality start to blur as girls go missing and frightening things begin happening in the community.
In Broken Things it’s not myths that become to real, but a beloved children’s book that may have led two girls to murder their best friend. As they try to parse through what really happened the night she died, questions arise about how much of what they remember is real.
If you like artful storytelling that leans more towards suspense than terror for it’s source of tension, these are definitely the murder mysteries for you. The added factor of surreal events and questioning what is real is the icing on the cupcakes of these delicious books.
Both novels also heavily feature the power of female friendship, a theme I’ll be delving into even more in my next set of reviews for March Mystery Madness. Until then, happy reading!
-Kat
Kat Pollock 