The Death of Her

About THE DEATH OF HER

THE DEATH OF HER, complete at 73,000 words, is a YA noir murder mystery that centers around a wickedly savvy and opportunistic high school sophomore whose efforts to clear own name in a murder investigation draw her into a tangled web of secrets, lies, and deadly games fueled by the real killer.

Mavis Mitchell is a finder of information and purveyor of secrets: everything from cheating boyfriends to final exam answers. Her large cache of knowledge has made her feared and respected among her peers, but as an underclassman, she’s invisible to anyone older than her.

So, it’s a real shock when the senior cheerleading captain and valedictorian-hopeful offers to trade a personal secret for Mavis’ help. Mavis’ investigation, though, leads to an ugly realization: her own former best friend, Lorna Burke, has been poaching her business. They get into an epic, public shouting match, which puts a nail in the coffin of their friendship. And the next day, the police show up at Mavis’ door to tell her Lorna has a literal nail in her coffin; she’s dead and Mavis is a prime suspect.

Mavis plans to take advantage of a school event, a lock-in, to clear her name; however, she finds herself literally locked in the school basement with the other suspects – no cell service, no chaperones, no escape – and forced by the unknown “Host” to play a set of deadly games. As her fellow suspects are murdered one-by-one, Mavis must use her own store of secrets to find a way out – of the accusations, of the basement, of becoming a victim herself – and she’s not going down without a fight.