A Winter Kill by Vicki Delany
Rapid Reads series. 111 p. Raven Press/ Orca, April, 2012. (Chosen to review for InfoLinkNJ.)
A murdered pregnant teenage girl, with a reputation, a rookie cop, and a ring in the snow. There’s not much to go on and technically, NIcole Patterson shouldn’t be investigating, but she’s a local girl and the detective is from the city. She presses on in a rather earnest way and only occasionally rebuked by her superior officers. There are some inconsistencies in characterization that teens might overlook, most notably, Nicole's mother, who "doesn't gossip," but spilled a lot pretty quickly and showed a real judgmental side.
This Rapid Read is purely plot driven, and is indeed rapid. Teen issues are touched on, but not explored in any real depth. Had they been, it might have been a bit more interesting for me, but then wouldn't be a "rapid read." There’s a bit of language that seems a bit gratuitous, given that it’s absent for much of the book. This story will have appeal for high school female reluctant readers.