Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls, Paperback

Based on an actual crime in 1955, this YA novel is at once a mystery and a coming-of-age story. The brutal murder of two teenage girls on the last day of Nora Cunningham's junior year in high school throws Nora into turmoil. Her certainties--friendships, religion, her prudence, her resolve to find a boyfriend taller than she is--are shaken or cast off altogether. Most people in Elmgrove, Maryland, share the comforting conviction that Buddy Novak, who had every reason to want his ex-girlfriend dead, is responsible for the killings. Nora agrees at first, then begins to doubt Buddy's guilt, and finally comes to believe him innocent--the lone dissenting voice in Elmgrove. Told from several different perspectives, including that of the murderer, Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls is a suspenseful page-turner with a powerful human drama at its core.

About the Author:

Mary Downing Hahn grew up in Maryland in the 1950s, and the crime on which this novel is based touched her own life. She is the award-winning author of many popular tales of mystery and suspense, including Closed for the Season, which won the 2010 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery. Ms. Hahn lives in Columbia, Maryland. Visit her website at www.marydowninghahnbooks.com.