Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

Title: Deadly Cool

Author: Gemma Halliday

Series: Stand Alone

Pages: 272

Published: October 11, 2011 by HarperTeen

ISBN: 9780062003317

Source: Around The World Tours

Description: Hartley Grace Featherstone is having a very bad day. First she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club. Then he's pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And if that weren't enough, now he's depending on Hartley to clear his name. Seriously? Not cool. But as much as Hartley wouldn't mind seeing him squirm, she knows he's innocent, and she's the only one who can help him. Along with her best friend, Sam, and the school's resident Bad Boy, Chase, Hartley starts investigating on her own. But as the dead bodies begin to pile up, the mystery deepens, the suspects multiply, and Hartley begins to fear that she may be the killer's next victim.

I Give This ...

 

This was an interesting read for me.  The subject matter hinted an older young adult, but it actually read more pre-teen. So, it's hard to pinpoint exactly how I feel about it.

I had mixed feelings about Hartley.  It seems she had a complete blind spot when it comes to her boyfriend.  Sure, she'll acknowledge that he "might" have cheated on her, but there's no way he could have killed anybody.  Even though the cold hard facts are staring her in the face, it's easier to believe that something else happened.  While, it turns out she's right, I had a hard time taking her seriously.  She's also not much of detective.  I really liked Chase and Sam.  It's always interesting when you like background characters more than you like the main. 

The actual solving of the mystery I actually thought was kind of fun.  It's almost like a comedy of errors with the body count getting higher along the way.  And the reasoning behind the deaths, well that was comical too.  I know that person believed in their reasoning, but come on lol!  Overall, that part was just a lot of fun.  I don't know if it was suppose to be that way though.

The subject matter is all about sex, so that's what makes the book older.  But, if a teen can laugh it all off like I did, I would recommend it too any age.