YOU OWE ME A MURDER

Travel changes people, and one young woman is about to find this out the hard way.

Vancouver, British Columbia, teen Kim Maher is embarking on a trip many kids her age only dream of: 16 days in London. However, Kim hasn’t even boarded the plane and she’s having a rotten time, watching her ex-boyfriend, Connor, getting cozy with his new girlfriend. Then Kim meets fellow passenger Nicki, a daring and worldly Brit. To pass the long flight, Nicki suggests they each make a list of things they hate about the person who makes them most miserable. For Kim, it’s Connor; for Nicki, her alcoholic mother. Nicki has a proposal to deal with their respective problems: “I kill your ex. You kill my mum. We both get what we want,” she blithely tells an incredulous Kim. A few days later, Connor is dead, having fallen under a London Underground train. Kim’s suspicions are confirmed when Nicki shows up wanting her to return the favor. Kim is an unreliable narrator from the get-go, admitting to readers she lies for the sake of self-preservation. Twists and turns and lots of ratcheted-up tension drive the story forward. Nicki’s lack of morals is disturbing and diabolical. Two important secondary characters are brown; assume whiteness elsewhere except for the passing mention of a few nonwhite background players.

An intriguing thriller.