QUEEN OF THE TILES

Returning to the Scrabble tournament where her best friend died a year earlier conjures up lingering trauma for a teen competitor.

Sixteen-year-old Najwa Bakri has suffered from panic attacks, memory gaps, intrusive negative thoughts, and an obsession with her late friend Trina Low’s Instagram account. At last year’s Word Warrior Weekend, Trina collapsed and died in a high-stakes game, leaving her opponent, Josh Tan, the tournament winner. Trina, a wealthy, effervescent social media influencer, was dubbed the Queen of the Tiles for her Scrabble skills. Najwa, a short, chubby hijabi from Kuala Lumpur, has a passion for learning the meanings of words rather than just memorizing letter combinations like many contestants. Surrounded by their Scrabble circle—Josh; Mark, Trina’s boyfriend; nonbinary Shuba; Singaporean Ben, who had a crush on Trina; Emily, who was caught cheating during a game; Puteri, Mark’s ex-girlfriend; and Yasmin, Trina’s childhood friend—Najwa remembers her therapist’s advice and struggles to maintain emotional equilibrium. It’s bad enough when Instagram stories appear from Trina’s account containing scrambled letters spelling ominous words like REGICIDE and JANIFORM. But when Najwa starts receiving cryptic, chilling DMs supposedly from Trina, it’s even worse. Mark convinces her to join him in investigating whether Trina was actually murdered. The tense, evenly paced mystery unfolds against the fascinating backdrop of competitive Scrabble with a cast of well-rounded characters who reflect Malaysia’s ethnic diversity. Interesting game trivia and vocabulary add to the originality.

An absorbing mystery that explores friendship, grief, mental health, and wordplay.