YA Mystery-That's-Not-A-Mystery Falls Flat

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Thisbe Locke isn't the kind of girl who would commit suicide.  Sure, she was upset about breaking up with her user boyfriend.  And she was definitely feeling humiliated after an embarrassing incident at a party.  Still.  The 17-year-old was a good student with a bright future.  She wouldn't have thrown that all away, would she?  It's hard to imagine any other scenario, though, since Thisbe was last seen alone on a bridge.  One thing is for sure: Thisbe Locke is missing, presumed dead. 

Ted, Thisbe's 14-year-old sister, refuses to believe Thisbe killed herself.  She's determined to prove the police's theory wrong, to find out what really happened to her sister.  With the help of newcomer Fin and other invested parties, she'll have to fit together the scattered pieces of a confusing puzzle to find the truth about Thisbe's fate.

You all know I like me a good whodunit.  A YA whodunit is even better since they're so few and far between.  The weird thing about The Incident on the Bridge by Laura McNeal is that although it sounds like a mystery, it isn't.  Not really.  Why?  Because McNeal tells us what happened to Thisbe very early on in the book.  An odd storytelling device, this sucks all the suspense out of the story making it feel dull and anticlimactic.  Another problem is the narration by multiple characters (some of whom are adults—not something you usually see in teen fiction).  By not focusing on one person's point of view, it makes it difficult to really know or care about any of them.  I did like the book's atmospheric Coronado Island setting.  Overall, though, The Incident on the Bridge just wasn't a very fulfilling read for me.  Ah well.

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't really think of anything.  Can you?)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (a handful of F-bombs plus milder expletives) and depictions of underage drinking and the use of illegal drugs

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find