Murder on a Summer Break by Kate Weston

School outcasts-turned-detective duo, Kerry and Annie, are BACK – and after solving last summer’s menstrual murders, they’re now known as The Tampon Two. (Kerry is uncomfortable with this level of attention, Annie is refreshing her follower count every two seconds.)

When they attend the Festival of Fame, it’s the chance to meet their favourite feminist influencer IRL – along with a host of social media stars, including a tiresome prankster Timmy, super-glam beauty vlogger Celeste and Mystic Millie, who makes very vague predictions.

But then one of the influencers ends up dead.

The festival goes into lockdown, Annie is delighted that she and Kerry are trapped in a yurt with celebrities – Kerry is more concerned that there’s a killer among them. Will the Tampon Two find out who it is before they strike again?

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Introduction

Teen thrillers are having a renaissance at the moment, but they're mostly grim and scary and dark. Kate Weston has mastered the art of making them tense and mysterious and really funny. There's snark, there's puns, there's even physical comedy.

Plot Summary

In Murder on a School Night, Kerry and Anne solved the mystery of the Menstrual Murders - murders committed using various menstrual products. Now Annie is trying to parley their experiences into influencer fame, so they're thrilled to be invited to a festival with the most famous influencers around - at least they are until the first body drops. Can they repeat their sleuthing success, or was it a one off?

Characters

Kerry and Annie are excellent representations of teen girls, with Kerry being the reserved, careful one and Annie the more impulsive, quick witted one. The influencers are a fun bunch; I don't want to risk spoiling anything here so I won't talk about them too much, but they did all have unique personalities and I could tell them apart easily.

Writing Style

This is a fast paced read with plenty happening at all times. The girls' narration is hysterical, and I really enjoyed trying to figure out who did it and what was going on in the subplots. 

Themes and Messages

The book is mostly about the mystery, but there is a subplot about influencers being just like the rest of us and their content being mostly manufactured or outright lies. It's not too obvious, left for us to work out.

Setting

The novel is mostly set at a Glastonbury-style camp. Kerry and Annie have forced their way into the VIP area, so we're able to see everything that happens in every section of the festival - the scary, the boring and the downright cringe. It's clear that the influencers consider this a job rather than a hobby, and they're dedicated to it - some more than others! The camp is well described so we can picture it, but there are no grand vistas or amazing views. It's just not that kind of novel.

Strengths

• Fast paced and fun
• Really funny
• The mystery is very well done

Weaknesses

• The novel does not provide a recap of the events from the first book. This could lead to confusion for readers who have not read "Murder on a School Night," as there are passing references that may be unclear without prior knowledge

• Some of the physical descriptions felt a bit awkward and could have been smoother. This may vary for different readers of course

Personal Connection

This was a lot of fun, which is an odd thing to say about a murder mystery! Trying to solve the mystery was great fun - I'm not telling you if I got it or not - and the girls' banter and jokes keep everything light hearted.

Further Reading/Viewing

Kate's first book, Murder on a School Night, is the obvious next step if you haven't read it yet. For more traditional murder mysteries, try anything by Karen McManus; for something more in the thriller line, Sourcebooks Fire have a huge range.

Murder on a Summer Break publishes on the 4th of July, 2024. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.