Girl in Snow

Newcomer Kukafka breathes new life into a common mystery trope by examining the life and death of 15-year-old Lucinda Hayes through the eyes of three residents of Broomsville, CO. Cameron, the disturbed son of a disgraced cop who abandoned his family, loved Lucinda from afar, often standing vigil outside her bedroom window. Jade, Lucinda's cynical classmate, hated her for stealing her babysitting gig and her best friend. Local cop Russ promised his former partner, Cameron's dad, that he'd look out for Cameron. But what if Cameron killed the girl? In alternating chapters, the characters harbor guilty secrets and reflect on Lucinda's impact on their lives. Mystery fans will most likely figure out whodunit rather quickly, but that's not the main point of this novel. Literary fiction readers will enjoy the occasionally overblown yet often effective language and layered characterizations. Jade's chapters, written in first person, contain "screenplays" (she's a budding writer) that overplay the teen angst angle.