Body of A Girl

Body of a Girl

Leah Stewart

**** ( 4.3/5)

When a young woman is found dead (body of a girl) in the middle of a Memphis summer, what starts out as usual for crime reporter Olivia Dale, but somewhere there is more to this girl and Olive sates out to find out what. However the investigation into Allison Avery soon becomes a self investigation into Olive’s life.

In two reviews, I’ve seen this book is listed as a thriller which in my opinion it is far from. There is a mystery and a good one at that. Stewart is very good at crafting mysteries and stories, but a thriller this is not. It’s a very good book, a short read and interesting story. I can proudly say I haven’t read this story line before. I think a lot of female heroines (not all) fall between Kinsey Millhone and Stephanie Plum and Olivia Dale was neither, which I enjoyed ( basically this isn’t chick-lit or a full blown mystery, but somewhere perfectly in between). At times, I wondered why Olivia was so into this story and I never really figured out why, and many times I wanted to shake her because she did some stupid things in search of the truth, even though that’s the only way you really ever find answers or the truth. In the end Olivia redeems her story- and the story of the young woman.

A quick read, recommended. The subject matter and the story is a little dark (i.e. this is not a beach read) but it’s a wonderful compelling story nonetheless.