Humor and mayhem ensue when a teen girl gets caught up in the death of a hi-tech hitman and must try to stay one step ahead of the killers lurking in the shadows of an exclusive prep school.
Source: hard copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review
Meet Emmy Danvers, an ambitious sixteen year-old who dreams of being a writer. The girl lives inside all her made up fantasies and sometimes they're quite hilarious. But not even her imagination comes close to real life when she enters bizarro world. While at a coffee shop she's confronted by a stranger who unloads some cryptic messages on her and then suddenly dies. On top of her. That'd be enough to convince anyone to give up coffee forever. Emmy is shocked as it is until the police question her relationship to the deceased man and behave as if she knows more than she's letting on. It gets even crazier when she learns that the old man who died on her is the grandfather of Sebastian St. James, the best friend of her best friend's ex. Got that? Sebastian mysteriously appears at the police station to talk to Emmy believing that his grandfather gave her something that she's unaware of. Something that's meant for him. He knows more than he's willing to share which infuriates her to no end. Apparently whoever killed his grandfather is after her. As if things can't get more bizarre, he arranges for Emmy to attend his private school, Emptor Academy so that she can be closer for him to keep an eye on her. Her best friends and mother protest but give up the fight much too easily as she accepts the offer and heads off to a new school, making new acquaintances, managing mean girls and in her spare time, solving this big mystery that has something to do with her family.
I enjoyed the story overall though I was dubious about one plot line in particular: the rather quick arrangement for Emmy to leave her public school to go to the Academy. That one detail nagged at me because I felt like it was just too easy. It's kind of explained later how that came about but it still felt a bit flimsy to me. I did enjoy Emmy's personality. She tends to have a hyperactive imagination, especially when she's writing her novels which I could totally relate to. I mean who hasn't on occasion just dreamed up something in their heads and let them take on a life of their own? I just thought she was adorable and funny. Sebastian ... I mentioned he's mysterious. He has that vibe down but I didn't sense anything more from him than just that he's hiding something.
Dial Em For Murder is a cute mystery with some interesting characters that had me giggling at certain moments. The end did raise my eyebrows a bit, in a good way. I think it leaves room for a sequel though I'm not sure if there are plans for that. Check it out and share what you think!
~ Bel
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