“I have some really bad secrets to share with someone, and it might as well be you- a stranger, a reader of books, but most of all, a person who can’t hurt me.”

From James Patterson and Maxine Paetro’s Confessions of a Murder Suspect.

This is one of James Patterson’s young adult adventures, and he begins the Confessions series with a solid novel. Tandoori (everyone calls her “Tandy”) Angel is a super rich, brilliant, emotionally-withdrawn teenager living in a gorgeous New York City apartment. Things are going great for Tandy and her family, well as great as can be expected from the borderline abusive family, until her parents are found dead in their bedroom. Tandy and her brothers are woken in the middle of the night to discover that not only have their parents been murdered, but also that the children are the main suspects for the double homicide. Things quickly go from picture perfect to rock bottom overnight, as questions about love, drugs, justice, and right and wrong come screaming to the surface of Tandy’s mind. The two police detectives assigned to the case seem to only be interested in pinning the murder on at least one of the Angel children, so it is up to Tandy to solve her parents murder and clear her name, as well as her brothers… unless one of them actually committed the murders. Could the murderer really be one of the Angels?

The story is narrated by Tandy in two methods; the first method is her retelling of the events that happened and the the second method is small sideline moments where Tandy shares a confession with us, the reader. The story is quick and attractive, so that the mystery can easily unfold as the book progresses. The characters feel very flat throughout the majority of the book, but even the boring characters help to solidify the story overall (And don’t worry, the bland characters are replaced more attractive characters by the end of the story, and it works well with the plot). The YA mystery series is founded on a very solid book; the mystery is complex, the clues present, and the solution is solid in all aspects. Other genres are brought in to break up the who-dun-it aspect of the story, which comes together to create quite an enjoyable book. If you are searching for a mystery that develops beyond the first few pages, then Confessions of a Murder Suspect is definitely worth the read.