Scarlett Undercover

Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham

335 Pages

Publisher: Little Brow Books for Young Readers

Release Date:  May 19, 2015

Fiction, Teens, Young Adult, Mystery

Scarlett is a fifteen-year-old private detective. She placed business cards in schools’ bathrooms looking for clients. She is in her office when Gemma Archer, nine years old, announces her brother Oliver killed Quinn Johnson and dumped the body in Las Almas Bay. She feels bad for Gemma and tells her she would investigate Quinn’s death. Eyewitnesses said he jumped off the bridge on his own. Leaving the Archer house, Scarlett picks up a couple of tails. She recognizes the symbol that Oliver has carved in his bedroom but cannot place it. She realizes she saw it in the mosque. Emmet is her ally in the police department.

The story is fast paced, the characters are well developed, and it is written in the first-person point of view. Scarlett is plucky, sarcastic, and I loved her right away. If you like young adult detective stories like Nancy Drew, you will enjoy this book.