THE CASE OF THE JILTED JULIET
A North Hollywood Detective Mystery Club
By Mike Mains
Mystery Adventure Detective Books
204 pgs
This is one of a series of young adult books featuring Jeffrey Jones and his pal, Pablo Gomez as high school students who solve mysteries. In this book, they learn of a thirty year tragedy that occurred during the performance of Shakespear’s Romeo and Juliet by the school drama club. Supposedly the young lady playing Juliet had committed suicide after having been jilted by her boyfriend. It is claimed that her ghost is said to haunt the school every so often and her scream can be heard at midnight.
When Jeffrey and Paul discover a plastic bloody finger prop left in a copy of the play, it so unnerves the library staff and other teachers, that their curiosity is aroused. Bit by bit, the more they learn about the girl’s death, the more they begin to suspect the young lady was murdered. By luck and serendipity, they uncover several vital clues that were somehow missed during the initial investigation. Clues start to point not only to foul play but also to the fact that the murderer was someone involved with the school and the circle students who knew the deceased.
Mike Mains has a nice easy style and his characters are fully developed with their own unique quirks and typical teenage foibles. He’s also ardent in regard to themes of faith, religion and the afterlife. We found that off putting at times, but never so much as to detract from the interactions of his young cast. In the end, “The Case of the Jilted Juliet” was a fun read and we give it major thumbs up.
