Cape Bonita Prep is an exclusive school in a wealthy North California small town where the Larks reign supreme. The Larks is an organisation led by the students for volunteering and charity work. The Larks consists of ten girls -- five seniors, five juniors -- who are the brightest, the prettiest, the most popular; the elite of tomorrow. The Larks are also mean girls, and someone wants those mean girls dead. Penelope Malone, the Larks' president, is as shocked as everybody else when the principal gathers the student population in the gym to announce that one of their female jewels has been murdered. Some mean girls however, are meaner than others, and not everyone is equally traumatized, as there will be more PRETTY DEAD GIRLS...

Who knew that Monica Murphy could write a murder mystery of such quality! When my prime suspect was murdered, I was at a loss, and this is telling as I'm difficult to lead astray and hard to please when it comes to murder mysteries; until the very end, I really didn't know who was trustworthy. PRETTY DEAD GIRLS very fast-paced, and it is masterfully plotted, which rather surprised me since the book is billed as a YA novel and I did not expect such a tightly woven story. PRETTY DEAD GIRLS is actually a first-class romantic suspense whose protagonists are adolescents; that's the extent of the "Young Adult" angle, as I see it. Ms. Murphy captures the high school atmosphere, the cliques, and teenage behavior so accurately, that it felt eerily familiar to me, apart from the wealth and the murders. I appreciate that the author didn't have Penelope change dramatically along the way; Penelope might not be the meanest girl, but she's definitely not someone you want against you!

The romance between Penelope and her hunky physics classmate Cass Vincenti also felt genuine; given the context, his past, and that "Pen" is not Miss Congeniality, their relationship is filled with doubts, it is tempestuous, but also tender; it was just right. I'm not focusing so much on the romance, even though it is an essential part of the plot, because the suspense angle is just that terrific. I was a tad miffed though that one of the two heroic characters at the end was metaphorically shoved out of the way, but it is an infinitesimal detail with regards to the whole story.

I suppose I qualify as a mean girl myself because, in a way, I thought there was some poetic justice in there. I hope Monica Murphy continues in this vein, because there is a dearth of exceptional murder mysteries/romantic suspense authors, and I feel Ms. Murphy has the chops to reach the very top. PRETTY DEAD GIRLS is a fantastic book, and I wish the first of many in this genre from the author. Again, Brava, Monica Murphy!