HEMLOCK HOUSE is the second novel featuring student-athlete Michael Linden and his childhood friend Holiday Proctor. In the last novel, they solved a murder on Martha’s Vineyard. This time around, they’re involved in solving a campus murder, and every student is a suspect until Linden and Holiday can piece together the clues and catch a cunning killer.

Linden and Holiday are adjusting to college in Massachusetts; Linden is at Harvard, and Holiday is nearby at Emerson. Linden’s absorbing it all with wild lacrosse parties, challenging classes, and pursuing his high school ex-girlfriend, Greer. When Greer’s roommate is found dead in her dorm room, all the roommates are grief-stricken. What appears to be an overdose turns out to be something else, possibly a cover-up. Furthermore, Greer may have been the intended target since the victim was found in Greer’s bed. Fearing Greer might be in extreme danger, Linden enlists Holiday to help uncover the truth. Can they find the real killer before Greer gets hurt?

HEMLOCK HOUSE is a fun, quick-moving YA mystery thriller with snappy dialogue and entertaining characters. Set in Massachusetts at Harvard University, the feeling of a pressure cooker academic environment is prevalent. There’s a lot of descriptive writing and events that make readers feel like they have stepped on a college campus and are immersed in all the roommate drama, bad decisions, hook-ups, wild parties, dorm events, hangovers, schoolwork, and, in this case, murder. Linden and Holiday are a perfect crime-solving duo. Holiday takes the lead in researching the clues, and Linden provides the plausible theories. Their relationship is on the brink of becoming romantic or being relegated to the friend zone forever. The plot contains an ominous note, a cryptic text message, a missing watch, revealing Polaroid pictures, a Maine cabin, and secrets from the past. There are some nice suspects to round out the investigation, and the antics of Holiday and Linden keep readers entertained throughout. HEMLOCK HOUSE is a nice burst of mystery and fun and readers will enjoy every minute of this quick trip to campus to solve a murder.