Campus Murder Club by Kristi Rose

Campus Murder Club was written by independent author Kristi Rose and was published on October 6, 2023.

Publisher's summary:

Step into a world of intrigue, suspense, and secrets as the Campus Murder Club takes you on a heart-pounding journey through a chilling cold case in Kristi Rose's thrilling young adult mystery novel.

College can be murder.

Nestled in the woods of a Pacific Northwest town, a prestigious college becomes the setting for a chilling murder.  When nursing student Jaime is brutally killed in her exclusive private all-girls room, the authorities quickly abandon her case, dooming it to the cold case files.  But fate has other plans.

Catching a killer can be deadly.

Five unsuspecting students receive cryptic invitations that thrust them into a dangerous game of cat and mouse.  Drawn together by an unknown hand, these citizen sleuths are about to embark on a perilous quest to unearth the truth behind Jaime's murder.

As they delve into Jaime's past, her journal emerges as the key to unraveling the truth, but it also puts their lives in danger.  With every corner filled with lurking peril, the stakes rise, forcing them to confront the deadly consequences of their pursuit.

Will they unmask the killer hiding in plain sight, or will they become the next victims in this deadly game of deception?

The book opens as follows:

The challenge came as a letter, stuffed among the magazines and flyers in their mailboxes.  There was no postage.  No address for the sender or recipient.  Just their names scrawled across the front in a thin, jagged cursive.  Inside was a single sheet of paper.  At the top was an image of a red splatter, the word murder, and a magnifying glass.  The paper could easily have been mistaken for a cheap advertising flyer, an old-school practice gone the way of the dinosaur as smartphones and tablets became the primary source for information and advertising. 

Is There a Killer Among Us?

Do you feel safe on campus?  In your dorm?  Nursing student Jaime Sullivan was raped then strangled in her dorm.  The campus police responded by adding a few extra patrols at night.  The Sheriff's Department has moved on.  Jaime Sullivan is an unsolved case.  Soon to be cold and forgotten.  How does that make you feel?

Who out there cares enough about those who no longer have a voice?  You?

But do you care enough to make a difference?

Come Thursday the 13th Journalism Building 9 p.m.

Five students respond to the letter.  These students were each chosen for a reason, and the author gradually reveals information about each student as the story progresses.  Clues about Jaime's final day and her death are gradually doled out as the students investigate.  The clues are steadily revealed, and the book never has any slow or uninteresting parts.  The book also contains multiple mysteries, which the reader won't see coming.  

The book is written in a mixture of third-person limited and third-person omniscient.  Sometimes the reader only knows one character's thoughts during a scene, and at other times, the reader knows the thoughts of more than one character at the same time.

The mysteries were fully solved at the end of the book, but the Campus Murder Club's future is left slightly open-ended so that a sequel is possible.

If you enjoyed One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus, then you should enjoy reading this book.

This is an excellent book.  I was sorry to reach the end, but I felt quite happy about my reading experience.