The 9th Girl
Publication Date: June 18, 2013
Pages: 416
Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska are back in Tami Hoag's new novel,
The 9th Girl. It is New Years Eve when they are called out to a homicide where the victim was found in the middle of a busy interstate. They are calling her "Zombie Doe". As Kovac and Tinks start the investigation, they are afraid that this young girl was the 9th victim of the "Doc Holiday" a serial killer who only seems to dump his victims on holidays. They aren't very far into the investigation when they realize that the victim has a connection to Liska's oldest son, and the exclusive school for the arts that he attends. The further they get, they realize that Zombie Doe is not the victim of Doc Holiday, but possibly of a bullying situation gone horribly wrong. But what will happen when a madman sets out to "clear" his name? Will the body count continue to rise or will they catch Zombie Doe's killer and Doc Holiday at the same time?
Bullying has been at the forefront of America's mind for a little while now, but it still continues to be a major problem, even at exclusive private schools for the talented and gifted. The author did a great job of shining a light on that behavior. Some of the students were so entitled and wretched towards kids for the very reasons why they went to this school, it made me sick. I wanted to reach through & slap them all silly. I also enjoyed the author's way of illustrating Nikki's relationship with her son, it is not the best relationship, how could it be with Nikki working all of the time, but it is certainly better than the average mother/son relationship.
Bottom line, you all know how I love a good mystery. I needed a little gristle and grit after all these fluffy books, I was ready for a good homicide.
The 9th Girl was relevant, a little bit terrifying, and kept me guessing to the end. Exactly how I love my mysteries.
I haven't read any of this author's books, but this one does sound really good. As a teacher, I am always intrigued by books that bring things like bullying out and show them for what they really are.
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