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Wow, this one has a lot to unpack, but it held my attention the entire way through.
Art students Zoe and Hailey find themselves on a European exchange program where they have too much time on their hands and not enough classes and education. The perfect Germany vacation, so they think!
This trip happens on the heels of Zoe’s best friend’s murder in Florida, where there are no answers. Zoe copes with the loss by dating the dead friend’s ex-boyfriend. She soon gets the opportunity to travel in the exchange program.
This is the tale about murder, celebrity and the complications and phases that friendships go through. Zoe Beech is a quiet art student escaping to Berlin, Germany. Hailey Mader is the daughter of a business mogul who loves Andy Warhol and Britney Spears and wants to be in the limelight. The two sublet an apartment of a famous thriller author who supposedly is leaving town to start her new book.
Soon, however, the ladies discover that the apartment owner, Beatrice, is actually spying on them from a hidden back room and snooping in their things when they are not home. Through the internet, they find out that Beatrice is studying them for her book. Hailey embarks on an elaborate plan to host weekly pop up parties in the apartment with costumes, bar, casino games, music and drugs. And don’t forget the drama.
The party reaches new heights when Hailey decides to create an Amanda Knox reenactment party. Things start the spiral down, and Zoe and Hailey start to fall out of favor with each other. What follows next is a compelling part of the story.
There are several side bar things happening as well. Zoe meets a female lover and starts to separate from Hailey. She also has a part time job babysitting and creates a fairytale monster story about her friends. Zoe plays out the title of the book by wearing her murdered friend Ivy’s clothes in addition to Hailey’s clothes. Hailey also loves the costuming of the weekly parties.
Is this book about murder and mystery or about complicated relationships? You be the judge. The end of the book gives you a little bit of a cliffhanger that will keep you guessing long after you finish. I enjoyed reading about these young students discovering a European city and the mystery that ensued.
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Times Leader Media Group Publisher Kerry Miscavage reviewed this book. She and her mother, Jacquie O’Neil, each contribute to this column.