A blend of horror, mystery, and thriller with a sprinkling of romance, Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine will appeal to a wide variety of readers. Set in New York, the novel features Olivia D’Angeli and Reagan Karl. Both sixteen-year-olds have an origin story anchored at Camp Lost Lake, a youth camp owned by the D’Angeli family.
Tired of running, Reagan is determined to solve the murder that has her mother in hiding. She and her best friend, Jack, are determined to exonerate Reagan’s mother Lori Knight, aka Lauren Karl, so that Reagan can live a normal life free from the accusations that her mother is the murdering Witch of Lost Lake.
Olivia, a fairly typical people-pleasing perfectionist, has just discovered that her dad isn’t her father. “The man who’d spend hours helping me research my first computer and taught me to how to choose a ripe tomato; the man who shares my love of travel documentaries and ethnic foods. . . isn’t really my dad” (9). This mysterious paternity dilemma troubles Olivia, who is determined not only to learn who her father is but to understand why her parents have lied to her for sixteen years.
With its messed up fairy tale motifs interwoven with a Stephen King vibe, Valentine’s story takes the reader into the woods and down multiple suspect trails, unveiling surprises until the novel’s final page. Along the way, readers follow clues and learn human truths—such as the mathematical concept of Occam’s razor, reminding us that “among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions is probably correct” (111). Or “that doing the right thing doesn’t protect everyone equally” (163).
As the two teens begin to fall apart under the influence of past and present horrors and psychological warfare, readers will accept that the truth is some much more complicated than we ever think or imagine.
We also learn human truths. First, Jack tells Olivia not to fear her panic attacks: “Even strong people need to fall apart. And if you go too long without letting yourself do that, your body’s going to do it for you. We’re not made of stone” (175). Then, we are reminded of the power of the internet to ruin reputations. One of the murder victims, Gia North was a gossip girl, who would post people’s private information online: “people’s college rejections and homework and who was hooking up with whom” (182). Hazel Katz, Olivia’s best friend, tells Reagan: “Can you imagine what it would have felt like to go to school with someone like that? To always be worried that your deepest, darkest secret might get completely taken out of context, misunderstood, and then put up on the internet for everyone to see” (183). Sounds like a motive for murder.
- Donna