Hello? That familiar voice came on the line and Belle’s hands started to shake. Tears filled her eyes. Being caged and trapped is one of the main theme Desperate to prove her innocence, Belle reaches out to her estranged friends, but who can she trust?

Her lawyer’s got her clammed up, the detective said, frowning. But her father says they had dinner together later that night, so I’m guessing she cased the joint earlier to make sure Evelyn still drank tea.I didn’t. I swear. But Edwin was passed out in his bedroom all night, and no one can account for me. How did Mrs. Holloway die?” she asked softly. Every word that came out of her mouth, she analyzed. Did she sound innocent just then? Did she sound guilty? She wasn’t guilty, she swore to herself over and over again, but it was hard to believe that with cuffs around her wrists. It was harder to believe when the police station came into view. Raven’s stepmother was murdered, Belle blurted. "Someone used belladonna to kill her. Only belladonna," she added in a whisper. Ivy, Mateo, and Cal used to be close. Now all they have in common is Carlton High and the beginning of a very bad day. But three years later, on the eve of Raven’s seventeenth birthday, his stepmother was found sprawled out on the kitchen floor. A shattered teacup beside her. It took a little time for the police to gather their evidence, and then they presented their findings to Raven’s father. Apparently, someone had taken a cluster of poisonous flowers and stuffed them into his wife’s teakettle.

Killing her would’ve been easy. That spring we made flower garlands. That spring petals were strewn across her kitchen table, where she drank her tea. If we dropped a petal of belladonna, a petal of poppy, and a petal of lily into that cup, we’d never really know which one of us killed her. This book had all the makings of a great book - childhood friends, a murder, and a mystery. But sadly, it just all fell flat to me. I couldn't relate to any of the characters and everything just felt over dramatic and forced. But the night before the murder, one of us got cold feet and ruined everything. We all had to poison her together. That’s what I thought, the spring we made flower garlands. The spring we spread them out on the table, where she drank her tea.She sat at the police station, stuffed into a plastic chair, waiting for Detective Frank Medina to return from the field. She’d been there since eight in the morning. When he finally strode through the doors, well after noon, he took one look at her and sighed. Miss McClain. The man pulled up to the station, then climbed out of the car. Belle counted heartbeats as he strode to her door. Five. Ten. Fifteen. She managed to get to seventeen, the exact number of years she’d been on this earth, when the door swung open and the man reached for her. Why would there be other flowers? he asked, guiding her out of the darkness. Belladonna killed her.

He… What? Her eyelids fluttered closed, and behind them she could see soft hands and ebony curls. Bright eyes. Raven’s coming home? The detective frowned, eyeing the thin slashes that laced their way up her arm. Why didn’t you tell me this before? he asked. Ye-yes,” she said, managing to stumble over one word. Great. That didn’t bode well for the rest of the conversation. But she could lie about who’d been tangled in her arms that night. She’d gotten very good at keeping secrets. Just… not from the cops. A gripping thriller from WATERSTONES CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE-SHORTLISTED Tracy Darnton, author of THE TRUTH ABOUT LIES. Overall, this was a solid murder-mystery that points out the importance of standing up for what you believe and making a family and future of your own.

Riverdale meets Kara Thomas's The Cheerleaders in this electrifying, twisted thriller about estranged friends who reunite when someone commits the murder they'd planned--but didn't go through with--and leaves one of their own to take the fall. Pop... From the unsolved robbery of Raven's biological mother, to the now murder of his step-mother. The police have been a negligible force, entering the story only when the plot requires it to be relevant.