Murder on a Summer Break is author Kate Weston’s sequel to her first murder mystery featuring unexpected teenaged sleuths, Kerry and Annie. This one takes place at an influencer conference in England where the internet famous and wannabes converge to meet and compete with their peers. When someone ends up dead, Annie and Kerry stumble into figuring out who done it. The result is a campy, amusing mystery…at least, once I realized I shouldn’t take everything at face value. Kerry, Annie, and everything about this book is over-the-top. Go with it. You’ll have more fun that way.
Annie is obsessed with creating “ReelLife” videos, and I found myself cringing along with Kerry when she reshoots basic greetings multiple times and “goes live” for her 1,000 followers. Then I really flinched when, in a fit of delusion and self-importance, she forced herself and Kerry into the VIP area of the conference. From there, she proceeds to fight with an organizer, make fun of one of the most popular streamers there, and allow herself to get lured into a lose-lose battle with yet another influencer. To make it worse, she keeps trying to brand herself and Kerry as the “Tampon Two” (after solving a “menstrual murder” in the previous book). She also tries to prove her feminist bona fides by using the slogan “good vulva.”
I’ll admit, I put Annie’s antics into the “con” category at first. But as the story went along, and I loosened up, I realized that it was meant to be silly and exaggerated. Kerry is a stabilizing force who is not besotted with being an online personality, so she could be an avatar for the rest of us. She is more shy and wants to be a journalist. When the first death occurs, the girls spring into action. It probably doesn’t say much about the local police force that they are better at solving crimes than the professionals, but the story has a satisfying, twisty, and amusing ending.
For those of you looking for a little meat on the bones, I do think the author gave us some food for thought regarding today’s media environment. At one point, Kerry says of her foray into video making, “Most people are identifying with my observations about how being yourself can become harder and harder when all you’re seeing all day is curated snippets of everyone else’s lives.” As the distinction between real life and ReelLife becomes more diffuse, that’s a comment many readers are probably living. All in all, Murder on a Summer Break was romp worth having.
Kate Weston is a former stand-up comedian who still gigs from time to time and likes nothing more than a proper giggle. She lives in London with her partner and adorable cat Angus. (https://www.katewestonauthor.com/)