ARC Review: A Night to Die For by Lisa Schroeder

A Night to Die For
Author: Lisa Schroeder
Publication: Underlined (March 1, 2022)

Description: When a boy finds a girl's body in the ditch on prom night...he becomes the primary suspect in her murder.

Prom dreams. Prom Screams.

Mario Woods is looking forward to one normal night before he graduates. He's spent most of high school riding solo. But when fate lands him a date for prom, he figures this might be his chance to be less of a loner.

Only, prom turns out to be a disaster. Just when Mario thought the night couldn’t get any worse, he sees something on the side of the road while driving home. That something is Prom Queen Maribelle Starr—murdered and left for dead.

All Mario wanted was to go to prom...but somehow, he ended up in hell.

My Thoughts: This story is told from multiple viewpoints. It includes social media posts and newspaper articles. It tells about the murder of Prom Queen Mirabelle Starr.

Mario begins the story when he comes upon Mirabelle's body in a ditch. His date Elana is passed out in the passenger seat. The cops arrive really fast and first arrest Mario for contributing to the delinquency of a minor because his date had obviously had too much to drink.

We also hear from Parker who was Mirabelle's boyfriend except she broke up with him on prom night which led him to hit his grandparents' liquor cabinet. He wonders if he might have done something to Mirabelle and not remember. But he was sad not mad.

We hear from Mirabelle's brother Josh who knows some things about his sister that he isn't sharing with the cops. And we hear from Lucas who is Mario's best friend and begins his own investigation when he comes to believe that the police are so fixated on Mario that they aren't looking for the real murderer.

There are other viewpoints too - Mario's mom, Elana's, Zain's (the secret boyfriend0, the head detective's. All come together to gradually uncover what really happened to Mirabelle on prom night. It doesn't help the reader at all when it comes out that some of the characters are lying.

This was a nicely twisty thriller that will keep teens turning the pages to find the answers.

Favorite Quote:

Cell. Criminal. Court appearance.

Somehow, I went to prom and ended up in hell.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.