Pasadena

Set against the backdrop of California’s City of Roses, a young teenager grapples with dark secrets, betrayal, and hidden skeletons when she finds her best friend lifeless in a swimming pool.

“Beautiful clothes, bad habits, ugly secrets . . . [a] page-turning California noir.”—E. Lockhart, New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars

“Fascinating, tragic, and equal parts glossy and gritty, this is a noir investigation of familial expectations, tension, and turmoil.”—School Library Journal

Bad things happen everywhere. Even in the land of sun and roses.

When Jude’s best friend is found dead in a swimming pool, her family calls it an accident. Her friends call it suicide. But Jude calls it what it is: murder. And someone has to pay.

Now everyone is a suspect—family and friends alike. And Jude is digging up the past like bones from a shallow grave. Anything to get closer to the truth. But that’s the thing about secrets. Once they start turning up, nothing is sacred. And Jude’s got a few skeletons of her own.