The Meadowbrook Murders

• Author: Jessica Goodman
• Genre: YA Mystery
• Publication Date: February 4, 2025
• Publisher: GP Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Thank you to GP Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, Penguin Young Readers, and Sierra Pregosin for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A page-turning murder mystery set at a prestigious New England boarding school and the dark secrets a killer desperately wants hidden.

Secrets don’t die when you do.

It’s the first week of senior year at Meadowbrook Academy. For Amy and her best friend Sarah, that means late-night parties at the boathouse, bike rides through their sleepy Connecticut town, and the crisp beginning of a New England fall.

Then tragedy. Sarah and her boyfriend are brutally murdered in their dorm room. Now the week Amy has been dreaming about for years has turned into a nightmare, especially when all eyes turn to her as the culprit. She was Sarah’s only roommate, the only other person there when she died—or so she told the police to cover for her own boyfriend’s suspicious whereabouts. And even though they were best friends, with every passing day, Amy begins to learn that Sarah lied about a lot of things.

Liz, editor of the school newspaper and social outcast, is determined to uncover the truth about what happened on campus, in hopes her reporting will land a prestigious scholarship to college. As Liz dives deeper into her investigation, the secrets these murdered seniors never wanted out come to light. The deeper Liz digs, the messier the truth becomes – and with a killer still on campus, she can’t afford to make any mistakes. 

The Meadowbrook Murders is a gripping mystery about the inextricable way power, privilege, and secrets are linked, and how telling the truth can come at a deadly price.

I’m a huge fan of mysteries, although I’ve leaned more towards adult mysteries over YA. However, this book sounded too good to miss out on, and it has so many elements that I like to see in a book—murder mystery, privileged kids at a private boarding school, and keeping secrets. Here’s what I thought of the book:

The story is told through the eyes of Amy and Liz, and the two girls can’t have more different outlooks and experiences. Amy shares a suite with her best friend, Sarah, and is excited that their senior year is here so they can fulfill all of their plans. But after a fight at a party, Amy figures they’ll just talk in the morning. Finding Sarah’s and her boyfriend’s body is a shock she never expected to see. Amy can’t possibly stay in the suite that has become a crime scene and is moved into a room with Liz.

Liz is so different from Amy, and I love how their voices are so distinct. Liz is a scholarship student, working as the editor of the newspaper, and she doesn’t have much of a social circle at all. On the other hand, Amy’s social circle was comprised of her soccer teammates and her ‘townie’ boyfriend, who is frowned on since he is a local boy instead of the wealthy classmates she attends school with.

The beginning of the story was pretty slow, but it did pick up. I was expecting this to be more like a cozy mystery, in that the students would investigate the crime on their own. Instead, it’s more like the characters kind of look into some clues, but the police are the ones doing the work. Instead, Amy is pulling threads that unravel the lies that Sarah was telling her, while Liz is scheming to get a major news story that will make her a shoo-in for a college scholarship for journalism. 

I think the part that I most liked about the book was how the characters interact. The students are realistic characters, and they act like teenagers—you remember, that time in your life when everything is the worst or best thing ever, and how this has completely ruined the senior year that Amy and Sarah had planned. They’re angsty and stunningly poor at decision making, so they come across as typical teenagers, just with more resources and opportunities waiting for them.

As far as the mystery, it wasn’t too hard to figure out who was behind the murders, but I enjoyed all of the twists and turns in this mostly fast-paced mystery. In a show of stunningly poor decision making on my part, I started reading this in the afternoon. This simply ensured that I was deep into the action when it was time for bed, and obviously couldn’t stop reading until I got to the bottom of things.

This book was offered to me as part of a campaign featuring Jewish authors for Jewish Heritage Month, but I couldn’t wait until May to read this book or feature it on my blog. I really enjoyed how Amy’s Jewish heritage was just kind of part of her experience as a more secular Jew, coming up in a reflection of how the High Holy Days were always days where school was closed in her California neighborhood with lots of other Jewish families. Seeing Jewish people featured across all spectrums is something I’m passionate about reading and sharing about, and it shows how different Jewish people can be from each other while still feeling connected to other Jews. While her background doesn’t make as much of an impact on the story, it is nice to see it just mentioned casually in books, especially with the social climate today.

Overall, I really liked this book. I am now a Jessica Goodman fan, and will have to finally get around to checking out some of her backlist that I’ve got on my TBR. The story is fast-paced and the kind of book that grabbed my attention and didn’t let go, even if I successfully guessed the killer. There were a few moments wondering if I was as dumb during my teen years as some of these kids are, and the only conclusion I could come to was … absolutely. And while my teen years weren’t as dramatic as the characters in this story, I do love the up and down drama of reading about teenagers. Just beware that reading this is addictive.

You will probably enjoy this book if you: 

• Like reading mysteries, especially YA books.
• Are a fan of dark academia.
• Seek out books set in a private school setting.
• Love a fast-paced story.

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