Heartbreak Homes

Jo Treggiari

Nimbus Publishing

Synopsis

A gripping locked-door YA murder mystery told from multiple perspectives from Governor General’s Award – and Crime Writers of Canada Award – nominated author of The Grey Sisters and Blood Will Out.

The back-to-school blowout filled with drinks and drugs isn’t Frankie’s scene, but she would do anything for her childhood best friend, Jessa, whose recent ugly duckling transformation has her hanging with a new crowd and vying for pretty boy Malcolm – the popular senior throwing the all-out rager on his father’s deserted development property.

Martin hasn’t heard from his old friends since his father lost everything and moved them across town. Until the party invitation. Between working double-shifts and avoiding his father’s sad-guilty routine, Martin decides to blow off some steam. But the party house is a monument to the bad real estate deal that left half the town in financial ruin – and the heart of all that has gone wrong for him and his family.

Cara and her crew of lost girls have been squatting in a model home on the property, stealing for their survival. The party is the perfect mark – privileged kids, abundant alcohol, and dark corners. The girls score big with their haul, but the celebration is short-lived when they learn their temporary home is at risk of discovery. They could be split up and forced back onto the unsafe streets.

In the wake of a brutal brawl, the guests find a lifeless body—and this murder is only the first. Escalating violence drives Frankie, Martin, and Cara to forge new bonds, and together unmask a killer. Narrated from multiple perspectives, Heartbreak Homes is about what compels us to kill – and the true face of justice.

About the Author

Jo Treggiari is the award-winning, best-selling author of six books for young adults. Her 2019 novel The Grey Sisters (Penguin Teen) was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award, a finalist for the Crime Writers of Canada Award, and a finalist for the Ann Connor Brimer Children’s Literature Award. Her most recent book is Heartbreak Homes, a finalist for the 2023 Dartmouth Books Awards, the 2023 Ann Connor Brimer Children’s Literature Award, and the winner of the 2023 Crime Writers of Canada Juvenile/YA Fiction Award of Excellence.

Read more about Jo Treggiari

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