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In 1999, a beautiful blonde cheerleader, Clarissa Campbell, went missing from a party in the woods near her small town of Oreville, Washington. The case drew national attention, but it was never solved.
Now, high school junior Cameron has a project to do for her journalism class, and she decides to create a podcast about the case. She gets her best friend, Blair, to be her partner. One would think two students couldn’t do anything the police didn’t achieve two decades before. But they start talking to people involved — Clarissa’s boyfriend, her mom, a man who helped the family — and gather a surprising amount of information. Not only are they getting enough details to make a good true crime podcast, but they may actually be able to solve the case.
But digging up dirt always leads to trouble, and as the two unearth some nasty secrets, they find themselves facing legal issues and even danger.
Missing Clarissa is a compelling crime story. But I just kept thinking that the main character was doing some really stupid, dangerous things. That was part of the story, but at those moments it felt a bit more like a teen horror flick rather than what someone may do for real. Who really would do such brazen, risky things? (OK, well, maybe a teenager…) In addition to dealing with the topic of “respected” adults preying sexually on teens, the book also touches on issues of appropriation of Indigenous people’s land and cultures, as well as prison abolition. But these latter ones were thrown in via a somewhat minor character and felt unrelated, unnecessary, a way for the author to do a little grandstanding on subjects she’s passionate about.
This young adult book isn’t extraordinary, but it’s a satisfactory addition to the genre.
Rated: High. (Just barely over the line from moderate.) Profanity includes 6 uses of strong profanity, about a dozen instances of moderate profanity, almost 20 uses of mild language, and a a dozen instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes some kissing and talk about sex. Violence includes a number of references to rape of underage girls, a murder in the past, injuries with a gun and assault with a heavy object.
*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
