title: If Looks Could Kill
author:  Jeanne Lazo 
description: Grade 5-8Cutting through the graveyard on Halloween night, four 14-year-old friends stumble across a dead body. The incongruous bright red shoes on the murdered woman point to a clue, and soon Priggs, Fawn, Art, and Tucker are on the case. The shoes lead the teens to a temperamental new artist in town, and when a second body turns up, Priggs puts on her Nancy Drew hat and does some additional sleuthing on her own. She manages to get herself in and out of danger several times as she gets closer and closer to the real killer. As the friends investigate, they also tackle a school project that involves unraveling another puzzle in the graveyard that goes back to Civil War days. The reading level as on the back of the book is noted as 4.5, which would indicate that it is appropriate for struggling readers. However, they may be bothered by the sometimes flowery prose (an air of haughtiness that drowns my senses, for example). Also, the Civil War mystery isn't well integrated into the murder mystery.<i>Lynn Evarts, Sauk Prairie High School, Prairie du Sac, WI</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  Hates any man the thing he would not kill?
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  – WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE,
  
  
  
  
  
  The Merchant of Venice, ACT 4, SCENE I,
  
  
  
  
  
  LINES 66-67
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  From Publishers Weekly
  
  
  
  
  
  Philadelphia attorney Mary DiNunzio, last seen in Killer Smile (2004), agrees
  to help her high school nemesis, Trish Gambone, at the start of this less than
  convincing thriller from bestseller Scottoline. Trish, whom Mary used to
  regard as the quintessential Mean Girl, has turned in desperation to the
  lawyer, the all-around Most Likely to Achieve Sainthood at St. Maria Goretti
  High School, because she wants to escape from her abusive, and possibly Mafia-
  connected boyfriend, Bobby Mancuso. Trish rejects Mary's practical suggestions
  for dealing with Bobby, but once Trish disappears, Mary finds herself under
  pressure from other high school classmates as well as people from her old
  neighborhood who blame her for not doing enough. Mary unwisely hides 