Drowned on her 18th birthday, a rich, popular girl struggles to discover what happened and learns some unpleasant truths.
Liz has always been a golden girl, the center of the most popular clique in her tony Connecticut suburb. Drowning is bad enough, but it's even worse that she has to share her afterlife with poor-kid Alex, killed in a hit-and-run several months ago, who takes pleasure in showing her what a bitch she is—or at least was. Warman introduces readers and her protagonist to the girl Liz was gradually and simultaneously. In her afterlife, ghosts have hazy memories, so Liz’s understanding of her life is incomplete. With Alex’s help (he's a pro at being dead), Liz learns that her family was not as perfect as she wants to believe and that she was mixed up in some seriously bad stuff. She also learns that she was shockingly, horrifically shallow. For much of the book the mystery surrounding Liz's death is subsumed in her growing recognition of her frankly unlikable personality. That readers will like her ghostly persona despite her unpleasant living one is testament to Warman’s skill. While they will figure out the mystery before Liz does, they will appreciate her growth if not the rather tidy ending.
A rich and compelling character study wrapped around a mystery. (Mystery. 14-18)