When I was a tween and young teen, I couldn’t get enough of mysteries and thrillers.  I read all of the original Nancy Drew books (in those bright yellow covers), motored my way through Lois Duncan’s repertoire, and devoured every single Joan Lowery Nixon I could get my hands on.  Then my tastes turned to fantasy and I didn’t really read mysteries again until I was an adult, when I tended to stick to adult authors like Elizabeth George, Alexander McCall Smith, and Elizabeth Peters.

Recently, though, I’ve gone back to my roots and re-discovered my love for fast-paced mysteries with a lot of the action that made them so easy and fun to read.  I’ve read some duds and a couple that were merely so-so, but a few have stood out.  Last year, I read Wish You Were Dead, Todd Strasser’s first entry in his “thrillogy” – a series of three books described as modern murder mysteries.  Strasser takes the “modern” part to heart.  Wish You Were Dead is full of references to social networking, and a blog written by an anonymous author who scribbles hatred toward the murder victim is the driving force of the story.

Wish You Were Dead is a smoothly-written, fast-paced mystery/thriller with plenty of twists and turns.  The chapters are short and the red herrings are many.  These things are just what I like in my teen mysteries, and (bonus!) I did NOT have the culprit figured out well before the protagonist did.  While plot is far and away the most important part of the book, Strasser’s writing still gives us some indication of character (a good thing, since character is what motivates the murder).
 

Blood On My Hands, the second installment in the “thrillogy,” is not quite as strong as the first (I guessed the culprit ahead of time), but still delivers the action, the plot twists, and plenty of the modern touches that I expected.  (It should be noted that these modern touches will date the books very quickly – they really are books for the moment.)  In this one, our protagonist Callie is caught by a cell phone camera beside her murdered “frenemy” Katherine holding a bloody knife.  From there on out, the book is one long chase scene (peppered with Callie’s flashbacks) as Callie attempts to avoid the police while simultaneously determining who really killed Katherine.  Once again, Strasser packs in enough plot to fill two books, but it works. 
 
Strasser’s “thrillogy” books are definitely for those of us who know and love the mystery/thriller genre.  I call them mystery/thrillers because I don’t think the books would have a lot of appeal to people who prefer their mysteries cozy or more akin to police procedurals.  There’s no slow moment where the amateur sleuth deliberates the facts of the case – Strasser’s protagonists are always in danger of being caught (and often in danger of dying).  It’s fast and fun and a great way to spend an afternoon.
 
In order to spread the reading love, I’m giving away a copy of both books I discussed here – a paperback of Wish You Were Dead and a bound galley of Blood On My Hands, which will be published September 28 by Egmont USA.  To enter for a chance to win both these books, just fill out the form below.  A winner will be randomly chosen September 17.

Both books received from publisher.