BEHIND THE CURTAIN : An Echo Falls Mystery

N.Y.: Harper-Collins, 2006. 1st ed. A fine, unread copy of this Advance Reading Copy Trade Paperback Original. Publishers letter laid in. The second book in the Echo Falls Mystery series and the sequel to "Down the Rabbit Hole." The second entry in the Echo Falls Mystery series, as successful as its predecessor, starts with puzzling questions that spring right from Ingrid Levin-Hill's own life: Why is her football-mad older brother suddenly so much stronger, and why has her father been so tense lately? The plot unfolds slowly at first, but Abrahams' exceptional overlay of detail, especially descriptions of the particular stresses and the goofy occurrences that mark Ingrid's experiences as an eighth-grader, makes the story very convincing as the action builds. Ingrid discovers anabolic steroids are behind her brother's improved performance and new aggressiveness (and also behind some of the mysterious behavior of various people in her town), but just as she is about to do something with her knowledge, she is kidnapped. She escapes, but police don't believe her story, and she has to set up her own sting to prove she is telling the truth. A timely issue gives this mystery a "ripped from the headlines" flavor, but the real kick for readers comes from a believable eighth-grade heroine's investigation of a high-school scandal" *Starred Review* -- BOOKLIST. First Edition. Trade Paperback. Fine. Advanced Reading Copy (ARC).