Review: Hero Complex

The second Keaton School mystery
By Margaux Froley
Available now from Soho Teen
Review copy
Review of Escape Theory

Because I enjoyed Escape Theory, I wanted to read the sequel, Hero Complex. However, it had been a while since I read Escape Theory, so I wanted to reread it first, and eventually I decided to just dive into Hero Complex any way.

I had forgotten quite a bit, but it came back to me. Devon Mackintosh was working at a peer counselor at the private school she attended on scholarship to help boost her college applications. Her knowledge from those sessions made her suspicious of the apparent suicide of popular Hutch, which led her to become embroiled in a mystery.

At the beginning of Hero Complex, Devon has figured out who killed Hutch but she's still trying to figure out the why, which could be the key to getting the testimony needed to put his murderer away. But soon a new mystery arises when she goes to a boat party with her friend Cleo and gets clobbered over the back of the head. No one believes her that the assault happened, much less that it was attempted murder.

What I found most delightful about Hero Complex was that Devon never would have known the secrets she uncovers in the novel even existed if the villain hadn't attempted to get rid of her. I love seeing a bad guy hoisted by their own petard. At the same time, Hero Complex feels like the middle novel in a trilogy. The mystery at the center doesn't have the emotional drive of Hutch's death, and the revelations feel like they're setup for the fallout in the third novel.

... which doesn't exist. As much as I enjoy Escape Theory and Hero Complex, I have trouble recommending the Keaton School mysteries since the third novel was never published, leaving the story feeling unfinished.

Review: Escape Theory

The first Keaton School mystery
By Margaux Froley
Available now from Soho Teen (Soho Press)
Review copy

Jason Reed Hutchins just committed suicide.  He was popular, rich, intelligent, handsome, and his friends can barely believe that he took his own life.  Devon Mackintosh didn't run in the same circles as Hutch, but she knew him well due to one special, emotionally intimate night back when they were both freshmen.

Now, Devon is a Peer Counselor and the one assigned to support Hutch's closest friends in their time of grief.  Their sessions reveal aspects of Hutch Devon never suspected, but they also make her suspicious about his untimely death.  The more she discovers, the more she's convinced that someone murdered Hutch.  But everyone is a suspect and many know about Devon's obsession.

I liked that the mystery within ESCAPE THEORY is self contained, but that there are hints of a larger mystery at work, one that has to do with the history of both Keaton school and Hutch's family.  I love the development of the school.  It has a drug problem, like most rich kid schools, and there are major privacy issues as the faculty try to get Devon to reveal what was shared during her supposedly confidential sessions.

ESCAPE THEORY definitely tugged on my heartstrings at times.  It goes back and forth between the past and present.  In the present, the mystery unfolds and in the past it's revealed just what happened between Hutch and Devon.  It's painful to learn more about what an awkward-but-charming kid he was and know that he dies young.  But it helps illuminate Devon's motivation and why she can't just dismiss her concerns.  I did like that Devon wasn't solely motivated by justice for Hutch.  She really does try to help her peers even though she hasn't had much training.

ESCAPE THEORY is an absorbing, character-driven mystery.  I highly recommend it to fans of Lisa and Laura Roecker's Liar Society mysteries.  I enjoyed Margaux Froley's debut and look forward to subsequent Keaton School mysteries.