S. F. Prescott

Lies, twists, and steady reveals.

R.N. Swann is the author of the young adult mystery In Case I Go Missing, and a graduate of the University of Iowa. She lives in Baltimore and, besides reading and writing, she loves trying new recipes, listening to podcasts, and convincing her two cats, Havoc and Toast, that her laptop is not a bed. In Case I Go Missing is her debut novel.

I was excited to receive an early copy of R.N. Swann’s debut YA mystery, In Case I Go Missing, and immediately started reading, intrigued by the comps: Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder meets Fargo. My favorite stories are mysteries set in small towns!

I don’t read a lot of YA, so this was a treat! The cast of characters was so well-fleshed out, and unique. I loved reading about the friend trio—Fenny, Sarah, and Sam—at the center of the mystery who must unravel years of lies to find their missing friend. They were all messy in the best way; imperfect but still likable. The story gripped me from the start, was steady through the middle, before picking up the pace at the very end. How the mystery developed, dropping clues and red herrings, was fun to follow. And I enjoyed how it all came together in the end, very satisfying.

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Fenny Allen has been Sarah Vincenty’s sidekick for as long as she can remember. Over the years, Sarah has built a reputation in their small town as an amateur detective and a vigilante who has dispensed her own form of justice.

Now Sarah is missing. The police have written her off as yet another teen runaway, but Fenny is convinced there’s foul play. And when she discovers a binder Sarah left behind, entitled In Case I Go Missing, Fenny realizes that Sarah disappeared while investigating her biggest case yet.

With Sarah gone, it’s up to Fenny and her other best friend, Sam, to finish her investigation. As they piece together the clues, they find themselves up against a decades-old mystery that links to the town’s dark history. But is this binder a guide to finding Sarah—or are Fenny and Sam already too late?

The more the pair uncover, the clearer it becomes that those involved will go to great lengths to keep their secrets. And when everyone has something to hide, there are more than a few reasons to want Fenny and Sam out of the picture. Permanently.