Book ~ "Paper Valentine" (2013) Brenna Yovanoff

From Goodreads ~ The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed,and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.

Hannah is a teenager who lives with her younger sister, Ariel, her mom and her stepdad.  She is creative and likes to make her own clothes.  Her best friend, Lillian, died six months ago of anorexia and she still still trying to deal with it.  That's hard because Lillian keeps coming back to hang out with her.  Hannah has a job in her cousin's print shop, which is where the police department drop off their rolls of film for developing. She has a fascination with Finny Boone, a fellow student with a bad reputation.

Girls are getting murdered in their city and parents are keeping their kids close by.  Because of her job, Hannah has access to the pictures of the murder scenes.  When the ghosts of the murdered girls start appearing to her, Hannah begins digging around to see if she can figure out who the murderer is.

This is the first book by this author that I've read and I liked it.  It is a YA book but I didn't find it read that way ... I didn't find it was too immature for me.  It is written in Hannah's voice.  The language gets mature towards the end.  I liked the characters and thought they interacted well with each other.  It's a murder mystery but also a coming of age story.

In my opinion, anyone 15+ would enjoy this book.

I received a copy of this book at no charge in exchange for my honest review.