Little Creeping Things by Chelsea Ichaso (review)

Rumors have followed Cass around ever since years ago she accidentally started a fire that killed her childhood friend, and Melody Davenport has usually been at the forefront of those rumors, calling Cass “Fire Girl” and insisting that she set the fire on purpose. Now Melody has gone missing, and Cass is pretty sure she knows what happened—especially because she drunkenly planned Melody’s kidnapping and murder with some stranger at a party a few weeks ago and now it seems like that guy decided to act upon it. Cass obviously can’t go to the police, not when she’s already been a suspect in another death and certainly not when threatening texts start coming through, making it clear that the criminal has the goods to implicate her too. Characterization is not particularly deep here, with most of the characters merely types necessary to the plot; Cass is unlikable and unreliable but not in an intriguing way, with her selfishness clouding her judgment rather than providing any tantalizing menace. The slew of red herrings, however, more successfully draws readers in as new evidence and witnesses change stories, and the ultimate revelation of both killer and motive is a doozy. There are savvier thrillers, but readers wanting a straightforward whodunnit may appreciate the resolution here.