Freddie Gellar didn’t plan to get half the student body of Fortin Prep boarding school arrested. She was simply being responsible when she heard screaming in the woods. Just like any normal person would.
Unfortunately for the Fortin Prep students the police descend on a party rife with underage drinking. Fortunately for Freddie’s school, Berm High this gives them a major edge in the years-long prank war with Fortin Prep.
Deemed a local prank wizard, Freddie is more than willing to take credit for the genius move when it means she has an in with the popular crowd and, dazzingly, with her crush. No one except Freddie’s best friend Divya has to know why she really called the cops as the two girls join the inner circle of Berm High’s prank planners.
While Freddie schemes for ways to best the annoyingly capable Fortin Prep prank captain Theo, it soon becomes clear that something is very wrong in City-on-the-Berme Village Historique. It starts with a dead body in the woods. Then there’s a creepy poem in the town archives and even creepier happenings throughout the town. That isn’t counting Theo’s horrifying taste in boy bands or the way that Freddie might disastrously be falling for the enemy.
As an aspiring detective, Freddie knows it’s her duty to get the bottom of what’s happening in her town–especially before it can interfere with the annual festival her mom has been planning all year–but when things take a supernatural turn Freddie will need all of her expertise from practical experience and from repeated viewings of The X-Files to save the town–and Theo–before it’s too late in The Executioners Three (2025) by Susan Dennard.
The Executioners Three is a delightfully fun standalone mystery. Set in the 1999 this book is delightfully grounded in the time period with nods to technology and trends of the time. Readers should be ready to choose a boy band to back in the eternal struggle between NSYNC and Backstreet Boys–a war that is almost as timeless and important to the plot as the prank war between the two high schools.
Dennard blends supernatural elements with a contemporary setting to create a genre blender reminiscent of classic shows like Scooby Doo crossed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The idyllic small town setting of City-on-the-Berm even adds a Gilmore Girls sensibility to the entire thing.
Lush descriptions of the forest and town give peak fall vibes as Freddie and City-on-the-Berm move inexorably toward their annual autumn festival and the dangerous resolution of the strange happenings in the town. Although Freddie is the driving force in the investigation she also has a strong ensemble cast behind her notably including her reluctant (and risk averse) sidekick Divya and her rival-turned-ally-turned-love-interest Theo. The very real scares of the murders and strange happenings around town are lightened with the escalating pranks between the schools and, of course, with Freddie’s romance with Theo.
The Executioners Three is a satisfying mystery and so much fun. Come for the pranks and stay for the scares. Highly recommended.
Possible Pairings: In Every Generation by Kendare Blake, Don’t Get Caught by Kurt Dinan, How to Survive a Horror Movie by Scarlett Dunmore, Burden Falls by Kat Ellis, Dead Flip by Sara Farizan, The Lies of Alma Blackwell by Amanda Glaze, Girl Forgotten by April Henry, The Drowning Summer by CL Herman, The Forest Demands its Due by Kosoko Jackson, A Spell to Wake the Dead by Nicole Lesperance, Six of Sorrow by Amanda Linsmeier, The Hex Girls: A Rogue Thorn by Lily Meade, There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins,The Haunting by Natasha Preston, When the Bones Sing by Ginny Myers Sain, Past Perfect by Leila Sales, Small Town Monsters by Diana Rodriguez Wallach, Now Entering Addamsville by Francesca Zappia
*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*
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