Alane Ferguson

Cameryn is fascinated with forensic science, despite her grandmother's insistence that it's a depressing thing for a 17 year old to be reading about. But her dad is the coroner in their little town, and he agrees to take her on as his assistant. It's harder than she expected. It's one thing to read about maggots and the smell of a decaying body - it's another thing to experience it first hand. But she's still excited for her job - until the second corpse she has to work on belongs to a show more friend. And Rachel was murdered.

It seems to be the work of a serial killer. The media is everywhere, including a psychic that Cameryn's best friend swears is the real thing. But this is much harder than Cameryn expected, between being at the autopsy, dealing with her grandmother's resistance, her feelings for the new deputy, the death of a friend, and now her long gone mother's sudden desire to be in her daughter's life again.

I liked this story. Cameryn is an appealing character, despite her rather unusual career choice, and she mostly acts her age. In fact, she makes some very silly moves which made me want to shake her! Didn't she ever read Nancy Drew? Snooping in the suspect's bedroom never pays off! And hiding under the bed? Really? But I'm willing to give the series another chance. 3 stars for this one, but I hope the series improves as Cameryn settles into her new job. show less

While reading this book, I kept having an odd feeling of deja vu, and it wasn't due to the fact that I read it once before, years ago. It was only after I finished that I realized what it was caused by, and that is that this book reads like a Nancy Drew book. Don't get me wrong, I love Nancy Drew, and still have a shelf full of the books, but 'The Christopher Killer' fits the mold perfectly. Cast of characters are introduced, all of them having something suspicious about them, spunky female show more teen follows all leads, occasionally getting off track, finds super secret clue, confronts the killer, gets in danger, but in the end, the mystery is solved and Nancy- I mean, Cameron is lauded for her genius. Like I said, I love Nancy Drew, and there are certainly worse things to take a page from, but this book isn't a totally new and spectacular thing. The one thing that sets this book apart is its forensics, and provides the nice, gory details of forensics that are honestly quite interesting. One last thing, is that one of the things the killer uses is not explained totally well. Without venturing in spoiler territory, I know what it is because I work with horses, and I feel like without the background knowledge of what it is, it can seem a bit like a macguffin- the plot purpose fits everything device. This was still a good read, and if you're looking for a good teen mystery that's not full of simpering brats, The Christopher Killer is a good choice. show less

The book is a YA book. You have to remember how you viewed your world when you were 16 or 17 years old and what you imagined your possibilities were. You also, as the seasoned "grown-up" you are now, how reality is, and work a little to suspend your "big people" disbelief in the role Cameryn plays here. Cameryn's father is the County coroner, and because she has displayed an interest in forensics, he allows his 17-year-old to be his forensic assistant. Now, in reality this is probably vastly show more unlikely, ill-advised and impossible...especially when one of her observations was one of her teachers. Somehow, I can't remember this being a career choice on Career Day when I was 17... but hey, this is fiction, so it sets the premise for the adventures of this young woman. The book had some minor flaws. It's not for the squeamish reader and it did drag a little at times making me have to go back and reread something occasionally. In the plus department...I like the ongoing tension between the main character and the young deputy as well as the sub-plot about her long-lost mother. What really made me overlook the "impossibilities" and "unlikelies" in the story was Cameryn herself. She is presented as a strong young woman, very smart and she has morals. This is well worth the reading time. show less

Cammie is back. When one of her teachers ends up mysteriously dead in his bed and the autopsy shows all his internal organs are burned, the coroners and sheriffs are working overtime to try to uncover what really happened. Meanwhile Cammie's mom is calling her and planning a visit, things between Cammie and Lyric are on the rocks, and Kyle O'Neill, local Mr. Wonderful, comes on to the scene as a love interest which is something Justin does not approve of. This book left me wanting to get my show more hands on book #3 in the series. show less