Lauren Henderson's Kiss in the Dark is the third book in her series about Scarlett Wakefield, a wealthy, orphaned teen attending Wakefield Hall, her iron-willed grandmother's exclusive English boarding school. Scarlett is hoping her new relationships at Wakefield will allow her to move beyond her troubled past, but when her former nemesis (queen bee Plum Saybourne) is transferred to the school, all of Scarlett's carefully guarded secrets may be exposed.

We thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in this series (Kiss Me Kill Me and Kisses and Lies), but were less impressed by this latest installment. Kiss in the Dark is just as well written and nicely characterized as its predecessors, but the plot felt scattered and the mystery was forgettable. Reading it was a bit like watching a good-but-not-great episode of an ongoing TV show—you can't skip it altogether (because it adds a bunch of stuff to the overarching storyline), but it doesn't work as a self-contained mystery.

Review based on publisher-provided copy.

Labels: Book Reviews, Lauren Henderson, Series, teen literature