The Girl Is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines

In a few short months Iris Anderson’s life has turned tragic. First her father loses part of his leg in the attack on Pearl Harbor that forces America’s entry into World War II. Then before her father arrives home her mother commits suicide.

Her father copes by moving Iris out of the Upper East Side of New York to the poorer Lower East Side. He works as a private investigator but his skills as a sleuth have diminished since he now walks on a prosthesis. He can barely pay the bills. Iris herself faces difficulties because she has changed schools. Instead of the private all girl school she is used to she now attends a public school. No one wants to be her friend because of her upper class background. And she doesn’t want to keep her old friends from her private school because they now look down upon her for being poor;  even though one, Grace, keeps calling to talk to her.

Then one day a boy from her school, Tom,  suddenly goes missing. Her father is hired to track the young man down. Iris decides to secretly help her father’s investigation out by infiltrating Tom’s gang of friends, who are called the Rainbows because they wear zoot suits and like to dance in Harlem.

But can she live with the lies she must tell to her would be friends? Will she be able to deal with the classism,  racism, and bigotry that her new friends endure everyday? Can Iris help find one boy in a world where young men are killed everyday in a horrendous war?

The Girl is Murder is a good mystery novel that captures a place and time extremely well. There is lots of Fifties era lingo and Iris is a compelling character who is discovering who she really is while dealing with a horrible loss. Plus the novel leaves open the possibility of a sequel or a series. Recommended to mystery and historical fiction fans. The book is appropriate for ages 14 and up.