4 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.

True crime podcasts are very popular. The cold case kind where listeners and the podcasters attempt to bring new light to an old case. This is what Cam is thinking when she hatches the plan for creating a podcast with her best friend Blair about a girl who went missing from their town twenty years ago.

Impulsive Cam doesn’t stop to think of the consequences of reopening old wounds in a small town, but Blair does. Still, Blair wants to write, and her writing will be the basis of this podcast. Plus, Cam is her best friend, so how can she say no?

Along the way Cam and Blair are going to learn a few things about themselves, all while dredging up a past most want to forget. Sometimes opening old wounds gives you a chance to clean them out and heal. And maybe find justice for a girl named Clarissa who just wanted a chance to be herself.

I really enjoyed this book. Teenage girls can be utterly impulsive and self-centered, which this book clearly brings out. You can almost imagine Cam and her inability to see why she offends and upsets others. It has definite elements of suspense and intrigue. Cam and Blair have depth. Would absolutely recommend. While this is a YA novel, it can appeal to those of all ages.

It’s been over 20 years since Clarissa Campbell went missing from a high school party in the Washington woods, never to be seen again. Her disappearance made national news and inspired conspiracy theories far and wide, but no one ever found Clarissa, dead or alive. When unlikely best friends Blair and Cam join a Media Studies class, they decide to create a podcast covering the high school senior who vanished from their hometown years ago. Cam in particular is not only fixated on figuring out who Clarissa was, but on solving the case and revealing exactly what happened to her.

Of course, diving into a cold case and dredging up strangers’ dark pasts doesn’t go over well with everyone. There are plenty of good suspects, from Clarissa’s parents to her cruel ex-boyfriend to a former high school teacher, but as the theories and accusations fly on a podcast that’s quickly gaining an audience, Blair and Cam find themselves in a wild dilemma that threatens their friendship— and their lives.

This is a perfectly good "true crime researchers get caught up in solving the crime and personally pay the price" narrative. I don’t think it adds much to the genre but it was a quick, fun read. Comparisons to A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder are apt because the two follow a pretty similar through line, but AGGGTM had a more layered plot and stronger characters, in my opinion. I also struggle with the way both books have teenagers recording and editing perfectly curated podcasts that receive almost instantaneous, chart-topping success, BUT I DIGRESS. I did appreciate the way this book discussed the prison system and the fact that it doesn’t actually exist to help anyone, but the topic wasn’t addressed in a way that felt natural at all— It was clear preaching that actually pulled me out of the story.

Blair and Cam are both decent characters, described as being friends despite being very different. Blair is relatively well-off, proper, and a people-pleaser while Cam comes from lesser means and is more boisterous and socially awkward. Blair has a (terrible) long-term boyfriend and Cam can barely look at her crush. They are presented as very different because of this, but when you dive into the point-of-view from which this novel is told…

WHEW, the POV is a mess. Third person present-tense with dual narrators whose voices switch off multiple times in the same chapter and don't differ nearly enough, despite the characters constantly talking and thinking about how very different they are. Yes, they lead different lives, but the character voices just weren’t distinctive and that caused a lot of confusion. This alone dropped down my overall rating. The characters and their dialogue just didn’t feel distinct and natural.

Missing Clarissa is a good true crime thriller, but perhaps not a particularly memorable one.

Everyone loves a dead girl.

Thank you to #netgalley and @stmartinspress for this #arc 👍🏻

Synopsis:
In August of 1999, popular cheerleader Clarissa Campbell disappears from a party in rural Oreville, WA and is never seen again. The police question her friends, teachers, and the adults who knew her—who all have something to hide. And thanks to Clarissa’s beauty, the mystery captures the attention of the nation. But with no leads and no body, the case soon grows cold. Despite the efforts of internet sleuths and true-crime aficionados, Clarissa is never found—dead or alive.

Over twenty years later, Oreville high-school juniors and best friends Blair and Cameron start a true crime podcast, determined to unravel the story of what—or who—happened to this rural urban legend. In the process they uncover a nest of dirty small-town secrets, the sordid truth of Clarissa’s relationship with her charismatic boyfriend, and a high school art teacher turned small-town figurehead who had a very good reason for wanting Clarissa dead. Such a good reason, in fact, that they might have to make him the highlight of their next episode…

But does an ugly history with a missing girl make him guilty of murder? Or are two teenage girls about to destroy the life of an innocent man—and help the true killer walk free?

My thoughts:
My one and only complaint was this line: "No, silly. I want you to look at me like that for the rest of our lives."

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

High-school-to-forever love stories just don't wash with me. And, yes, I understand that it's a #ya book, but still 😆

BUT everything else about this #yathriller was spot on. Everyone had something to hide, but who was hiding the murder kept me guessing until the end. The two main characters are realistic and relatable. The reminders of a better, simpler time (the 90s 😜) were super fun. I loved it! A definite must read for fans of One of Us is Lying or A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.

Thank you to Ripley Jones, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of a digital advanced reviewer copy in exchange for an honest review!

Quick read. Teenage podcast detectives. Decades old disappearance

This book follows present day Cam and Blair who are tasked with a creative journalism project, which they decide to create a podcast about Clarissa Campbell, who disappeared in 1999 without a trace. At first, they don't take the project seriously and begin to hurt their interviewees that Clarissa left behind. After a couple leads, they take on the role of detectives to figure out what happened to Clarissa twenty years ago and get in way over their heads. What really happened to Clarissa in 1999?

This is a good YA read. With that being said, I feel that there were a lot of missed opportunities in this book that could have made it even better. I feel like this is the perfect novel to present a dual POV between the present Cam & Blair and the past of Clarissa. I felt very disconnected from Clarissa throughout the book because there was no character development, other than what was said about her from other characters. The end felt super rushed and it gave the feel that it was written by a completely different person. I felt a little let down by that last chapter.

I was very intrigued by this synopsis as it was a mystery about a missing girl from years ago featuring a podcast element. It reminded me a lot of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder so if you enjoyed that book, I think you would like this one as well. I understand 100% what the author was trying to do in this book but I feel like they tried to tackle too many different topics in one book and none of it was full fleshed out. If we would have tackled one topic, I think it would have hit better. I did enjoy the podcast aspect of the book. I did enjoy the mystery and the plot twist and I will be picking up another book by this author. 3.5 stars.

**Thank you to NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy. All opinions are my own.**

3.5 ⭐️‘s
In Ripley Jones debut novel, best friends Cameron and Blair are teaming up on a high school Journalism project. They have chosen to do a true crime podcast about Clarissa Campbell, a teen that went missing in the small town of Oreville, Washington twenty years ago. Clarissa vanished without a trace and Cameron is convinced that their podcast will finally solve the mystery of Clarissa’s disappearance. Cameron and Blair, being non threatening, are able to question those closest to Clarissa and tread where others only found closed doors. Clarissa has been put on a pedestal, but she wasn’t quite as sweet as everyone believed her to be. The podcast soon has a following and Cameron is willing to break all the rules to find justice for Clarissa, even if she puts herself and those she loves in danger. Cameron was a truly delightful character, brilliant, but socially awkward, the situations she got herself into had me laughing out loud in some instances and in others telling her to run! Looking forward to more from Jones! Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones
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Cam and Blair need a project for their journalism class and they have decided to do a pdocast about a missing persons cold case in their town. Teen Clarissa Campbell disappeared from a party one night and has been missing for 20 years.
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-I love that Cam started the podcast just to get a good grade, but is quickly drawn into the mystery of what happened to Clarissa.
-Cam and Blair’s friendship was a great part of the story. They had each others backs through this.
-I really liked Sophie’s character and her thirst for real justice.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was a lot of fun to read, fast-paced and enjoyable, yet with some great truth-bombs thrown in. Well done.

"Missing Clarissa" by Ripley Jones is a mystery novel that tells the story of a young woman named Clarissa who mysteriously disappeared in 1999 and the two modern day students who seemingly abruptly start a podcast to find out what happened. I struggled to connect with the characters voice in this one, perhaps it was a bit younger YA than I thought. Otherwise I liked the characters and podcast elements and the sense of mystery.

In August of 1999, a high school golden girl goes missing after a "woods party" in small-town Washington State. Because she's white and beautiful, the story goes national. Her football star boyfriend suffers as the main suspect. Despite everyone's best efforts, Clarissa is never found, dead, or alive.

More than 20 years later, Grade 11 students Blair and Cam decide to try a true crime podcast about their hometown legend, not realizing how close to home things might come, and who might not want the story stirred up.

So.....echoes of Good Girl's Guide to Murder, right? I thought so, too, to the point that I may have rolled my eyes and put the book down. I am so very glad I went back to it. The characters here are drawn better. The relationships around Cam and Blair are really important, as well as the one between them. Cam's single mom, Reenie, is a firecracker of a character, and I really appreciated her gradual entrance into the modern story. There are all sorts of red herrings, but there is also some important intersectionality. One of the threads here is about the coverage that Clarissa's death gets, when there are many missing and murdered Indigenous women in the Pacific Northwest. There's a great moment when Cam asks another character exactly which tribe's spiritual practice they are appropriating at their high-end retreat. And of course, there is the presence of a First Nation with a sign indicating that no vampires are allowed on their lands. (It is the Pacific Northwest, people).
In short, this is fun, snarky and charming and a pretty good mystery to boot, but also manages to ask some important questions and make you think. My favourite kind of read.
This comes out March 7. Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the e-arc.

2.5/3 stars (rounded up to 3 on here)

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the Advanced Copy in exchange for an honest review!

The synopsis of this book really brought me in and it sounded like it was going to be such a good book! It had everything that I usually love, YA Mystery/thriller, true crime in a podcast, LGBTQ rep; however, this one was just not for me. It took me forever to read it and it was just so difficult to connect with any of the characters. Cam is an annoying character who just bulldozes ahead without thinking of any of the consequences. I understand that podcasts are a popular thing, but to go on and post a podcast without the approval of your co person and to get your family into legal trouble by posting without thinking of the consequences was just too juvenile for me. Another part that took away from the book was the long chapters. Like I’m talking 20-30 minute chapters that just felt like they dragged on. I understand how the author was trying to separate the chapters by podcast episodes; however I feel like there might have been a better way to do that instead of dragging the chapters along.

What starts as a high school class assignment becomes much more as best friends Cameron Munoz and Blair Johnson make a podcast delving into the disappearance of a popular local teen, Clarissa Campbell, over 20 years earlier.

Everyone knows everyone in small town Oreville, Washington, and the fact that Clarissa Campbell's case is still unsolved after all these years doesn't sit well with residents. Of course, there are also those happy that it's long gone cold.

I realize that I'm not part of the target audience, but I found this read lacking for several reasons:
- In general, everything is overdrawn.
- Characters are painted with a broad brush and are very stereotypical.
- It's not realistic that people would spill their souls and secrets to two teenage girls.
- The author tries to hit on too many social issues and doesn't do justice to any of them. Among those covered are race, sexuality, police bashing, and unethical/immoral educators. The author repeatedly makes the same point with each just in case you missed it the first few times.

My thanks to Wednesday Books for granting me access to a DRC via NetGalley. The novel is scheduled to be published 3/7/23. All opinions stated in this review are my own and are freely given.

Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones

Published: March 7, 2023
Wednesday Books
Genre: YA Thriller
Pages: 249
KKECReads Rating: 5/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Ripley Jones is a person of interest.

“Everybody loves a dead girl.”

Cam and Blair are best friends and have been for years. When Cam suggests they create a podcast investigating a 20-year-old case, Blair isn’t sure but knows arguing with Cam will only waste her time. But the deeper they probe, the murkier the water gets. And now, they may find themselves alone with a killer.

This book was excellent! Very intense and fast-paced. I enjoyed the build-up and how the story was told. Ripley is a gifted storyteller.

I loved Cam. She is so endearing. I loved that she was so bright, that she was awkward, and that most people misunderstood her. Blair was a stereotypical tee aw girl. Insecure and filled with self-doubt. But together, they brought out the best in each other.

This was a powerful story about friendship, family, and overcoming being told no or you can’t. I found the themes of this book excellent and relevant.

This fast-paced story takes off and builds intensity with each page. The free fall toward the end was so beautifully executed. The way everything came together was so seamless and smooth. But the facts had all been there.

This was such a well-written book. Ripley Jones has earned herself a new fan.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones in exchange for an honest review. This was a gripping cold case story. I really enjoyed the mystery and was pulled in from the very beginning.

If you're a fan of A Good Girls Guide To Murder then pick up Missing Clarissa. It's and intriguing YA murder mystery with good bones. The writting style was captivating and so was the mystery at hand. It had a few stumbles but the reveal was satidfying and worth the time invested.

I found this to be a quick, thrilling read. I love true crime podcasts and books centering around true crime podcasts. I wish that there was more of the podcast in the book but overall it was still an enjoyable read.

I have tried to read this one a few times. I finally pushed through today and this book just didn't really work for me.
I can tell the narrative stile of alternating between characters' thoughts without it being very clear will be an issue for my high school readers. I found it difficult to connect with any of the characters in depth and for the first half or more CAM is particularly annoying. I can possibly see the authors attempt at presenting her this way but in the end I don't want to spend time analyzing an author's choice instead of absorbing the other details and mysteries in the book.
Bummer - our sophomore English classes record pod casts as an assignment so I loved the hook of this one being centered on two student pod casters.
Thanks so much for the ARC!

This was adorable. Can mysteries and detective-esque stories about a girl gone missing be called adorable? Yes, because when have I ever cared about convention?

Missing Clarissa has a story centered around Clarissa Campbell, a girl missing since 1999 when she was seventeen. Because no body was ever found, no crime can be proven and no charges were ever filed — but that has not stopped the story and investigation around Clarissa's disappearance to turn into the stuff of local legend.

Cameron Muñoz and Blair Johnson are assigned a project in their Journalism class — and they've decided on creating a podcast documenting their own investigation to see what happened to missing Clarissa.

Jones has worked up a story that brought up so much nostalgia for me when I was a younger reader. Her narrative, her characters, and her mystery were all very on par with The Nancy Drew Files, the 1986 reboot of the original series, but one that came with a heightened sense of danger, bigger adventures, and more romance. I began devouring that series when I was in fourth grade and can still (decades later) remember scenes from many of those books, name or recognize the titles, and imagine the covers.

The mystery is pretty easy to solve (I named the killer from the moment that person was mentioned in the text), but like so many other mysteries . . . the enjoyment comes from following this crew of amateur detectives around as they figure it out themselves. Jones has a great cast of characters, and is especially brilliant with her two main characters, Cam and Blair. These two young woman are not only believable, but they display (along with a few others) that particular way of existing only sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds can inhabit. I loved the passion and the vibrancy injected into these teens. And likewise, the adults were well developed in their own right. I loved the hesitancy, the weariness, and the fierceness in many of the adults in Cam's and Blair's lives.

The pacing is delightfully brisk, the writing is easy but intelligent, which can be a difficult balance. The narrative took an interesting angle with point of view and distance from the narrator — who was mainly zooming in and out of the two key characters with a lively omniscience. But, as the story progressed and the mystery opened up, Jones played around even more and allowed the helicoptering POV to land on many of the people Cam and Blair met along the way. This was a brilliant angle on adding in the cinematic element without losing momentum. This was a really fun and charming YA mystery, and I hope to see more from Jones in the future.

MISSING CLARISSA was a quick and entertaining read for me! I was super invested in figuring out what happened to Clarissa.

The only thing I didn’t like was that this book is about a Podcast called Missing Clarissa but there was barely any of the podcast format in the book which was disappointing.

There was a lot about this book that I could nitpick and there were definitely some points that could have been flushed out better but I just took it how it is and I enjoyed it!

Twenty years ago while at a high school party in the woods, Clarissa Campbell disappears. No body, no blood, no sign of her or what could have happened that night.

Fast forward to the present, high schoolers Blair and Cameron decide to make a podcast called Missing Clarissa. They interview those close to Clarissa and research, attempting to solve this long cold case. But what started as a journalism project quickly escalates to more.

This was a really enjoyable book, and at less than 250 pages with a fast pace it was also a quick read.

It seems like podcast centered books are becoming more common and I’m here for it. I wish this one had been formatted a little differently but I was still happy that we got snippets of their podcast throughout the chapters. It was a pretty good balance of showing the podcast while also following the girls as they investigated.

The mystery itself was engaging and had a nice build up. Even though I had figured it out it was still well done and I enjoyed seeing it play out.

But what really made this book for me was Cam and Blair. Cam is my favorite type of lovable weirdo, she’s intelligent and loyal but socially awkward. While Blair was more the “people person” with an abundance of patience and kindness. They balanced each other while also appreciating what they each brought to the table. Their friendship and dynamic was so fun to read!

Overall this was a great debut and I can’t wait for more from Ripley!

The setting of MISSING CLARISSA, the small town of Oreville, is my favorite aspect of the book. I think it accurately captures the highs and lows of small-town life, where everyone knows your business but also cares about you.

This aspect of small-town life can occasionally be overdone in stories and turn into a bit of a caricature. However, Oreville seems familiar and plausible.