Besties Cam and Blair have teamed up to work on their high school journalism project together. Cam has the brilliant idea of creating a true crime podcast based on the disappearance of Clarissa Campbell from 20 years ago. Blair doesn't take Cam too seriously at first but as the girls start asking questions and digging deeper, they find that there are plenty of secrets buried from the past that hold clues to Clarissa's disappearance. The problem is: how far will Cam go to find the truth?

This is a YA novel with all the teenage angst of friendship, boyfriend and girlfriend problems and teenage insecurity. What was hard for me to believe (as an adult) was how 2 teenage girls were able to get adults to not only agree to speak to them but also let them interview them about the events from 20 years ago. But teens will likely enjoy this fast paced murder story.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this early review copy. The book will be available on 3/7/23.

A good, fast true crime-y read. The MCs were grating, though, yeah, they're teenage girls. Plot felt like it lacked cohesion. Still fairly gripping.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

Missing Clarissa
Ripley Jones
4⭐️

Blurb: In August of 1999, dazzlingly popular cheerleader Clarissa Campbell disappears from a party in the woods outside the rural town of Oreville, Washington and is never seen againOver 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.

“Everybody loves a dead girl.”

What a fun, fast paced, thrilling read this was. I don’t read a ton of YA but this definitely made me want to read more. It’s shorter (<300 pages) so it was the perfect one day binge read. Good thing, cause I didn’t want to put it down until I knew whodunnit. I loved the small town setting, and all of the secrets it held. I thought the story and the characters were well written. Everything was paced just right to keep me engaged and the pages effortlessly turning. I loved that it had me literally guessing (wrong) to the very end.

What I enjoyed;
🔎 Twisty YA Thriller/Mystery
🔎 True Crime/Podcast
🔎 Bestie Detectives
🔎 LGBTQ Rep

Pub Date: 3/7/23 - Missing Clarissa was a solid debut that I think will appeal to not only YA readers but some thriller/mystery readers as well.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

"Perfect for fans of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, Ripley Jones's Missing Clarissa is a gripping novel about two friends who start a true crime podcast - with dangerous consequences.

In August of 1999, dazzlingly popular cheerleader Clarissa Campbell disappears from a party in the woods outside the rural town of Oreville, Washington 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?"

Fictional true crime is my new jam because I get the true crime aspect but I am also guaranteed a solution.

Happy publication day to Ripley Jones and their debut novel, Missing Clarissa! 3/5 stars

In the summer of 1999 student, Clarissa, goes missing. She is presumed murdered, but has never been found. Twenty years later, students at her alma mater decide to start a podcast for their journalism class assignment, trying to uncover what happened to Clarissa.

Cam and Blair are opposites, but best friends. I really liked how the author put Cam and Blair into discovering what happened, but not only that, but encountering how other people were feeling about Clarissa's disappearance. For both girls the podcast becomes more than an assignment, it becomes a matter of justice and knowing what happened to give closure to everyone in Clarissa's life. I thought the author did a great job writing this. I found that both main characters read a little young. I think they were supposed to be 16 years old, and while some decisions they made seemed 16 years old, some were totally impulsive and not 16 at all.

The one thing I did struggle with in this book was the way it was laid out. The chapters are by podcast episode, but I think it could have done with perhaps sections being podcast episodes, with smaller chapters. I also think some mixed media could have been worked in, especially with the podcast aspect. I would also be interested in hearing the audiobook of this, and if there is a cast of characters.

Overall, this was a good debut novel by Ripley Jones. If you are a fan of books like A Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson, this one would be a good choice for you! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.

This book is about 2 friends who start a true crime podcast determined to discover who killed Clarissa 20 years ago.
The characters were believable (snotty teenagers) but annoying. I believe this book is better suited for young teenage girls. A lot of the storyline was unbelievable for someone my age.

Admittedly, I don't know how I feel about this book. It follows two high school girls Blair and Cam (are they 16 or 18? I have no idea, but one page says they're 18 the next is 16), and their podcast into the disappearance of Clarissa Campbell.
A gripping thriller that had me desperately wanting answers. However, I found myself kind of disappointed with how it unraveled? It just felt like there should've been something more. I also found Cam, really annoying, far too impulsive for her own good and then wouldn't understand why her behaviour was wrong.
Premise and the thriller aspect of this was great, execution was also great until we got to the end reveal, maybe I would've liked it more with foreshadowing, or better pacing. Anyway, 3.5, maybe a 3.


Thank you Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a sucker for a YA mystery, and I loved A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, so I was really looking forward to reading another YA mystery that took the podcast form. However, I found this book to be very disappointing. The set up was great and the cast of characters were compelling, but there were just a few things I was unable to look past.

For one, I don't think anyone who worked on this book has ever tried to put together a podcast or anything. It felt really unrealistic that they were able to record and release episodes as the story unfolded rather than plan it out and have it be good enough that there were so many people listening to it.

I also found it incredibly unbelieveable that characters would be sharing such personal information with two random high school girls. If this mystery has been a part of the town for as long as it has and everyone is as obsessed with it as they were, it doesn't make sense that they were the only people to actually solve it. Wouldn't other people on the forums or in the town have come up with the same theories as they had and found the same information? It just didn't really makes sense to me; they weren't bringing anything new to the table, yet they were the ones that solved the mystery.

It was well-written and had a good concept, I just found that the execution fell flat.

Was super excited to read this one based off of the synopsis, and I was not disappointed! Definitely for fans of a Good Girl's Guide to Murder and Truly Devious.

Missing Clarissa follows two besties that start a podcast for a journalism assignment and focus on a cheerleader that disappeared from a party a few decades ago.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to listening to the audiobook when that is released!

I initially wanted to read this because of the podcast element. I just love that aspect of most books because I think its unique. This book was so well written and kept me guessing from the beginning to end. Will pick up more from this author for sure.

A great mixed media horror. Two highschool best friends decide to delve into the cold case of a missing senior from the 90s for a journalism project. They decide to break into podcasting, thinking it will be easy enough. It does not go as planned. One aspect I really liked was that the adult figures in their lives (parents, teachers) had been the same age as Clarissa when she went missing so there is a hole added dimension to the mystery and gives the girls a personal stake in the missing persons case. I really like it and I can't wait to buy a copy for my students. They are loving murder mysteries right now!

A knockout. The characterization was clever and drew me in to the story.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

What a ride! An unexpectedly complex YA thriller that tackles multiple issues while still delivering the promised psychological thrills. Four star story with an extra half star rounded up for the woke.

Missing Clarissa is a YA for all the Crime Junkies who want to start their own true crime podcast about a case in their town. It comes out March 7, 2023!

Missing Clarissa follows high school students and friends who decide to do a true crime podcast for their journalism class. Their town's most famous case about Clarissa who went missing at a party in high school over 20 years ago. This book was on the shorter side, at 256 pages, and I think that worked against it. I didn't feel like there was enough time to properly tell the story. The ending had a lot of action and I liked how it all came together but the beginning seemed a little haphazard. Being a Crime Junkie myself, I was internally screaming at these high school girls not to do dumb things trying to solve a crime. It's a quicker read for those who think they can solve their town's most famous disappearance!

Thank you to the author Ripley Jones, publishers Wednesday Books and St. Martin's Publishing Group, and as always NetGalley, for a review digital copy of MISSING CLARISSA.

Cam and Blair are two high school journalism students who decide to fulfill their semester project by establishing a true crime podcast researching the local murder mystery: who killed high school student Clarissa Campbell 20 years ago when their parents were students. They question everyone they can think of, everyone who will talk to them, all the old suspects. That going among murder suspects might mean getting murdered never enters into the girls' calculations...

This is a shorter read with a fast pace and a smooth narrative line. It's an enjoyable thriller with a gripping premise. The one place I thought it needed a bit more was in foreshadowing. I didn't guess who the killer was, which happens; but when he was revealed, I had to backtrack and reread to figure out who the character was because his page time didn'tmakr enough impact.

My favorite thing about MISSING CLARISSA is the setting, the small town of Oreville, which I think is an accurate representation of the ups and downs of small town life-- everyone cares about you, but everyone also knows your business. Sometimes this element can get a little out of hand in books and become a bit of a caricature of small town life. But Oreville is believable and feels familiar.

Rating: 🎙🎙🎙.5 / 5 podcast episodes
Recommend? Yes
Finished: January 31 2023
Read this book if you like:
😬 YA thrillers
🔪 Murder mysteries
👭🏻 Best friends
🙍‍♀️ Young detectives
🎚 Podcasts
🗞 Journalism

I like how this book is constructed - the girls have a Journalism assignment at school and they decided to do a podcast on a solved mystery disappearance that took place several years before. The book itself intercalate their story - come of age, typical YA stuff - with their attempt to crack the case and make the podcast. I like that there’s a bit of suspense to it, but at the end of the day it’s a YA book about two teenagers.

Clarissa has been missing for 20 years. Nothing is known about her disappearance other then she went to a party and never made it home. Her place in Oreville is marked in history. No one will ever forget the beautiful teen cheerleader and her tragic story. So when Blair and Cameron are asked to research a project for their journalism class, Cameron comes up with the crazy idea of doing a podcast on what really happened to Clarissa. While the police believe one story that they were never able to prove, the clues that Blair and Camron are able to uncover start to tell a very different story. Will they be able to uncover what really happened all those years ago, or will they die trying.
This is such a fun fast-paced book. I will say that I didn’t have any idea who the real killer was until right at the end of the book. It is quite fun to not know the ending. The fact that there is a bit of a twist right at the end to was the cherry on top of this fun case. Teen’s are going to love finding out what really happened to Clarissa. I think this book also does a lovely job showing that everyone is human and even after death while others might place someone on a pedestal, there is always another side to the story.
Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Ripley Jones for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Missing Clarissa coming out March 7, 2023. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

In the summer of 1999, high school cheerleader Clarissa Campbell is having the time of her life. She lives in the rural town of Oreville, Washington. She’s beautiful and popular. During a party in the woods, Clarissa disappears and is never seen again. The police question her friends, teachers, and everyone who knew her. They all have something to hide. And thanks to Clarissa’s popularity, the mystery captures the attention of the media. After a time, there no new leads and no body. Soon the case soon grows cold. Despite the efforts of internet sleuths and true-crime junkies, Clarissa is never found. 

Over twenty years later, Oreville high school juniors and best friends Blair and Cameron start a podcast to discuss Clarissa’s disappearance. They’re determined to find out the truth. In their amateur detective investigation they uncover a nest of dirty secrets, the dark truth of Clarissa’s relationship with her boyfriend, and a high school art teacher who had a very good reason for wanting Clarissa dead.

But does a mysterious 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 killer live free?

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I loved that part of it was set in the late 90s. True crime podcasts seem to be popular among women nowadays. I get wanting to solve cases from the past. And cases have actually been solved thanks to new technology in crime investigation. I thought the writing was fast-paced and I enjoyed the writing format. There were a couple things I didn’t like about the story. I thought Cam didn’t think things through many times. She didn’t learn from her mistakes and put herself in danger when she could’ve gotten help. But I’m glad things worked out in the end.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys YA fiction and murder podcasts.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This novel is a Suspense/Thriller for young adults, high school and older. Readers who loved A Good Girl's Guide to Murder will enjoy this story set in a small town in Washington.
Two high school junior best friends, Blair and Cameron, decide to create a podcast of solving a 20-year-old unsolved missing person case of beautiful high school cheerleader, Clarissa Campbell, who disappeared from a wooded party, without a trace.
The friendship undergoes challenges, including Cameron's impulsiveness and Blair's feelings of inferiority, but shows the wonder of what a good friendship is.
The teens show their youth in their decision making as their investigation progresses and danger follows them. Side characters, Cameron's Mom Irene, Clarissa's high school boyfriend Brad, and high school journalism teacher Mr. Park are interesting.
There are real life issues that are covered and would make this a good book club book.