She’s also an award-winning reporter for her school newspaper, and, while on what should be a routine assignment covering the new football stadium, Millie becomes embroiled in a story that will rock her entire world…

In Buzz Kill, readers meet Millie Ostermeyer, a seventeen-year-old who eats like a trucker, is the only member of her school’s Philosophy Club, wears ironic t-shirts that nobody gets, and has a somewhat loose relationship with rules and authority. Unlike Fantaskey’s other stories, this newest read has no supernatural elements, but it does introduce us to a strong, relatable, female protagonist. I’m happy to say that the book lived up to my expectations. So, when Goodreads gave me the chance to read an ARC of this author’s latest novel, Buzz Kill, I was pretty stoked. Since then, I’ve read a few other works by Fantaskey: Jessica Rules the Dark Side, Jekel Loves Hyde, and The Wedding of Antanasia Jessica Packwood and Lucius Valeriu Vladescu (a short story published on the author’s website).

Agent: Helen Breitwieser, Cornerstone Literary.I first became a fan of Beth Fantaskey’s work a few years ago when I read Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side. It’s easy to get swept up in the buildup to the exciting final confrontation. A quirky cast and Millie’s quasi-bumbling antics make Fantaskey’s ( Jekel Loves Hyde) murder mystery a breezy and thoroughly entertaining read. Bright, underachieving Millie is an offbeat and frequently hilarious narrator after a falling-out with her favorite librarian, a heartbroken Millie huffs, “From now on, I’ll be using the school library.” (Aside from cracking the case, Millie’s primary ambitions are to win a local steak-eating contest and “to backpack around the world after high school. Millie is joined in her amateur sleuthing by handsome, enigmatic quarterback Chase Albright while Millie is attracted to him (or at least to his amazing vocabulary), she discovers secrets about his past, too. She has several motivations, including beating out her nemesis-cheerleader/newspaper editor Viv Fitch-and clearing the name of her own father, the team’s assistant coach and the number-one suspect. After 17-year-old Millie Ostermeyer discovers the body of none-too-popular football coach “Hollerin’ Hank” Killdare, the student reporter decides to investigate his murder.

Buzzkill beth fantaskey