Panel: Whodunit: Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem

Diana Peterfreund is the author of 13 books for adults, teens, and children, including the Secret Society Girl series, the Killer Unicorn series, For Darkness Shows the Stars, and Omega City. She also contributed to the non-fiction anthologies, Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume, edited by Jennifer O’Connell, The World of the Golden Compass, edited by Scott Westerfeld, and Through the Wardrobe, edited by Herbie Brennan. She has been a costume designer, a cover model, and a food critic. Her travels have taken her from the cloud forests of Costa Rica to the underground caverns of New Zealand — and as far as she’s concerned, she’s just getting started. In the Study with the Wrench (Harry N. Abrams) is the third book in the Clue Mystery Series inspired by the classic board game CLUE. In the aftermath of Headmaster Boddy’s murder, Blackbrook Academy has been thrown into complete disarray. Half the student body hasn’t bothered to return to campus—but those who have include Orchid, Vaughn, Scarlett, Peacock, Plum, and Mustard, now referred to by the other students as the Murder Crew. When another staff member is found dead and an anonymous threat begins to target the group. Now each of the teen’s opportunistic reasons for sticking around come to light and all comes to a head at Tudor House.

Oline H. Cogdill reviews mystery fiction for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Tribune Publishing Wire, Publishers Weekly, Shelf Awareness, Associated Press, and Mystery Scene magazine. Her mystery fiction reviews appear in more than 300 publications worldwide. She has received the 2013 Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America, the 1997 Sun Sentinel’s Pettijohn Award and the 1999 Ellen Nehr Award by the American Crime Writers League. Oline is a judge for the 2020 and 2021 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the mystery/thriller category.  

Jennifer Lynn Barnes is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty young adult novels, including Little White Lies, Deadly Little Scandals, The Lovely and the Lost, and The Naturals series: The Naturals, Killer Instinct, All In, Bad Blood, and the e-novella, Twelve. In The Inheritance Games (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) follow the strange story of Avery Grambs. She has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But then, billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why, or even who, Tobias Hawthorne is. To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into the sprawling Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man’s touch and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes his four grandsons, brilliant and dangerous boys who grew up with every expectation of inheriting billions. Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a conwoman, and he’s determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather’s last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive. Katharine McGee, New York Times bestselling author of American Royals, called it “A thrilling blend of family secrets, illicit romance and high-stakes treasure