True crime stories and murder mysteries are both popular with young readers, and Norah McClintock successfully pairs the two genres here. Part novel, part non-fiction, this book takes its readers through each step of a (fictional) murder investigation, from the discovery of the body to the sentencing of the murderer.

Chris, the narrator of this drama, has gone to visit his Uncle Joe, a police officer, in his isolated cabin. During a heavy snowstorm, the power goes out and the two are snowed in. Searching by flashlight for matches, Chris spots a newspaper clipping about the death of children’s writer Edwin Scarr. Intrigued, Chris gets his uncle to tell him the story behind this suspicious death. Between trips to the woodpile and stops for dinner, Joe introduces the people, methodologies, and processes that come into play once a body is found. Just as Uncle Joe concludes his narrative, the snowplow arrives to dig them out.

McClintock, a popular and award-winning mystery novelist, is well qualified to pen this tale.While I found the “shell” narrative thin, with some niggling unresolved elements, McClintock’s explanations of the investigative process are thorough and well researched, yet easy to understand. Her clinical style informs without shocking, even as she describes the more gruesome elements. The book includes checklists and drawings, as well as an introduction, index, and endnotes that provide a more scholarly context. By combining an engaging narrative with an accessible guide to a complex and fascinating process, McClintock will more than satisfy readers of both detective novels and non-fiction.