The day Harley got his learner’s permit, he convinced his dad to let him drive. It’s a day Harley will never forget. A big rig jackknifed on the highway, there was a crash, and his dad died. Harley’s had a tough time. After days in a coma, a nervous breakdown, and time in a hospital under psychiatric care, Harley believes, as everyone else seems to, that the crash was an accident. It’s only after he returns home and begins to see his father’s ghost claiming he was murdered that Harley begins to question things. (And yes, there are echoes of Hamlet here.)

Password: Murder’s title, cover photo (a bottle of spilled pills), and cover teaser (“Someone knows what really happened to Harley’s father…”) will appeal to young mystery fans. Author Norah McClintock, winner of two Arthur Ellis awards for crime fiction, provides a good read but, for a mystery, the story is light on plotting and physical action. The real strengths of this book are its portrayals of Harley and his friend, Rat, and of Harley’s psychological mending and Rat’s unconditional friendship.

McClintock is a highly readable writer. She builds effective tension around Harley’s mental health, his return home, his mother’s remarriage to his father’s business partner and friend, and his father’s spectral visits. As a mystery, the tale has few suspects, the red herrings are flimsy, and Harley’s willingness to forgive his father’s business partner at the end seems unbelievable even to Rat. However, as a story of injury, guilt, recovery, and relationships, framed by a mystery, Password: Murder is worth its paperback price.