l to r: Mariko Tamaki and Nicole Goux

Being the new kid at school is hard, especially at all-girls boarding school Wilberton, where Abby Kita has been sent in the wake of a personal indiscretion. And though the rumours about her past have set all of Wilberton’s tongues wagging, her old problems don’t compare to the fresh scandal that Abby’s about to uncover at her new school.

Governor General’s Award–nominated and Eisner-winning writer Mariko Tamaki teams up with Eisner-nominated U.S. illustrator Nicole Goux in this latest single-volume YA graphic novel from Abrams Fanfare. This Place Kills Me is a taut page-turner for fans of high school intrigue, unsanctioned sleuthing, and deadly secrets.

Tamaki’s career has demonstrated her broad range as a storyteller, from thoughtful literary works like 2008’s Skim to mass-market superhero stories, including her 2016 runs on Supergirl and She-Hulk. This Place Kills Me – like her 2019 YA hit Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me – is situated firmly between literary and popular modes, incorporating serious themes within a compellingly brisk high school mystery.

Illustration: Nicole Goux.

This Place begins with a triumphant opening night for Wilberton’s production of Romeo and Juliet, starring some of the most popular girls in school. But as the applause fades and the after-party winds down, Tamaki and Goux deftly sketch out the tense networks of relationships and rivalries characteristic of much realistic YA fiction. The next morning, when the girl who played Juliet turns up dead, those relationships and rivalries go into overdrive as Abby, something of an outcast, starts digging around to get to the bottom of events in this twisty whodunit.

As Abby delves ever deeper into her new school’s secrets, there are expertly crafted moments of revelation – about the murder, but also about the lives and changeable friendships of Wilberton’s denizens. Goux’s two-colour illustrations present a stylized, highly designed world with a retro flair appropriate to the late-’80s setting of the book. With pleasingly solid, almost geometric character designs and very considered, decorative layouts and sound effects, the art of This Place Kills Me simultaneously mirrors the pretty superficialities and the murkier depths of the lives (and occasional untimely deaths) of its cast.

Tamaki and Goux’s exceptional storytelling will appeal to teen and adult readers alike. And the verve of this stellar script, alongside the striking stylishness of the art, will ensure that This Place Kills Me attracts readers and fans well beyond typical YA and mystery readers.