The Other Lola by Ripley Jones
Following the success of solving what happened to Clarissa Campbell, a girl who went missing in 1999, teens Cameron Muñoz and Blair Johnson are dealt the harsher negative side to true crime fame. From death threats to lawsuits, the two and their families and friends have been swimming against the current in the wake of their explosive discovery. They’ve sworn off detective work.
Until…a freshman at their high school shows up out of the blue to ask for their help. Five years ago, Mattie Brosillard’s older sister Lola mysteriously disappeared. Largely presumed to simply be Lola running away again, not much effort was spent looking for her. But, even more mysteriously, Lola has suddenly returned home with a story of having been kidnapped. While their mother and Lola’s twin brother accept this, Mattie is positive the girl isn’t actually Lola but rather an imposter. Hoping to reveal the fraud and figure out the fate of their sister, Mattie begs Cam and Blair to help them.
One thing that I really liked about this sequel was that Jones didn’t do the typical thing of only allowing a few months to have passed — it’s their next school year and the two are gearing up to enter the next stage in their lives: college, moving, and career paths ahead. You can feel these two at the edge of childhood.
Another element I really liked was the fact that there is a tremendous amount of self-awareness within the narrative, and exhibited by Cam and Blair, regarding audiences’ obsession with missing white girls. The two scratched at this in the previous book, but it’s more of a direct tackle here without overwhelming this story and this strange case. The only thing that really didn’t land for me was an overall lack of tension and detective work, but I think this was a conscious decision for the main characters, reflecting a realistic approach to the aftermath of their first case.
Jones again delivers a fast-paced YA thriller with an easy but intelligent narrative. In Missing Clarissa, Jones utilized a helicoptering POV, zooming in and around many of the people the detective duo met along the way. For The Other Lola, aside from a few breaks, we largely stick with Cam and Blair. This shift feels right, especially going forward into a potential third book. With hints of a young Kinsey Millhone in both Cam and Blair, and a dash of the retooling vibe the 80s and 90s gave to Nancy Drew, I’m excited to see where Jones takes these two in the future.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This affected neither my opinion of the book nor the content of my review.
