Rebecca Makkah's mulit-layered mystery I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS for YOU ropes together an inventive and ingenious plot of more than just who done it. But, the soul searching of who really killed the beautiful coed is the unrelenting quest that makes this crafty crime novel hard to put down. Granby is the posh, boarding school at the crux of the tale narrated by Bodie Kane. Bodie is taken under the wings of a benefactor family who pay her tuition at the exclusive high school. We feel for Bodie as she recalls the shame she felt by putdowns she received from classmates for the clothes she thought were flattering hand-me-downs. Wanting and not wanting to fit in make this a relatable coming of age story. Bodie finds her stride and her voice through her impressionable years at Granby. Spring of her senior year, Bodie's roommate, Thalia Keith is found murdered on campus. Decades later, Bodie as a successful podcaster and producer returns to teach a seminar. Two students choose to do a podcast investigating the notorious murder of Thalia on their campus knowing Bodie could provide relevant first hand recollections. However, how do memories hold up more than 20 years later? How do individual memories differ looking back on this tragedy? How do we judge our reasoning in retrospect to our younger selves? The investigative work by the students and Bodie lead us down diverging and similar suspicions. Through an ongoing, running dialogue Bodie maintains with her former beloved, teacher, Denny Bloch, we develop a keen connection with her as an adult and for her years as a student. It seems obvious Bloch was a lech and a probable murderer. What of Thalia's handsome boyfriend at the time? Did Bodie or others hold onto information that would've been relevant at the time? The only black teacher at the time, Omar, was accused and found guilty for the murder. Was he railroaded and imprisoned falsely and imprisoned all these years? Even Thalia's sister comes to belief in Omar's innocence and wants to find justice. The perils of social media and its power to blame and punish run rampant in Bodies' personal life and her profession are spotlighted. There is much to ponder and relish in this provocative novel as we continually question how to discern fact from fiction. Fact, there's no questioning the power of Makkah's mesmerizing storytelling which grips the reader on this disturbing but fascinating maze of intrigue.
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