Review: Confessions: The Private School Murders

Confessions: The Private School Murders
Author: James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

Publication Date: October 24th 2013

~A copy was provided by Arrow (Young) in exchange for an honest review.~



 Tandy Angel may have played the hero when she solved the case of her magnificently wealthy parents' mysterious deaths, but she isn't done yet. Her brother Matthew stands trial for homicide, young girls are found murdered all around New York's Upper West side, and Tandy is determined to use her piercing intellect to get to the bottom of both cases. But the biggest mystery of all may be what actually happened to James Rampling, the handsome son of a family enemy, whom Tandy fell in love and ran away with--though most of her memories of the affair are disturbingly absent...

The confessions keep coming as Tandy delves even deeper into her own tumultuous history and the skeletons in the Angel family closet.




Oh dear everything that's holy, my heart hurts. It freaking hurts.

Ugh, I don't know where to start.

The Private School Murders kicks off three months after Confessions of A Murder Suspect, Matthew's still in jail pending trial on a charge, the mystery of James Rampling is fracturing, and we get to know him and oh my fictional guy. This is the part where I could gush and fangirl, but you know what? James Rampling deserves more, so I'm saying I wish this guy was real. So damn real. Anyway, back to topic, where was I? Right...The Angels are still staying in the Dakota,  and though their parents are dead, they're still worming their way into their lives, like the worms were probably worming their way into them. Too morbid? Well, let's add a little more. Female private school girls are turning up dead, executioner style, and once it starts hitting someone Tandy knows she puts it upon herself to find the killer. Weird things are going on, in  their building deadly reptiles, arachnids are crawling out of the woodwork and their new appointed guardian and ex-military Jacob  are treating them like family, and even hugs them. For once the Angels' have a schedule, rules and a somewhat stabilised life with someone looking out for them instead of themselves.

You're in for a rollercoaster ride, dear friend.

There's a lot going on in The Private School Murders, three on-going investigations, the forgotten memories of true love, and ladies and gentleman, the real Tandy Angel has arrived.

And she takes no prisoners.

This was. So. Good. So. Freaking. Good.

It's been a while since a book has totally consumed me, I mean, I've read loads that I like, some that I really like, but there's just something about this that's so addicting, and I kept reading chapter after chapter wanting it to never end. Tandy's far from perfect, nor are the other characters, but they're unique characters that work well together and though know nothing of a real family, they are one. They're beginning to find out who they really are, and it's harder for the older ones, since they're most set in their ways than the youngest, Hugo. But, they're getting on with their lives, they're living, breathing, and things may be different, they may have changed slightly, but they're still the same. All the characteristics that made them who they are, especially Harry and Tandy, are still there, they're just more potent and clean than it used to be.

We also get more insight into who they are, too, especially Tandy and what was done to her. Now completely off the pills, she uses her skills for good, and she uncovers a lot more than the detectives do. It also puts her in more danger. We also finally see the sixteen year old girl she should have been, in flashbacks with James Rampling, you can see how much they really loved each other, and that starts breaking through to this Tandy.

Though Malcolm and Maud are dead, what they done is still alive and effecting her even now, and it is foul and disgusting and cruel and psychotic, but she's still breathing, and though it hurts she's still rediscovering James, how much she loved him and how it felt to be loved by him, and it's truly heart-breaking.

I liked Tandy more this time round, she's more human and less the mechanical robot Malcolm and Maud wanted their children to be, she's found her calling, she's trying to find her love, but most of all she's trying to find herself, without the pharmaceuticals, without being Malcom and Mauds' golden child. She's getting there, she really is, she's determined and definitely not a pushover and she's freaking hilarious when she wants to be.

I also loved the newest addition, Jacob. He's ex-military, so he's scheduled, and precise, sharp, runs on rules, a little stubborn, overprotective and just the guardian/parent they needed. Someone who pushed them to strive, but knew balance. He's got his own secrets too, and damn, they were good.

I don't know if there's anymore books in this series, but please, please let there be. I'm not ready to let go of these yet. Need more.

With connections, murder and heart-wrenching love, closes the left open and bleeding ending to Confessions of A Murder Suspect.

Rating: 5/5