Scarlett Undercover

by Jennifer Latham

[Angie]

I'm sadly disappointed in Scarlett Undercover. I was expecting a fun mystery with a teenage private eye, but everything is kind of jumbled and all over the place. It was certainly a quick read, and I enjoyed learning more about Islam, but overall I'm left more puzzled than entertained. Scarlett is our fifteen year old PI, and she's just taken on a case where the client's older brother has been acting oddly, especially after his best friend supposedly committed suicide. After a bit of snooping, Scarlett sees a familiar symbol carved over and over in his door, but she can't quite place where she's seen it before.

Scarlett Undercover started off good. I love family secrets, so I really liked when Scarlett realizes that her current case is linked to her father's murder. She ends up learning ancient family secrets as well as some Islamic mythology, which may not actually be myth. And that is where the story started to lose me. Is this Paranormal? I honestly have no idea. Suddenly there's djinn and magical rings and portals to other worlds. This was interesting, but also felt really out of place because it came out of nowhere. Then when Scarlett needs help, a character can no longer interfere because of mystical reasons (how convenient). And there's a pile of slaughtered dogs, which was not okay and I don't understand why it even happened.

By the end, I was just confused by Scarlett Undercover. Other than wondering if this was meant to be a Paranormal Mystery, and why it was necessary to kill a bunch of dogs, I also couldn't figure out how Scarlett got her own office. She's fifteen! Surely that isn't legal? And I honestly don't believe that her sister would rent it for her. I can definitely suspend belief for Scarlett being a PI (Veronica Mars, hellooo!) but the fact that she has her own office away from home where clients come to her was quite unbelievable.

I really wanted to like Scarlett Undercover, but the plot was a bit of a mess. It starts out as investigating odd teen behavior, then moves to family secrets, then it's suddenly paranormal. There's also this completely undeveloped romance just to have some kissing. But those dead dogs! WTF?!

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