Little Monsters by Kara Thomas

New girl Kacey is still getting used to life in Broken Falls. Living with the father she never knew and her step and half siblings and step mother isn't quite what she expected. She's been welcomed into their home and become close with them all, but she still feels like an outsider. It still feels precarious.

The same can be said of her friendships in Broken Falls. Bailey and Jade were best friends well before Kacey arrived. But they too welcomed her into their fold. At least it seemed that way. Bailey is quick to lose her temper with both Jade and Kacey, but Kacey can't imagine what she could have done to get shunned by the two of them. And that's certainly what seems to have happened when she receives no call from them about a party they're all supposed to go to. Instead, the next thing Kacey hears is that Bailey has disappeared. 

Now, Kacey has taken it upon herself to find out what happened. But locals, especially the police, aren't too keen on the fact that Kacey keeps landing right in the middle of each new revelation of the investigation. Can she find out what really happened to Bailey before suspicion turns to her?

Thomas, as is the case with her previous books (both her Kara Thomas release The Darkest Corners and her trilogy written as Kara Taylor), maintains a quick pace throughout this latest that's driven by the underlying question of just what is going on in Broken Falls.

The town has a story about another missing woman. A woman whose whole family is killed. That woman is said to haunt the area near Kacey's new home and it's a legend that intrigues Bailey and freaks Kacey's new sister out immensely. And of course the girls go out searching for the missing woman's ghost just as the story is kicking off.

In spite of this dark history, Broken Falls isn't really the kind of place where kids go missing. It's a small town where everyone knows everyone else's business. Which isn't always a good thing. Chapters are interspersed with entries from Bailey's own diary, which soon reveal that Bailey was not only hiding things from her friends but that she wasn't exactly liked by all of her peers. Of course Kacey doesn't really know this. And Kacey has problems of her own, which color her investigation into Bailey's disappearance.

Little Monsters is a YA mystery with dark leanings, but never crosses over into truly dark territory. Instead, the dread seeps in and tinges the whole story with a gray overtone, a suspicion that things aren't going to go well for the teens involved and a hope that at least the one we've followed along the way (Kacey) will come out ok in the end.

Fabulous atmosphere and a fun read!