Review Detail

5.0 1

Blood in the Water

Middle Grade Fiction 1070

Murder on Martha's Vineyard

July 11, 2025 (Updated: June 15, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Kaylani doesn't want to leave her mother or her Brooklyn home to go spend a month with family friends, the Watsons, on Martha's Vinyard, but she isn't given much of a choice. She'd rather stay home and work on her father's appeal, since he is spending time in prison after being framed for embezzling funds while working at the Mercer Hedge Fund. The Watsons are big supporters of her father, having helped him go to college, so they want to allow Kaylani to have a vacation to take her mind off her troubles. Sadly, since their granddaughter London, and her older sister Cassie, aren't too thrilled to have Kaylani around, it's not that appealing a break. The girls go to an elite private school in Connecticut, and won't even hang out with the local residents. They are a bit enamored of Chadwick, whom Cassie dated last year, but it's an uneasy relationship. For his part, Chadwick is very kind to Kaylani, and even gives her a tour of the Watson's house and its history, and suggests that she looks into the life of the previous owner, Alice McBride. When London demands to tag along to a late night beach party with Cassie, the girls meet Chadwick's young brother, Miles, and also talk to Jaden, who works for the Watsons. There is bad blood between Jaden and Chadwick, and when the two get into an altercation, Cassie has Jaden drive the younger girls home while she sees if Chadwick is okay. The next day, Chadwick is missing, and his body is later found near the bridge that was featured in the movie Jaws that the teens all jump from. There seems to be a shark bite to his body, and there is a lot of blood in the water. Chadwick's death hits the community hard, but even when it is determined to be a homicide, the kids all still hang out at the beach. Miles wants to investigate, and asks Kaylani for help in finding his brother's phone. Kaylani would like to help, and has found the local history to be very interesting, but because of issues with London and the Watsons, would really just like to go home.

Good Points

While Kaylani has her reasons for wanting to stay at home in Brooklyn, I think that most tweens would embrace the opportunity to travel to Martha's Vineyard and stay at a mansion, complete with an enigmatic housekeeper who is an excellent cook, so having this as the setting of the books is great. There's drama aplenty, with London and herr snotty ways, the mysterious falling out that Chadwick had with the girls, and even some charity embezzlement of which Kaylani is accused. This is also a realistic look at dealing with a parent in prison; oddly enough, one of my childhood friends' fathers was imprisoned for embezzlement! The setting is well defined, and there is a lot of interesting Black history of the area. I don't want to ruin the mystery, but I did like that it cleared up several different issues. It's hard to strike a good balance in a middle grade murder mystery, but this did a good job of having a sympathetic but somewhat remote character killed in a slightly gruesome way. Miles' reaction was also well portrayed.

The cover of this is fantastic; it screams "murder mystery" perfectly, and the mansion in the background is a great touch. Readers who have never been to Martha's Vineyard will want to go after reading this, although they will definitely be cautious! It shouldn't surprise anyone that tweens love murder mysteries, since such a large percentage of adult novels and television shows fall into that category, but it is hard to find a murder mystery that gives young readers what they want without worrying adult gatekeepers.

This is a good choice for readers who like a side of Black history with their mysteries, and have enjoyed Johnson's The Parker Inheritance, Strong's Just South of Home, or Banks' Billions to Burn. While this could have used some further editing, the appeal of the cover is undeniable, and since it is a murder mystery, this book will ALWAYS be in big demand. It reminded me a bit of some of Joan Lowery Nixon's books like her 1987 The Dark and Deadly Pool.