Sifa Poulton's Reviews > Murder on a Summer Break: The most addictive and outrageously funny new YA crime thriller of 2024!

MURDER ON A SUMMER BREAK is another funny, feminist riot of a murder mystery, set at the most ridiculous camping festival you can imagine.

This is another very funny book from Kate Weston. The situations are ridiculous, but so believable for influencers - the fake sets, the money grab sponsorships, the seance. Kerry and Annie react exactly as you'd expect teenagers to do so - one is star struck, another feels left out, and neither manages to keep cool.

The influencers themselves are a good snapshot of the more worrying parts of influencer culture. There is the lad culture guy with his blatant sexism and harassment being acceptable, the male "feminist", the engineered advertising of products everyone behind the scenes know are bad, the non-apologies, and beyond. The book pokes fun at them as a way of critiquing these aspects of the business.

The book also explores the tensions in friendships and romances with distance and the lure of fame. Annie very much wants to be an influencer and gets sucked into the festival and celebrities. Scott is away on band tour, unable to find time to speak with Kerry. This leaves Kerry with only the group chat with Colin and Audrey at times, and the book explores that frustration as friends seems to drift away and ignore you for something new and shiny.

I don't know if there will be another book, but it feels like there's space for more adventures, this time in their final year, trying to juggle A-levels and murder solving!