The Shattering by Karen Healey

Keri lives in Summerton, an idyllic beach town in New Zealand where the locals all know each other and it never rains between Christmas and New Years. But Keri wants to get out and see more of the world, especially now that her beloved older brother, Jake, is dead. He committed suicide. At least, that's what she thinks until Janna, a friend whose own brother died years before, tells her that both their brothers were murdered, and she's going after the killer. They join forces with Sione, a tourist boy whose brother was also killed. As they figure out a pattern in the murders, narrow down suspects and try to protect the next victim, they discover dark and very dangerous powers at work in their town.

The characters are truly the stars of this book. The story is told from Keri's, Janna's and Sione's views, although Keri (who speaks in first person while the others' chapters are in third) is the principle narrator. Keri is a planner. Beginning at a young age, she has developed plans for various possible catastrophes, from broken arms to earthquakes. She doesn't like when people act in ways she doesn't see as rational. I sympathized with her on this. Janna is a bassist who wants to make it big in the music industry. I was ambivalent about her at the beginning but really liked her by the middle. She doesn't do well in school, but she has great talents outside it. Unlike the girls, Sione didn't get along well with his brother. He was always the weaker, less popular younger brother. He's sweet and sensitive and usually lets fierce, rugby-playing Keri or outgoing, determined Janna take the lead, but he comes into his own by the end. They're very different people, and I liked all three.

I think this is the first book I've read that's set in New Zealand (Lord of the Rings doesn't count!), so it was interesting to get bits of the Summerton culture. [Edit: Duh! The last book I posted about was set in New Zealand. There are some books with unreliable narrators. I hope I'm not becoming the Unreliable Blogger.] There are several issues that come up around the edges of the main mystery. This seems like regular life to me - sometimes these issues can be your central focus, but sometimes they're just one more thing you deal with while you're concentrating on a bigger event. One of those issues is race. Keri is half Maori, I think, and Sione is Samoan but lives in Auckland most of the year. One of Janna's bandmates is Chinese, and the boy she likes is a Japanese exchange student. It's a different mix of races than I'm accustomed to where I live, but the friction is similar.

On Karen Healey's website, she has a brief "What Happened After" section where she speculates on where the characters end up several years later. I liked that. I cared about her characters and was glad to know what she thinks happened to them.