Shame on Me by Margaret Mal
Release date: December 23, 2018
Subgenre: International mystery, YA mystery
About Shame on Me:
Everything in 17-year-old Julia’s life was boring and monotonous until
she came across a real corpse. Since it happened near her best friend
Kate’s cabin, Julia and Kate feel the urge to find the killer, as does
the dead man’s best friend Nick, for whom Julia falls as soon as they
meet. At first glance, the murder seems to be connected to the victim’s
business, but what if it has to do with a serial killer on the loose in
the same area?
‘Shame on Me’ is the first novel in the series.
The series revolves around two young friends from Russia, Julia and Kate, who love to take on the role of amateur sleuths. The novels are written in the form of email letters to their mutual American friend. Each book is written in first person, each from the point of view of one of the girls. The first book in the series is written from Julia’s point of view, the second from Kate’s, and so on. In addition to the mysteries and love stories, the series highlights interesting cultural differences between Russians and Americans and describes the life of a girl from a poor Russian family.
‘Shame on Me’ is the first novel in the series.
The series revolves around two young friends from Russia, Julia and Kate, who love to take on the role of amateur sleuths. The novels are written in the form of email letters to their mutual American friend. Each book is written in first person, each from the point of view of one of the girls. The first book in the series is written from Julia’s point of view, the second from Kate’s, and so on. In addition to the mysteries and love stories, the series highlights interesting cultural differences between Russians and Americans and describes the life of a girl from a poor Russian family.
Excerpt:
When this part of the village ended, a beautiful landscape came
into the view. The flat glossy surface of a lake reflected
moonlight, creating multiple charming white-yellow patches, like in
Kuingy paintings. A thin yet spacious forest embraced the lake on
the right side.
“Wow!” I whispered, seeing this gorgeous view, and ran closer.
Admiring the lake, I totally forgot the purpose of my night stroll,
sat down in the grass, and raised my head to devour the beauty of
bright stars in the sky when a sudden noise came to me from the
right side of the shore. Looking narrowly, I could see a man
striding from the water to the forest. In the bright moonlight I
could clearly make out his appearance: tall, in a long cloak with a
wide hood covering his face, in high rubber boots, and… with a
hunting rifle in his hands.
‘Why did this man decide to hunt in the night? What crazy people
dwell in my hometown!’ I thought, and then it struck me. ‘I’m not
in my hometown, I’m in the Shchukinsk district! Oh my god, he’s
Shchukinsk’s maniac!’
Slowly and quietly, I stood up and, crouching down, headed away
from the maniac on tiptoe, but on the eighth step a picture came to
mind: the relatives of the deceased, grieving, wanting revenge and
justice; future victims who might have stayed alive if I did
something instead of running away like a coward. How could I look
people in the eye after my escape? What would they do to me if they
knew I’d been so close to catching the most dangerous maniac of the
century and did nothing?
Thus, you can call me a crazy person with all possible mental
disabilities, but I decided to follow Cloak. Several more minutes
of pondering and I would’ve lost him, but now I was just in time to
see which path the psycho murderer took to turn from the shore to
the woods. Almost hypnotized, I followed him, forgetting about
cold, fear, and sleep. Walking this way half a mile, he suddenly
turned somewhere aside, and I heard the sound of grass rustling. I
stopped for a moment and tried to think. What if he’d noticed me
and was going to hide in the bushes to jump out, when I passed by,
and kill me? What should I do?
‘Go away! Return to the guest house!’ the inner voice yelled inside
my brain, but I chose not to listen to him. I never listened to
him.
So I walked forward, down the path, but even more carefully than
before. I stopped and tried to see something among the branches and
bushes, but it was too dark in there: the moon struggled to give
this place some light, but it was much less effective than in the
open space. So I had to take more steps to be in the right spot
where the maniac disappeared.
The animal fear came to me. I wanted to go back, but I had to help
the police to catch him; it was my duty as a human being.
I still saw nothing, even in the right spot. Mustering all my
courage, I took another step and moved aside the branches and
bushes that got in my way. It took me a few seconds to observe a
camping tent, God knows how fitted into such a small place between
tall trunks, and I returned to the narrow path. That was the
maniac’s lair!
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About Margaret Mal:
Margaret Mal is a traditionally published author in Russia (7 mystery novels and a
sci-fi story in an anthology) as Margarita Malinina. Also, she is a
screenwriter; she writes for a Russian detective TV-series ‘Sled.’ She started to write novels in English in 2015. So far she’s
self-published 3 of them: ‘Crimson Hills,’ an adventure/dystopia;
‘Double Lightning,’ a paranormal/thriller, and now ‘Shame on Me.’
Margaret lives in Moscow. Her whole life she’s been writing. She
wrote her first book at the age of 16, and her first poem even
earlier - at the age of 5.
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