Overview
After being accused and acquitted in the death of his girlfriend, seventeen-year-old David is sent to live with his aunt, uncle, and young cousin to avoid the media frenzy. But all is not well at his relatives? house. His aunt and uncle are not speaking, and twelve-year-old Lily seems intent on making David's life a torment. And then there's the issue of his older cousin Kathy's mysterious death some years back. As things grow more and more tense, David starts to wonder-is there something else that his family is trying to hide from?
After being acquitted of murder, seventeen-year-old David goes to stay with relatives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he finds himself forced to face his past as he learns more about his strange young cousin Lily.
Editorials
Horn Book
When seventeen-year-old David Yaffe moves into the third floor of his aunt and uncle's Cambridge, Massachusetts, triple-decker, he already has a lot going against him, but the antagonism his relatives display increases his troubles. Recently acquitted of the murder of his girlfriend in a nationally publicized trial, David struggles to come to terms with the way that the events of the past year have changed his life. His eleven-year-old cousin, Lily, exhibits malicious behavior that escalates from eavesdropping and taunting to "guerrilla attacks" on David's apartment-strewing trash, destroying computer files, gluing CDs into their cases. Consumed by problems in their marriage dating back to the death of their older daughter Kathy four years before, Lily's parents refuse to recognize her disturbing actions and attitude. Expertly paced, the thriller unfolds tantalizingly slowly, as David learns additional details about Kathy's death and Lily's involvement. As the narrator, he also withholds the full story of his girlfriend's death until the very end, which both adds to the suspense and appropriately reflects his longing for privacy and anonymity. His deep-rooted sense of guilt and loss color his thoughts and cast doubt in the reader's mind about his innocence. Everyday details such as David's adjustment to a new school and his interest in "The X-Files" ground the story in reality. Young adults will eat this one up. (Jan/Feb 1999).Publishers Weekly -
"Many secrets bubble just beneath the surface of this skillful thriller narrated by a high-school senior who has been accused--and acquitted--of murdering his girlfriend," said PW in a starred review. Ages 14-up. (Feb.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|VOYA -
As this suspenseful book opens, seventeen-year-old David Bernard Yaffe has just been acquitted from the murder of his girlfriend Emily and sent to live with his Uncle Vic, Aunt Julia, and eleven-year-old cousin Lily in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to finish out his senior year. David is given the attic apartment to live in, the same place where Vic and Julia's eighteen-year-old daughter, Kathy, committed suicide four years ago. Since then, tension has been high in the Shaughnessy household and David's presence only compounds matters. David knows that Julia has a problem with him being there, but Lily seems to especially resent David. She hates the fact that he has Kathy's apartment and that he encourages Vic and Julia to talk to each other directly and not through her. She constantly needles and taunts David, and eventually starts vandalizing his apartment. To make matters worse, David thinks he is being haunted. At first, he thinks it is Emily, but he soon comes to realize that the humming and indistinct shape he sees is Kathy. As David learns more about Kathy's death, he realizes that Lily knows more about it than anyone suspects and that Kathy desperately wants him to help Lily in some way. Over time, David is able to help Lily and also begin the healing process in his own life. Although we are slowly able to piece together what happened with David and Emily, The Killer's Cousin is clearly Lily's story. David and Lily are sympathetic characters, who compel readers to discover the whole truth behind their stories. Once they get started, readers will be hard pressed to put this book down. VOYA Codes: 4Q 4P S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, Broad general YA appeal, Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).Children's Literature -
After being acquitted of murdering his girlfriend, David goes to Boston to live with his aunt, uncle, and cousin Lily to complete his senior year of high school. He is trying to piece together his life and deal with the tragedy that he caused. There is an awkwardness that greets him and he assumes it is because of his presence until peculiar events begin to occur. The apparitions of his cousin Kathy who died four years earlier are accompanied by humming sounds. Eleven-year-old Lily asks David if he felt "powerful" when he killed. At first he thinks it is just the curiosity of a child. Later, he becomes convinced there is more. When David suggests to his aunt and uncle that Lily needs psychiatric help, they cannot accept it. He discovers the truth about Lily's involvement in Kathy's death and instinctively knows he must intercede to prevent another tragedy. Werlin has created a gripping psychological drama. Vivid characters populate this fast-paced and intense story. There is much for the reader to think about in the relationships David has with his relatives, his parents, and the friends he makes in Boston. The theme of living with the consequences of one's actions is well displayed.School Library Journal
Gr 8 Up-David Yaffe, 18, having recently been acquitted of murdering his girlfriend, is sent to live in Cambridge, MA, with his aunt Julia, uncle Vic, and cousin Lily to repeat his senior year of high school. Lily, 11, is resentful of his presence; she feels that her dead sister Kathy's room is rightfully hers, and that he should not be staying in it. Lily taunts and torments David until he begins to doubt his own sanity. His emotional fragility is compellingly revealed as he works through the loss of his girlfriend and the complicity he feels over her death. Readers see Lily through David's eyes; she is alternately depicted as the troubled child of dysfunctional parents, a spoiled brat, and a truly evil character. She plays on his fears and pushes David to the edge until he realizes what he has always known: that she, too, is a killer. This psychological thriller will keep readers involved and should appeal to fans of Lois Duncan and Joan Lowery Nixon.-Michele Snyder, Chappaqua Public Library, NYSchool Library Journal
Gr 7 Up
In Nancy Werlin's psychological thriller (Delacorte, 1998), a young man who was acquitted of the accidental killing of his girlfriend travels to his somewhat distant (in all respects) relatives to repeat his senior year and "escape" his past. The tale takes on an even more sinister aspect in this well-orchestrated audiobook. David's "new" life begins in Cambridge, MA, which Werlin knows well, and it comes alive in references to row houses, Harvard Square, and the Brattle theatre. David's life is tormented by the open hostility of his 11-year-old cousin Lily and the aloofness and lack of sympathy from his Aunt Julia, still recovering from the suicide of her daughter. Narrator Nick Podehl masterfully catches the emotion of each of the characters without elaborately changing each voice, so the flow of the story is uninterrupted and listeners seem to be in David's head most of the time, hearing Aunt Julia's reluctance to have him be a part of her family and the tension between her and her husband. Throughout, David is dealing with his own sense of quilt and the loss of his parents whose self absorption leave him without support. When he discovers that he and Lily have a great deal in common, his anxiety to "save her" is almost palpable, and their reunion in a hospital room adds comfort to what has been a tension-filled listen-.-Edith Ching, Washington Latin Public Charter School, DC