Smarting from a charge of plagiarism (the fault of an insufficiently supervised researcher) and dumped by her live-in boyfriend, New York celebrity biographer Phoebe Hall is offered a chance to teach at the Pennsylvania college presided over by her old school friend Glenda Johns. Shortly after Phoebe arrives at Lyons College, Glenda asks her help in investigating the Sixes, a secret girls' society that might be involved in the disappearance of a coed. Phoebe's inquiries induce frightening retaliation from the Sixes as well as the dredging up of memories of the severe bullying she herself once experienced. The missing girl is found dead in the river adjoining the campus, but the body count continues to rise, suggesting a serial killer. Potential suspects abound including the professor who is Phoebe's new love interest, the dean of students, and Glenda's husband but Phoebe repeatedly ignores warning signs and stumbles into danger. Although White's characters lack dimenson, her plot builds suspense, and there's a certain frisson in the mean-girls milieu. A readable diversion from White, but her fans would be better served if she were to bring back her Bailey Weggins series.--Leber, Michel. Copyright 2010 Booklist

Cosmo editor-in-chief White's prose-like a brisk walk through a tree-lined campus in autumn-is perfectly suited to the setting and tone of this stand-alone mystery thriller about mean girl games run amok. Disgraced celebrity tell-all author Phoebe Hall wants nothing more than to leave Manhattan for the peaceful asylum of Lyle College in rural Pennsylvania, where Lyle's president and her best friend from boarding school, Glenda Johns, has offered her a teaching job. But when Glenda asks Phoebe to look into rumors of a secret sorority known as the Sixes and a possible link to a missing coed, the idea of asylum takes on an ominously different meaning. White (Hush) ratchets up the chills as Phoebe starts to find little things, like six apples, left at her house that she takes to be attempts to frighten her. Undaunted, Phoebe persists in her investigation. Great pacing and plausible characterization with only a smidgen of forgivable contrivance make this a worthy end-of-summer beach read. Author tour. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.