Book Review: Murder for the Modern Girl, by Kendall Kulper (2022)

 

The cover of Murder for the Modern Girl, by Kendall Kulper, 2022.

Author Kendall Kulper

Kendall Kulper’s YA novel Murder for the Modern Girl is set in 1928 Chicago. The two main characters, Ruby Newhouse and Guy Rosewood, both have powers they are trying to keep hidden. Ruby may look and act like a typical flapper, interested in speedy boys, hot jazz, and dancing the Charleston, but look out Jack, because she can take one gander at you and peep right into your dreambox! She can read minds! And you wouldn’t give bland Guy a second look, even if you saw him working as a janitor in the county morgue. But if you did happen to give him another glance, Guy might not look the same, as he can change faces and shapes!  

Murder for the Modern Girl takes these fantastic elements and embeds them firmly in a real-world setting that is vibrantly described by Kulper. Ruby’s father is the Cook County state’s attorney, so she has a powerful sense of justice imbedded in her. Ruby has been using her gift of reading minds to discover truly awful people who are plotting nefarious crimes. Ruby then poisons them before they can commit these crimes. This reminded me a little of the futuristic world of the movie Minority Report, based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, where people can be arrested for “pre-crimes” before the crimes are actually committed. Most of the crimes Ruby prevents are acts of violence against women. The murders that Ruby commits are usually classified as simply alcohol poisonings and are quickly forgotten. But when Guy figures out that Ruby’s most recent victim was poisoned, an overzealous coroner tells Guy to start digging through other mysterious deaths in the city.  

The novel is told in chapters that alternate from Ruby’s point of view and Guy’s. It’s an effective technique, and Kulper successfully captures their different voices. I found Murder for the Modern Girl to be a fun and suspenseful read, and the themes that Kulper focuses on are thought-provoking. If you’re looking for an excellent YA historical novel, you should check out Murder for the Modern Girl.