Death in the Cards

Manansala (Guilt and Ginataan, for adults) injects a grounded mystery with spiritual tarot elements in her YA debut, a detective story about a high school student investigating a classmate’s mysterious disappearance. When 17-year-old Danika Dizon isn’t assisting her mother at the family’s detective agency, she runs a thriving side hustle as a tarot card reader, charging peers in exchange for readings. After popular girl Eli Delgado goes missing, her well-to-do parents deliberately avoid informing the police, instead hiring Danika’s mother to locate her, hoping to keep a low profile and circumvent any potential scandal. Danika, too, becomes embroiled in Eli’s case, and she finds herself growing closer to Eli’s cute younger sister Gaby, who proves distracting to Danika’s investigation. But as Eli’s secrets come to light and Danika further entrenches herself into her classmates’ personal lives, this seemingly simple missing persons case takes a dark turn. Though the conflicts lack tension and the overarching mystery becomes somewhat buried by various subplots, Manansala’s snappy prose and the characters’ sharp banter make for an enjoyable read. A wealth of classic teen sleuth conventions recalls Veronica Mars’s charm. Characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary. (May)