Tress Montor had status in Amontillado, Ohio until her prominent parents vanished without a trace while driving her then best friend, Felicity Turnado, home one night seven years ago. After being orphaned Tress went to live with her grandfather at his wildlife attraction, known by the locals as the “White Trash Zoo”. Tress’s fall from grace was swift and her friendship with Felicity was over. Tress could not accept Felicity’s claim that she had no memory of that fateful night. So Tress does what she needs to in order to get by and she stews and plots until she has the perfect plan to get Felicity to talk. At a Halloween party in an abandoned house Tress lures Felicity to the basement, where she begins to bury Felicity alive behind a brick wall that she lays a row at time. Meanwhile, upstairs, the town’s teens suspect nothing. They are falling victim to the flu-like illness that is spreading through Amontillado. Also, a panther from the zoo is on the loose.
Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado, this is another dark and mesmerizing offering from Mindy McGinnis. The second book in the duology, The Last Laugh, is also available.