Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf

Fifteen-year-old Najwa Bakri is forced to investigate the mysterious death of her best friend and Scrabble Queen, Trina, a year after the fact when her Instagram comes back to life with cryptic posts and messages.

An easy read but I found the use of Malay phrases without clear translations irksome (a glossary is not at all difficult to append and useful for educating readers who would like to learn. Its absence smacks of elitism).

A mystery that's less a whodunnit and more of a meditation on grief and trauma. I do feel like this increased my vocabulary!!

honestly loved the Scrabble stuff, indifferent to the mystery stuff. Which is partly my #brand but also I did feel like...like nobody ever mentioned the word "autopsy"? like if you think your friend was poisoned either you should be trying to ~hack in and get the autopsy report~ or at least say out loud "it's suspicious that they didn't do an autopsy"??? i'm not a mystery buff but that one seems kinda basic amiright?But overall I thought the twists were fun and I loved meeting all the weirdo Scrabble teens, and yet at the core of it the grief they felt felt very real. I think it would be good for fans of [b:One of Us Is Lying 58679358 One of Us Is Lying (One of Us is Lying, #1) Karen M. McManus https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1632078539l/58679358.SY75.jpg 49825436] etc, plus also for Scrabble nerds.