I confess that I decided I would like Leah Stewart's first novel, "Body of a Girl" two sentences into the third paragraph. That's when the author describes the cloudy Memphis summer morning and says, "Here and there patches of light shine through the clouds, as though someone poked holes in my jar so I could breathe." I'm a sucker for an excellent line, and this book offers up many. In addition, Leah Stewart relays the story using first person, present tense, and I'm tempted to give her an extra star in my rating just for being able to do that and do it well.

"Body of a Girl" tells the story of Olivia Dale, a journalist who is piecing together the life and death of Allison Avery, a murdered young woman who is similar to Olivia in appearance, and with whom Olivia's path may have crossed as they each made their way through Memphis's twenty-something night life.

The more Olivia learns about Allison, the more she becomes obsessed with her. This novel goes beyond being just another murder mystery as it takes a look at what makes us who we are, and what happens when we try to transform ourselves into someone else. The plot is done well, the pacing is good overall, and although Olivia's decisions will begin to wear on some of the book's readers (I even exclaimed aloud at one point, "What is she thinking?!"), this is an overall good, solid read. It doesn't have many similarities to the other book by Stewart that I've read, "Husband and Wife," except in Stewart's ability to get into the mind of everywoman and wrap herself around the strengths and weaknesses that are unique (in my opinion) to a female in crisis. ( )