Best-selling Carter returns with a new series set on Embassy Row in the fictional country of Adria. Grace, the 16-year-old granddaughter of the U.S. ambassador, has yet to recover from her mother's shocking death, three years ago, which was deemed an accident. But Grace is certain she witnessed a scar-faced man shoot her mother, and she becomes convinced that he too is in Adria and that another kill is imminent. But is this the first time Grace has cried wolf? Like Carter's previous series, the first title in the Embassy Row series is action packed and meticulously plotted. Careful readers will suspect that Grace is indeed an unreliable narrator, but Carter nevertheless keeps readers guessing as to the true identity of the scar-faced man until the book's end. A supporting cast of other spunky teenage children of ambassadors brings levity to the darker turns in this thriller. Readers will be excited for the next book in the series, sure to be a hit with Carter's already sizable audience. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: With two best-selling series under her belt, it's no surprise that Carter's new series opener is getting a major promotional campaign and hefty first print run.

Gr 8 Up-As she has been told repeatedly, Grace Blakely's mother was killed in an unfortunate fire that destroyed the small antiques shop she owned. But Grace was there, and she remembers the gun, the bullet wound in her mother's chest, a man with a facial scar, and an explosion just before the shop was engulfed in flames. After three years in treatment for post-traumatic stress, the 16-year-old has returned to where she spent her childhood. With her father constantly away on military missions, she's once again living in the U.S. embassy in Adria, Italy, where her grandfather serves as ambassador. She doesn't want to be there, tortured by constant reminders of her mother and surrounded by people who believe that the death was an accident. She knows everyone thinks she's crazy, but the teen is determined to prove that her mother was murdered. As the ambassador's granddaughter, she is expected to observe embassy protocol, but when she spots a man with the same facial scar she remembers from the antiques shop, her reaction threatens U.S. diplomatic relations with every country on Embassy Row, not to mention Adria itself. With the assistance of some unexpected allies, Grace plots a way to bring the man she believes to be her mother's killer to justice. Grace's justifiable anger and spunk are sure to resonate with teens. With its intrigue and clever plot twists, this series opener will leave readers hungering for more. Cary Frostick, formerly at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA

This exciting first book in the Embassy Row series features sixteen-year-old Grace, who has moved into the United States Embassy on the coast of Adria with her ambassador grandfather. It is the first time in three years that she has been back to Adria, since her mother's tragic death in a fire. She used to visit every summer, hopping the rooftops in Embassy Row and getting into trouble. Now she is looking for answers, trying to solve the mystery behind her mother's suspicious death, which Grace thinks was a homicide. She is the only one who witnessed the fire and saw the strange man with a scar who did not show up on any security footage. When she thinks she has the answer, will anyone believe her?Grace, a self-proclaimed army brat and rebel, is haunted by the death of her mother. Throughout the novel, she hears her mother's voice and has flashbacks to both happy and sad times together. Her quest to find the truth is one that readers will love to follow, through the twists and turns of Embassy Row and with a diverse array of characters. Some help her, and some stand in her way . . . but Grace is a fighter, and she will stop at nothing to find out what happened to her mother. Readers will love this first book in what promises to be an exciting, thrilling mystery series from best-selling author Carter.Lindsay Grattan.