Over the Edge

Chloe & Levesque #2

by Norah McClintock

The death of a boy at Chloe’s high school looks like an accident... until Chloe discovers that he was blackmailing several other students. Was it accident—or murder? Chloe’s job as a newshound for her high school paper helps her uncover some startling truths. First, it looks like Daria, the school’s high-profile poet, might have plagiarized some of her award-winning poems. And then it appears that Peter, the writer of the paper’s astronomy column—a boy recently found dead from an accidental fall over a cliff—was blackmailing Daria. And she wasn’t the only one.

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Canada, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Novels

Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Norah McClintock’s fascinating mysteries are hard to put down. Her Chloe & Levesque series, Mike & Riel series, and Robyn Hunter series, all published by Scholastic Canada, have been popular with readers in many countries. Norah has also written several crime novels for reluctant readers in the Orca Soundings series from Orca Book Publishers,

Norah is a five-time winner of the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award for Best Juvenile Crime Novel. Read Mistaken Identity, The Body in the Basement, Sins of the Father, Scared to Death, and Break and Enter to find out why! Norah's books have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and she has won numerous awards.

Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award - Juvenile
o 1996 – Mistaken Identity – Winner
o 1998 – The Body in the Basement – Winner
o 1999 – Sins of the Father – Winner
o 2002 – Scared to Death – Winner
o 2003 – Break and Enter – Winner

Red Maple Award
o 2004 – Hit and Run – Winner

Reviews

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 Stars
This was one of my favourite childhood novels and I am happy to report that it held up well rereading as an adult. I really enjoyed the layers of the mystery.

[Mika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livro perfeito, vale a pena continuar a saga, só espero que não repete as mesmas coisas nos próximos livros.

[Tina Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chloe & Levesque Series
Books 1 & 2 available August 1


The Chloe and Lavesque series is written by Norah McClintock for teens ages 11 and up. Written in 1st person from the perspective of a teenage girl named Chloe Yan it's filled with lots of teenage angst and of course has the necessary parental dislike, disappointment in her mother's choice of a new husband and stepfather for Chloe and her younger sister. Chloe's stepfather is a police officer in Canada, where they have moved so he can take a position as Chief of Police in a small, back of the woods town.


The book didn't have a lot of edge of the seat action, unlike the Conspiracy 365 series, but it does have a lot of emotion and romance with nothing beyond a little kissing and holding hands. Clean and very easy to read, it's a nice series for a teen who doesn't want to do any heavy reading and it's rainy and too cold to go outside and do chores.


Series summary:
Teenaged Chloe Yan has had to leave behind her beloved Montreal to move to East Hastings, Ontario where her new stepfather, Louis Levesque, has just become Chief of Police. This engrossing murder mystery series is clean and contemporary. This series has a sassy, independent, first-person narrator and illustrates authentic family relationships.


Over The Edge, Book 1Nobody knows how Peter ended up at the bottom of MacAdam’s Lookout. Chloe can’t figure it out, or why his mother seems to think she was his friend. Peter had no friends. He was a loner, more interested in astronomy than in other people. But something - or someone - pushed him over the edge...


Double Cross, Book 2
From the second she met him, Chloe thought Jonah was a jerk. So what's she doing going all over the place with him, telling lies, getting in trouble, all to prove that his father isn’t a murderer? Especially when she isn’t even sure it’s true? In this nail-biting sequel to "Over the Edge" Chloe finally pieces together what happened the day Mary Shackleton died. The trouble is, the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to danger.


The Chloe and Levesque books are $5.99 and are published from Kane Miller. To purchase your copies of these wonderful books, go to:


What are others saying about this series: (and YES there are more books in this series coming!)

Over the Edge

"Awesome! You must read this book, Chloe is funny and the plot is fast. A must-read." - Lorean M., Age 15, Ontario, Rating: 9

"I just finished reading Over the Edge... I couldn't put it down. I finished the book in about 3 days. The storyline was so intense, it was addictive. I’m now readingDouble Cross and trying to find the next one in the series. It was the best book I have ever read. You are an AMAZING writer... keep it up!" - Stephanie Z., Age 13, Ontario, Rating: 10

"Twisting and exciting! Really makes you think!!! " - Karly S., Age 12, Prince Edward Island, Rating: 10


Award-Winning: Nominee Ontario Library Association, White Pine 2002, Official Selection, Ontario Red Maple Award, 2001, Our Choice, 2000

Double Cross

"I thought the book was good, and it's the third one I've read out of the six book series, and I recommend the rest of the books." - Mackenzie B., Age 12, Ontario, Rating: 9

"When I read Double Cross I always reading many chapters at a time. It made me so curious of what would happen next I couldn't put the book down! Norah's books are great and I always like how they end — it’s just so exciting! Chloe and her mysteries are so great! :)" - Becca H., Age 12, Ontario, Rating: 9


Award-Winning: Our Choice, 2001

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the public library and was intrigued by the blurb - the suspicious death of a teen. The story is interesting as it follows the narrator, Chloe, adjusting to life in a new home with a new stepfather and a new school. Things get complicated when the mother of the dead teen, Peter, mistakes her for a good friend of her son, and starts sharing information about Peter. Chloe starts seeing Thomas, one of the school jocks, and joins the school newspaper, and immediately starts uncovering strange going-ons among Thomas' friends.

I like the voice of the narrator - Chloe seems real, a teenage girl upset in having to leave her friends and move to a new home, wanting to dislike her stepfather but realising he is not so bad after all, thrilled with dating Thomas, whom she has a crush on, but disliking his friends. The story moves well, as Chloe discovers the past stories of her schoolmates - but doesn't it seem strange to the teachers that three students died recently in a rather short period of time?

The conclusion of the story is rather abrupt, I thought. Chloe somehow figures everything out in a couple of days. One day she was furious with her stepfather and refusing to tell him anything, and the next day, she was writing a note to him with all her findings. She produces a piece of evidence almost out of nowhere (the story made no mention of it before).

Still, it was a good read, and I'm going to try the next book in the series. 8)

[Jasmine]

"Over the Edge" was a amazing book.It had everything down to the very end.Im not going to go way into it, because of spoilers,but in the book,Chloe has a little romance with"someone".What the moral of the story is there is murder,or suicide, no one is really sure,until the end.Only Chloe can uncover the mystery.Read this book and you will find out how Peter ened up at the bottom of MacAdams lookout.Re3ad this book.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over the edge is by Norah Mcclintock it tis a Mystery.Nobody knows how peter got over the edge of McAdams look out .Chloe can't found out why peter mom seem to think the they were best buds when she only talk to him once.peter had no friends in fact he was a loner. HE like stars and space better than he did people.They think that peter got pushed off, but other think that he command suicide.

[Melori · Rating 4 out of 5]

velice dobrá detektivka, mrazení v zádech, napětí, hlavní hrdinka je fajn, není to nic světoborného, ale pro milovníky detektivek dobrá volba a nemsuí jim být jen 12 let

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the beginning of Over the Edge, Chloe's mother has married Louis Levesque and they have moved to a small town called East Hastings, where Levesque is in charge of the local police department. Her sister, Phoebe, who was flirting with anorexia at the end of The Third Degree, is now an athletic cheerleader and star of the debate team. Chloe tells the story in first person point of view as she tries to adjust to a new school and new friends. Levesque is investigating the apparent suicide of Chloe's fellow student, Peter Flosnick, expert astronomer. As the story unfolds, Chloe seems to learn more and more about Peter and how he could be connected to her friends.

Once again, I find this story disappointing. Chloe and Levesque never really investigate together, which makes the series name misleading. The real mystery isn't revealed until near the end, and the story drags through the first two thirds of the book before all the clues are connected. As in the first book in the series, there is no real emotional connection to the characters, and they are very difficult to like. Overall, another lackluster story that barely held my interest long enough to finish the book.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read the first book in this series but found this on my want to read shelf while looking for mysteries shelved Crime, etc, and since it's Canadian I thought I'd give it a try. I don't know if it's just in the American edition of this, but I was quite taken aback with a "huh" where an "eh" should have been.

I'm not sure of the reading level for this, but the protagonist is well into high school (has a 14 year old younger sister) so I'm saying y/a. Chloe Yan's Stepdad is Levesque (she calls him by his last name, and for non-Canadians, Levesque in English sounds a alot like Leveck, with the stress on the second syllable. This is based on some famous Levesque I used to hear about growing up because he was the Premier of Québec for some years (this is equivalent to a state governor.)

In any event, Chloe solves the mysterious death of a boy she barely knew from school and there are some good twists in this book.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Sterne
Ich muss zugeben, mir war vor dem Lesen nicht bewusst, dass sich dieser Krimi an jüngere Leser richtet. Der Schreibstil ist demnach recht simpel gehalten und die 190 Seiten zügig gelesen.

Mein größtes Problem waren eindeutig die Charaktere. Ich kann nachvollziehen, welche Richtung Norah McClintock mit dieser Geschichte einschlagen wollte, doch die Figuren haben es mir wirklich schwer gemacht mein Interesse beizubehalten. Zu der Protagonistin hat man kaum etwas erfahren und eine Bindung aufzubauen war mir unmöglich. Noch schlimmer waren die anderen oberflächlichen Charaktere, die verwöhnt und egoistisch gehandelt haben. Niemand in dieser Geschichte schien mir wirklich greifbar zu sein.

Der Plot zum Ende hin hat alles abgerundet, doch besonders anspruchsvoll war es nicht. Geeignet ist dieses Buch eher für Schulkinder, da es überhaupt keine Tiefe hat.

[Jenna Jacobson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved this book when I was in elementary school😊💖

[Aleksandar Petrovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

cito sam kad sam bio nackli, majka mi kupila ovo. nikad je nisam zavrsio, ali secam se da je bila jeziva malo. dao 4 zvezdice jer sam ja kriv ne nora maklintok

[Troy Disabato · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this in highschool for an assignment. I thought it was fantastic with gripping characters and suspense

[Pocket · Rating 2 out of 5]

Over The Edge is the story of Chloe Yan, a just-moved-to-town High School student who accidentally becomes involved in the mystery involving an apparent suicide of Peter, a fellow student she barely knew. As more clues start to appear, it becomes more obvious that it wasn't Suicide. It was murder.

This story was written wonderfully. The main character's first person narrative was funny and engaging and the spoken dialogue felt natural. The characters, albeit a little Cliché, were all enjoyable to read about. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style and the main character's perspective of the story. However, the actual story is where this book fails entirely.

The answer to several of the mysteries were almost instantly obvious as soon as they were brought up. Some, in the case of Daria's poems, were pretty much solved even before the plot began. This lead to the story dragging it's feet for almost half the book, including scenes where the characters meander around. There's scenes of dialogue between characters that just go in circles without actually giving any new information. In fact, there's a large chunk of this book where the mystery aspect is dropped entirely in favor of the characters just doing random things like going to a concert or studying for tests. If these scenes were used for character building, I would have been able to let them pass. But, honestly, they just felt like they were filler to make the book seem longer. Which seems even more disappointing when you reach the end and still learn barely anything about Peter or what he was doing. Or why the book seems to point out it's own plot holes (like the 'accidental' fire) but never seem to try and fix them. Or why there is a cast of characters that are introduced but are used as nothing but exposition dummies that just happened to know everything without ever being suspects themselves.

Another problem I felt was, there was no actual drama or suspense in places where it could have easily been. For Example, in the climax of the book, Chloe confronts the killer and I thought for sure there'd be some sort of 'Will Chloe's Step-Dad show up in time' moment. But, there wasn't. She just confronts the person and then the next page is a time jump. It was real wasted opportunity. Especially in a book that felt the need to meander about.

Overall, the book was a fun read if only for the likable lead and her engaging narrative. If you're looking for a quick read, this may be up your ally. If you're looking for an unpredictable Teen Crime Drama, look elsewhere.

(I wanted to note that this is actually Book 2 in a series. Nowhere on the book does it tell you this. However, thankfully, you can read it without any problems. In fact, this book doesn't even reference the previous book in the slightest.)

[Conan Tigard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the Edge introduces us to Chloe Yan and Louis Levesque. I had thought from the title of the series that Levesque would be in this story as much as Chloe, but I was mistaken. He plays a minor role in this first book while Chloe and her "friends" take center stage.

Chloe is your typical high school girl, and she is unhappy with having to move away from Montreal and all of her friends. She has the usual amount of teenage angst and doesn't always express what she is thinking. She is happy to be dating Thomas, but she doesn't like hanging out with his friends, especially Lise and Daria. Neither of the girls are very nice to her and both are carrying heavy secrets.

I was hoping Levesque would be in this story more. He really does play a small role. Maybe he will figure more prominently in future books. I hope so, as I would like to get to know his character better.

The pace of the story is steady, and I found myself intrigued by the plot. I am an Astronomy buff myself, and I found that I hated to think of a fellow Astronomy fan doing something that might get himself killed. But when you have a video camera attached to a high-powered telescope and a view of the entire town from a high vantage point, who knows what interesting things you might record. The only question is how good where Peter's morals and what would he do if he witnessed something that should have been a secret? Apparently, his morals were not very good at all.

Norah McClintock has created a wonderful first book in the Chloe & Levesque series in Over the Edge. The characters are interesting and the well-devised plot kept me intrigued. Yes, the book has teenage angst in it, but teen readers will find that this only enhances the story. I will be giving this book to my fifteen year old daughter to read, and I know that she will love it.

Overall, Over the Edge is a great beginning to a mystery series that shows a lot of promise. I look forward to finding out what happens next in East Hasting, Ontario in the book Double Cross.

I rated this book an 8 out of 10.

[MK · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly better than the first book (The Third Degree).

[Rants and Bants · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was marginally better than the first book. Chloe wasn't as arrogant or obnoxious. She was still annoying, with how she treated Phoebe (who was like, not in the story at all, despite being the best character in the first book) and how she treated that guy in the beginning who simply asked an innocent question about her stepdad. The other characters weren't very likeable either. It was an okay mystery and I suppose it was a nice little twist at the end, but all in all it was not that interesting. Just some spoiled teens who don't really care about anyone else, and I couldn't find anyone to root for honestly.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A promising opening volume for this detective mystery series with a teenage protagonist solving crimes with the help of her police chief father. I really like Norah McClintock, and I'm glad to see more traditional-style whodunit mysteries for a YA audience.

Review: http://writingya.blogspot.com/2010/10...

[Neill Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the first of the Chloe and Levesque mysteries, Chloe has just moved from Montreal to a much smaller twon with her mom and her new stepfather who is the chief of police. Chloe is unhappy with the move but in a class assignment on the school newspaper her research puts her in the middle of a possible suicide in her new highschool.

[Annmaree Montgomery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been a fan of mystery. This series looks like a good one. I enjoyed the twists this book took and was so excited to see that I got the "who done it" right. It was a little slow as far as mysteries go (in the beginning) for me but was still one I would read again.

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chloe is such a relatable character, that is absolutely amazing. It's very exciting yet realistic, which kept me interested. I can't wait to continue reading this series, and seeing what is going to happen next.

[Dorcas · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was one book i really loved!! it got me hooked to the pages, just anticipating what was going to happen. Really got my attention.
i was however dissapointed by how fast Thomas and Chole fell in love...too fast.

I cn't wait to read more from Norah McClintock


Good Job

[Ivanicka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with this book, I read it in a day and I must say I'm not disappointed. It was really exciting and it got my attention, although I didn't like the relationship between Chloe and Thomas. It just happened too fast.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good teen mystery series!

[Lil · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars on reread

[Gwen Toppe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the characters and the relationship between them. The high school setting is very realistic which adds to the appeal for YA. This mystery kept me wondering all the way through.

[Miss Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really fun read!I really liked Chloe as a main character,and the plot was pretty good as well!

[Sergej · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5.
Not bad, but bit too long and circles often. I liked Chloe, and how each of characters had surprise, Mystery wasn't that complicated.

[Pavlína · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks Kooks.