Charlotte Illes Is Not A Detective – Katie Siegel

Description

A former child detective grapples with her identity now that she’s neither child nor detective.

When you were a wunderkind pre-tween detective, there’s nowhere to go but down. While 25-year-old Charlotte Illes still has all her curiosity and eye for detail, early semifame has turned her from investigative work to checking job listings from her mother’s couch in New Jersey. It’s not that Charlotte isn’t motivated. Maybe she’s just in the throes of a quarter-life crisis now that her closest friends, Lucy and Gabe, have abandoned her for city life and full-time (technically Gabe is in social media, so fullish-time) work. Charlotte’s spinning her wheels, hanging with her mom, and going on bad first dates, like the one with that girl who wants to hear all about those early days rather than get to know Charlotte now. When your whole identity is defined by not being what you used to be, it’s easier to know who you aren’t than who you are. Charlotte is almost ready to ponder these big questions when she gets a call on the old detective phone—think landline Batman—with a case from her brother Landon’s girlfriend, Olivia. Charlotte’s pretty sure Landon and Olivia are only humoring her out of her slump with the promise of a mystery, but maybe, just maybe, an investigation is the best way for Charlotte to define who she is if she’s not a detective.