The BODY in the WOODS by April Henry

Give this to a reluctant reader interested in mysteries.  It is a quick and easy read.  Search and rescue crews out to find an autistic man who had wandered off stumble on a dead body of a young female.  Although they were teens and had no adults with them they had been well trained in both CSI procedures and in search and rescue operations so immediately went into action recording what they had seen along the way and what they saw at the scene.  Adults take over and interview the group together and separately.  They provide trauma counseling as well.  The group cannot stay out of the murder investigation, for the girl had been murdered.  They saw similarities in other recent murders, they investigated the others they had met on the trail that day.  They came to their own conclusions, some correct and some not.  One of their group nearly becomes a victim herself, the local law enforcement personnel weary of their meddling and slow to respond.  The mystery is interesting enough to hold ones attention but it seemed like there was a disconnect between the way the teens talked and their ages, about 16 and with jobs and driver's licenses.  It bothered me.  I kept wondering if Ruby was Asperger's Syndrome for instance.  Except for the murder, not graphically depicted, this book is without any of those worrisome things like sex, violence and language.  The book got excellent reivews but I would put it at mediocre at best.  JDW8/18