The Stalker by Joan Lowery Nixon

Nixon is a classic mystery writer for teens, and I gave this book a rating of four out of five. The mother of Jennifer's best friend is murdered, and the police arrest her friend for the crime. Jennifer doesn't believe it, so she convinces a retired police officer to help her find out the truth. They uncover some secrets about Stella Trax, the deceased mother, and find a number of other people who might have wanted to kill her. However, the killer knows what Jennifer is up to and is ready to stop her.

An interesting style to this book concerns the point of view. The odd number chapters tell the plot of the story in third-person, limited omniscient. The even number chapters are written in first-person from the killers point of view. This allows the reader to know the murderer's thoughts as Jennifer collects information. It's evident that the killer becomes more worried and threatening as Jennifer and the retired detective get closer to the truth.