Carol Beach York began writing and selling stories (to her mother) when she was seven. The first story she sold commercially appeared in Seventeen Magazine when she was in her twenties. Since then, she has written more than fifty books, many of them mysteries.

York's mysteries for young adults begin with teen-age characters doing ordinary, mundane activities. Then a seemingly ordinary thing happens, such as a visit from a cousin in When Midnight Comes and in Once Upon a Dark November, and life is no longer ordinary. In Nothing Ever Happens Here a teen-age girl complains that life in her small town is boring, that nothing exciting ever happens. By the end of the summer, she wishes that nothing had ever happened. Suspense builds gradually in York's mystery stories.

She leaves subtle clues that are recognizable only by reflecting on the story after reading...