These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly

This novel was recommended by Amazon and it did not disappoint.  Although on the long side, the main character, Josephine, is 17 and it is thus tagged YA.

I was worried at first that I was looking at a romance in the Victorian era.  If you want to read some fabulous books of the sort, check out those by my friend Christi Caldwell, a native Westie.  Instead, it was more of a murder-mystery with some light Romeo and Juliet-like love thrown in.

Josephine is the only child of wealthy "old money" parents.  She is away at boarding school when the news comes that her father has died in what is believed to be an accidental shooting.  The news is delivered by Bram, widely expected to propose to Jo in the very near future, and his sister, Jo's lifelong friend.

Jo does not believe her father shot himself accidentally.  He was extra careful with his firearms and would never clean a loaded weapon.  She instead thinks he may have committed suicide.  A trip to the newspaper, one her father actually owns, confirms her suspicions: everyone thinks it was a suicide covered up by Jo's uncle Philip.  En route, she meets Eddie, a cub reporter.  Eddie's best friend Oscar is the junior coroner.  Neither believes it a suicide; rather a murder.

The three form an unlikely partnership on a mission to uncover who killed Jo's father, each for their own reasons.  In the process, Jo breaks every societal rule about young women of her time.  Her father is more important than propriety.  Eddie and Jo share an infatuation, perhaps even puppy love, for each other.  It's endearing at first.  They don't, however, live happily ever after...

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