Torben Riise

Emily and the Arabic Letter Torben Riise

A close friend of the family is murdered. Emily, a 16-year-old teenager, has a summer-job at the local police station where her father is a detective. Rather than working on routine office tasks, she wants to get involved in the investigation. Before long, she is deeper involved than she ever thought possible. Emily's dad supplies her with information from the crime scene and from his conversations with people close to the case. Emily starts asking questions, digging up information, and making her own deductions. Despite her good work and convincing logic, her father rejects her conclusion when she tells him whom she believes the murderer is. Emily realizes that she needs actual, hard evidence to convince her father. By using her knowledge about computers and by collecting more background information that might support her theory, she stumbles over the needed evidence. The story intensifies when the murderer realizes that he has been identified. Emily brings herself into a dangerous situation in search of the final proof and it comes to a climax when Emily uses herself as a bait to nap the murderer. Besides the plot itself, the book describes Emily's development and growing independence when exposed to a challenge.