Reviewed by Alice DiNizo for Readers' Favorite

Nightmare at Camp Forrestwood is a young adult mystery that many teens and preteens will enjoy reading. It's Holly Jenson's senior year of high school, and she is forced to spend it at a new school, Madison High, far from where she's grown up. Holly's father has died, and she and her mother have moved to Shacklesville to downsize and begin life again. Holly's only friend is unkempt Erin Butler, and they reluctantly agree to go together on the fall camping trip for seniors, a Madison High School tradition. Tricia, Rhonda and Sheila, the popular girls, are also going along with Kevin, Tony, and Matt whom Holly likes a lot. Camp Forrestwood is near the mentally damaged Kramer kid's home. When one by one senior class members begin to disappear, Josh Kramer is the murder suspect; or could it be someone else killing off these teenagers on a supposedly innocent camping trip?

Nightmare at Camp Forrestwood has an intriguing plot. The essential characters are all there to make it an appealing mystery. The heroine, her love interest, the unkind popular girls, the jock, and the psychotic loner are introduced into the story, but too much dialogue among the characters keeps the book from being a true cliff hanger. The persona of the real killer of Trisha, Sheila and the other teens needs to be hinted at in the story. If the killer were made into more of a believable bad guy, this young adult whodunit would be a perfect read.