Guy Langman, crime scene procrastinator - Josh Berk

Guy Langman can't be bothered with much. But when his friend Anoop wants Guy to join the forensics club with him in the (possibly misguided) hopes of impressing some girls, Guy thinks why not.

They certainly aren't expecting to find a real dead body on the simulated crime scene they're assigned to collect evidence from. But after some girlish, undignified screaming, the two realize it is indeed a body. Which means they have stumbled across a real, dead murder victim.

Meanwhile, Guy has been looking into the past of his father-a larger-than-life character who recently passed away. He was much older than Guy's mom, and had a whole past Guy never even knew about. Could his father's past and the dead body be linked? Does Guy want to know? He's going to need all his newfound forensics skills to find out . . .

JOSH BERK is the author of The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin . He lives in Allentown, Pennsylvania, with his wife and two children, and is a children's services librarian at the Allentown Public Library.

Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2012:
"Hilarious wit and serious gloom blend seamlessly as Guy wades through the year after his dad's death...Guy's running inner monologue is sharply observational, sardonic, funny and sad...Best friend Anoop and other peers are freshly unusual, not recycled character types."