Before reading “No One Else Can Have You” by Kathleen Hale, a word of warning is given, readers must embrace their inner weirdo. Taking place in Friendship, Wisconsin where they never have to lock a door… until the  town’s population goes from 689 to 688.  Kippy Bushman is 16, and her best friend Ruth Fried was just murdered in the cornfield behind Kippy’s home.  Ruth’s body was spread out like a scarecrow, each body part chopped into their own piece hanging on the metal wire.  Her throat was stuffed with straw and her lips sewn shut with red thread.  Kippy takes it upon herself to solve the murder of her best friend and find the killer in Friendship. Combining a dishonest sheriff, an overprotective father, a geeky neighbor and falling in love with your dead best friend’s brother could lead to many complications while searching for a loose killer.

Kippy’s weird sense of humor and the characteristics of the small town people, provide this book with a very dark and dry sense of humor.  The one major downfall of the novel is the author’s use of domestic violence and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder as a joke.  The main character Kippy states at a group therapy meeting that Ruth’s brother Davey hits her because of his PTSD and its okay for Davey to hit her because she believes she deserves it. The humor cannot be found within the statements Kippy says.

Kathleen Hale’s dry sense of humor and the fast-paced plot makes it an easy read that entices the reader to the much-unexpected ending.