The black queen

When Nova, Lovett High School's first black homecoming queen, is murdered the night of her coronation, her best friend, Duchess, finds an unlikely ally in her search for the killer--her prime suspect, Tinsley, the white rival nominee for queen.
Nova Albright was murdered the night of her coronation as the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High. Her body was found the next morning in the old slave cemetery she spent her weekends rehabilitating. Everyone in Lovett knows Tinsley McArthur-- wealthy, white-- would do anything to carry on the McArthur tradition of wearing the homecoming crown. Nova's best friend, Duchess Simmons, is the daughter of the first Black police captain in Lovett. She is convinced that Tinsley killed Nova-- but her father is doing what he always does. Which means that the white girl is going to walk. To prove Tinsley's guilt, Duchess will have to get close to her. But Tinsley has an agenda, too.... -- adapted from jacket