Jenna Blake is just like any other student at Somerset College except that there are not many others who would consider a part-time job assisting the local pathologist carry out autopsies on the unusually large number of corpses that crop up in the town. She inevitably finds herself drawn into investigations into the murder of some of her fellow students.

When Jenna started her relationship with Damon neither of them cared about their different ethnic origins but following a spate of apparently racially motivated attacks they find themselves the centre of a lot of unwelcome attention. As tensions rise the white and black communities become more divided and Jenna and Damon come under increasing pressure regarding their relationship.

As the bodies roll into the morgue Jenna becomes more involved in the conflict, at the same time realising that the differences are putting extreme pressure on her relationship – a situation that she is not confident they will be able to ride out. Soon she finds herself drawn even deeper into the investigation when she becomes the latest target of the attacker and, against the will of her boyfriend, she takes the decision to act as bait in a police trap to discover the identity of the murderer. But no one could have foreseen the truth about the mysterious killer.

The Jenna Blake books are classic teen adventures where a young student frequently becomes involved in police investigations and inevitably manages to be the only person to find the solution. OK, in reality you know that this sort of thing would never happen but as a teen-adventure they are thoroughly entertaining.

What is quite refreshing about the Jenna Blake novels is the way that they address some quite controversial subjects. In the case of Skin Deep the main theme is racial tolerance. Although Jenna and Damon are not initially concerned that their skins are of a different colour the increasing racial tensions force them both to reconsider their situation. However, as you might expect, prejudice cannot be victorious and the underlying theme is that the colour of our skin or our ethnic origin should not make any difference to our personal relationships.

It is a brave author that faces such subjects straight on and Christopher Golden does just that, writing with a sensitivity and understanding that does the subject matter justice.