said_scarlett | I NEED YOUR HELP!

Okay, every so often, I get to thinking about things like TV shows I watched when I was young, or books I've read. Nija and I got off on talking about what we used to read, and we were discussing horror/supernatural books....

And I remembered this book. Actually, a series of books, but I only vividly recall one - which I think is the second in the series. What I remember is this:

There was (I believe) a group of friends who solved supernatural/paranormal mysteries. I think it was two guys and a girl. I'm pretty sure they lived in New York. And the plot of the book revolved around werewolves. there was a new guy at school, and he was kind of weird, and there were these reports of animals being brutally torn apart - things like pigeons and whatnot - and I the school was putting on a play of The Hound of the Baskervilles. And the weird kid was a werewolf, and I think his stepdad had turned him, or it was his stepdad who was the werewolf, and to reverse the curse and become human again the werewolf had to swim backwards across a body of water.... Oh, and he was playing the Hound in the play. And I think the female friend was somewhere else, because I remember the main kid writing a letter to her, or something, and them doing werewolf research and having to coordinate with her or something....

And the main kid lived in an apartment.

If any of this rings a bell, PLEASE HELP! I am going nuts trying to remember the name of this book, and the author, and all that good stuff. I might be smooshing various books into one, but I know the Hound of the Baskervilles thing, the swimming backwards thing, and the pigeons being torn apart are in this book.

I know it's in my head, and I think I'm getting a headache I'm trying so hard to remember. :/

ETA: And I've tried looking it up, but everything has failed. Lists of werewolf fiction, lists of fiction referencing Hound of the Baskervilles, etc etc.

After two hours of searching, the database of the Mid-Continental Library system came through, with a function of searching YA fiction series' by genre. After trying 'paranormal' and 'supernatural' to no avail, I found 'The Monster Hunters' series under Mystery, and the book I have been desperately trying to remember for two hours: Mystery of the Midnight Menace.

I feel better now.