Shelf Awareness--Death at Morning House

YA Review: Death at Morning House

Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson (HarperTeen, 384p., ages 12-up, 9780063255951)

Secrets abound in Death at Morning House, a sure-handed, suspenseful story that combines ominous mystery, droll wit, and queer romance.

Marlowe Wexler's first date with longtime crush Akilah Jones does not go well. After a romantic dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, Marlowe brings Akilah back to the cottage she's housesitting and her petrichor-scented candle turns Marlowe into an accidental arsonist. Marlowe decides she'll "ghost... the world," but instead receives a job offer that will let her leave town altogether: leading tours at an infamous Prohibition-era mansion. The abandoned manor, where two of the extremely wealthy Ralston family's children died tragically on the same day, is being opened to the public for one summer. Marlowe agrees to join the crew, only to learn upon arrival that her colleagues are all locals who have already started the season--and she is replacing a guide who drowned after falling off a cliff. Buried secrets bubble to the surface, Marlowe's boss goes missing, and a "swirling, biblical mess" of a storm turns the tour guides' spooky ice cream party into a nightmare. As Marlowe watches history repeat itself, her brain begins to "assemble the pieces" and she homes in on the mansion's truths.

Maureen Johnson (Truly Devious series) has written an atmospheric, entertaining detective story with multiple entwined mysteries. Marlowe's contemporary narration is augmented by accounts from various Ralston children in 1932, effectively capturing readers' curiosity. Johnson imbues her writing with ominous undercurrents, yet Marlowe's wry voice manages to entertain, even as tragedies unfurl. This is a gripping, darkly funny, and gratifying YA mystery. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author.