Review: DEATH AT MORNING HOUSE, Maureen Johnson

• 
  This edition made available as an e-book on Libby by my local library
  
• Published by HarperTeen, 2024
• ISBN: 9780063255975
• ISBN 10: 0063255979
• Pages: 384
• Age: From 14 years  

Synopsis (publisher)

From the bestselling author of the Truly Devious books, Maureen Johnson, comes a new stand-alone YA about a teen who uncovers a mystery while working as a tour guide on an island and must solve it before history repeats itself.

The fire wasn’t Marlowe Wexler’s fault. Dates should be hot, but not hot enough to warrant literal firefighters. Akilah, the girl Marlowe has been in love with for years, will never go out with her again. No one dates an accidental arsonist.

With her house-sitting career up in flames, it seems the universe owes Marlowe a new summer job, and that’s how she ends up at Morning House, a mansion built on an island in the 1920s and abandoned shortly thereafter. It’s easy enough, giving tours. Low risk of fire. High chance of getting bored talking about stained glass and nut cutlets and Prohibition.

Oh, and the deaths. Did anyone mention the deaths?

Maybe this job isn’t such a gift after all. Morning House has a horrific secret that’s been buried for decades, and now the person who brought her here is missing.

All it takes is one clue to set off a catastrophic chain of events. One small detail, just like a spark, could burn it all down—if someone doesn’t bury Marlowe first.

My Take

A murder mystery set in two time frames: the present and nearly a century ago. 

Marlowe Wexler has accidentally set fire to a house with an exploding candle and now her reputation as a pyromaniac precedes her.  She is offered a job on a river island as a tour guide for the summer and it seems a good opportunity for a fresh start.

But now there is murder and mystery to investigate for it appears that nearly 100 years ago a boy and his older sister died on this island. And just before Marlow arrived, there was another death.

Well written with interesting characters.

My rating: 4.5

About the author

Maureen Johnson is the bestselling author of several novels, including 13 Little Blue Envelopes, the Truly Devious series, the Suite Scarlett series, and the Shades of London series. She has also written collaborative works such as Let It Snow with John Green and Lauren Myracle and the Bane Chronicles with Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan. Maureen lives in New York and online on Twitter @maureenjohnson or at maureenjohnsonbooks.com.