Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson
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.
Expected publication August 6, 2024
Another great read from Maureen Johnson.
There is something about Maureen’s story telling that I love. I think that I mostly like looking into the past to solve a crime when things are usually deadly in the current timeline. I still love the Stevie stories more and really want the next one. But this one was great too.
Marlowe takes her crush to the house she’s house sitting for. She buys a candle with her crush’s favorite smell. That was the start of her bad summer. The candle exploded and started a fire. It was an accident, but Marlowe felt horrible. She’s offered a job on a small island with a home called Morning House. It was recently sold and the owners agreed to open it up for one season of tours. The house is a mansion on the water. It was built in the early 1920’s and was the scene of two deaths in one day. The deaths were considered accidents, but most people don’t believe that. Most of the family died young in tragic ways so the place is said to be cursed. Marlowe makes new friends and she finds out that she was replacing a boy that recently died. Marlowe starts looking into the past more. The book goes back and forth in time with more information coming out about both timelines and the deaths. There’s a big storm coming and everyone will be trapped on an island not knowing if there’s a killer there with them.
I enjoyed reading this. Heads up on some warnings. The book talks a lot about eugenics in the 20’s. There’s also fire and blood.
I gave this book 5 stars.
Thank you to Netgalley for my earc.
Have you read this? Is it on your TBR?
