Review
Marlowe finally gets a date with Akilah, the girl of her dreams and fellow ice cream shop employee, but – during the date – manages to burn down a house with a defective scented candle. (It cost $US30! It was a quality candle!) Embarrassed by her new reputation as a firebug and heartbroken by Akilah’s defection to the Cheesecake Factory, she snatches at an opportunity to get out of town.
Her history teacher has recommended her for a last minute summer gig as a tour guide on Ralston Island, the site of an opulent historical mansion – Morning House – which was abandoned in 1932, the day after the Ralston family’s four year old son drowned and their eldest daughter flung herself off a balcony. The house has only just been opened to visitors.
Marlowe arrives to find an amazing house full of nooks, crannies and secret passages, a snooty history professor researching the Ralston family, and five local teenage employees, all of whom have been friends forever but seem to be very tense and secretive. Just what happened to cause this last minute job vacancy? And what really happened on that tragic day in 1932?
*
Fans of Maureen Johnson (me!) will be familiar with her penchant for weaving cold case historical mysteries with related contemporary mysteries, creating a double timeline. Like Truly Devious, this novel involves wealthy and eccentric 1930s men, their creepy mansions and unsolved tragedies. Dr. Philip Ralston had six highly talented adopted children, a sister, and a glamorous movie star wife and their young biological son, as well as an obsession with health & digestion (daily calisthenics, daily swimming, vegetarianism, lots of yoghurt & mushy peas, no alcohol, tea, coffee, white flour or sugar) and weird beliefs about eugenics: a creepy pseudo-science, beloved by fascists and racists, that was very popular in the 1930s. Johnson switches between Marlowe’s first person contemporary adventures and the third person events of 1932, building the reader’s curiosity and anticipation. Marlowe has a funny, self-deprecating & intelligent* voice that should keep readers engaged through her (customary) slow burn lead up to the juicy bits. Suitable for 13+.
Verdict: 1930s cold case tangles with contemporary tragedy in funny & thrilling murder mystery.
> Click here for content warnings (potential spoilers – enter at own risk!)
YA depictions/reports of: drownings; violent deaths caused by falling from great heights; house fires; arson; recreational drug use (not by main character); underage drinking (not by main character); murder; non-consensual drugging; perilous situations; ‘hooking up’ (reported, not described – extent is vague); friendship group tensions partially caused by romantic entanglements & infidelity; eugenic beliefs; malicious gossip; decomposing body; detached tooth; lies about paternity; brief mention of AIDS; brief mention of alcohol addiction; adoption; commitment to a psychiatric facility; deaths due to WW2 bombs (brief report); fatal heart attack (brief report); drink driving leading to fatal car accident (brief report); suicide and seeming suicide. Occasional profanity – f & s words.
* Have you ever heard of the Voynich Manuscript before? I hadn’t.
*
Johnson, M. (2024). Death at Morning House. HarperTeen.
Cover art © 2024 by Sasha Vinogradova
Cover lettering and design by Jessie Gang
(And may I say how much I love the cover – beautiful AND full of little nods to the narrative. Check it out after you’ve read it.)
Images are used on this blog post under the “Fair dealing for criticism or review” provision of the Commonwealth Copyright Act, 1968.
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE LIBRARY... 
One Comment Add yours