While Ada and I finish up book three in the Echo Falls trilogy (so far, as good, gripping, and hilarious as the first two):

today’s chilly temps and promise of snow for the impending MLK weekend put me in mind of this:

Yes, another mystery, which Ada and I polished off over Christmas break. Good timing, as it turned out, since the book takes place…over Christmas break. Slight spoiler alert: Although it appears at first to be pure mystery—with hat tips to some of Agatha Christie’s most diabolical plots, with all suspects trapped together in one place as events continue to unfold—this takes a stab at mixing media. A lot of mystery, a little sci-fi.

Whether all this ties satisfactorily together in the end I’ll let other readers decide for themselves. The actual in-the-moment reading of the book doesn’t suffer a bit. Possibly because there’s nothing cozier than snuggling up on a snowy, blustery night with a book that’s set over several even more snowy and blustery nights and days. But also because the hero—and even the potential villains—are likable; the clues given up by an odd old house are compelling; and the back story, which invokes pirates and treasure, but also a young boy’s search for his identity, pull the reader in on fantastical and more groundedly emotional and realistic levels. 

A good read to add to your tween mystery list, especially if the intended reader balks at too much terror.