Mystery/Supernatural
308 pages
Denis died 5 years ago after being abducted from an amusement park, but there’s a mystery surrounding what really happened. His parents are too sad to think about it, and his death is tearing them apart, but his twin brother Matt can’t let go. The two boys have such a connection that Matt basically summons his brother’s ghost without really knowing it. Denis had been adjusting to his new afterlife where he was close with his great grandmother GeeGee when he was ensnared by his brother’s plot to solve his murder. He couldn’t really ignore his brother’s determination to get to the bottom of what happened.
The story is both touching and edge-of-your-seat suspenseful. The twists and strange connections are a definite hook. I’d recommend this book to any middle school reader who likes a good mystery and is open to the possibility of ghosts haunting or at least making their presence known to people in the real world.
This book is a classic mystery with a YA twist. The crime, the death of a student, occurs within the first 25 pages. and all the suspects have a motive and secrets to hide. It’s the scene of the crime, a high school detention room, that makes the mystery so original and intriguing. As in most mysteries, the possibilities for a motive are classic: jealousy, love, and revenge. But the story had me gripped because each character tells his or her perspective and I really didn’t want any of them to be guilty. The author threw in a few good distractions with high school drama and the media, so it was easy to lose sight of the clues. However, by reading closely, everything necessary for solving the mystery is there. I challenge you to solve the crime before the truth is revealed!