Sixteen people are mysteriously invited to live in the mysterious Sunset Tower building, in the shadow of the mysterious home of the Mysterious Sam Westing. Before long, Mr. Westing dies, and his heirs (mostly the people who live in this building) are drawn into a mysterious puzzle/contest to see who will inherit the Westing estate. What are people's connections to Mr. Westing? Why did he die? How can they figure out their clues? Who will win the millions?I had this book as a child, but I can't remember if I read it or not. I had a feeling that I had - I was able to puzzle through the main mystery of the clues, but I forgot all of the subsequent details. I enjoyed many of the characters, particularly Turtle Wexler and her sister Angela, the Theodorakis brothers, and Flora Baumbach. I love playing with the ideas of identity, responsibility, greed, and guilt, and those are some of the major themes in this book.
Reading this book was part of my own project to read more middle grade fiction. So look for more reviews of 'vintage' books to come!
Find it at Amazon.
Read it with:
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
This was one of my childhood favorites. I recently found an inexpensive used copy of Raskin's Figgs and Phantoms which I can't remember if I read or not when I was younger. I haven't started it yet, but it's on the top of my pile. It will be interesting to see if any memory of the book comes back to me or not.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you write your reviews, by the way. :)