The Addams Family meets The Westing Game in this exhilarating mystery about a modern magical dynasty trapped in the ruins of their once-grand, now-crumbling ancestral home.
Twelve-year-old Garnet regrets that she doesn't know her family. Her mother has done her best to keep it that way, living far from the rest of the magical Carrefour clan and their dark, dangerous mansion known as Crossroad House. But when Garnet finally gets summoned to the estate, it isn't quite what she hoped for. Her relatives are strange and quarrelsome, each room in Crossroad House is more dilapidated than the last, and she can't keep straight which dusty hallways and cobwebbed corners are forbidden. Then Garnet learns the family secret: their dying patriarch fights to retain his life by stealing power from others. Every accident that isn't an accident, every unexpected illness and unexplained disappearance grants Jasper Carrefour a little more time. While the Carrefours squabbles over who will inherit his role when (if) he dies, Garnet encounters evidence of an even deeper curse. Was she brought to Crossroad House as part of the curse . . . or is she meant to break it? Written with loads of creepy atmosphere and an edge-of-your-seat magical mystery, this thrilling story reads like The Haunting of Hill House for preteens. Perfect for late-night reading under the covers.
-summary and cover via Goodreads
Review: This was such a well written, interesting, and truly terrifying MG read! I started reading this before bed one night, and ended up finishing it the following afternoon, because I just had to know what would happen to the Carrefour family. This book was so creepy, and I loved it! The magic was interesting. Garnet was a great main character, and I loved getting to know (at least most of them) the other members of her family. Even though this book stands on its own, I really hope we get another book with this family! I think there are so many possibilities for more books. Overall, I loved this MG novel, and I would highly recommend reading it!
I received an e-ARC from the publisher.
The premise of this is so striking! Glad you enjoyed it. I'll have to check it out.
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