Winterhouse

Elizabeth Somers has lived with her aunt and uncle since her parents died seven years ago, and there is no love lost between them.

One day in December, she returns from school to find the house locked up and an envelope and a plastic bag taped to the door...her aunt and uncle have gone away on winter vacation and left a train ticket in the envelope for Elizabeth to get to Winterhouse, a mysterious hotel in the north woods. In the plastic bag is a change of clothes and $3 for the trip.

The train trip is long and uneventful, until Elizabeth realizes she's being watched. A man and a woman traveling with a mysterious coffin-shaped wooden box are staring at her whenever she looks up from her book. At last, she reaches Winterhouse but so does the other couple. They are all to be guests for the winter vacation.

The owner of the hotel, Norbridge Falls, welcomes Elizabeth to the hotel and says her three-week stay has been paid in full. The very first night, Elizabeth leaves her room to check out the library, but finds it locked (and she's not the only one trying to get in.)

The very next day, Elizabeth meets Freddy, another puzzle aficionado and anagram designer extraordinaire. His family has also deposited him at the inn while they go on vacation. With Freddy's help, Elizabeth begins to explore Winterhouse inside and outside.

What are the mysterious lights in the library at night, and why is one wing of Winterhouse locked up?

Who is the mysterious couple with the coffin-shaped box, and why are they always watching Elizabeth? Then Elizabeth finds a secret book in the library one night. But why are the magic letters appearing to only her and only one at a time, and what does the secret code in the family portrait gallery mean? And what is the secret of Elizabeth's parentage?

Such a interesting premise and an exciting beginning! A book-loving orphan and a mysterious hotel, with puzzles included with each chapter heading. Elizabeth is so likable; she is an expert at puzzles, crosswords, and anagrams, and she keeps a notebook of lists she creates. Add a puzzle-loving, scientific-minded inventor friend, a multi-level midnight library, locked rooms, a gallery of family portraits, an intriguing family tree, a winter resort playground, and numerous secret codes, and you have the perfect setting for a mystery.

But many parents will have some concerns.

Elizabeth is prone to get premonitions. She is overcome by an indescribable feeling and then something happens...thumps are heard, a light fixture falls off the ceiling and misses her by inches, books fall off the library shelf, etc. Toward the end of the book, Elizabeth “trains” herself to levitate a mysterious book with secret writing that she found in the library by concentrating all her energies upon it. She also unleashes a wandering spirit by compulsively chanting an incantation. This malevolent spirit finally finds her long-lost body (a mysterious missing member of the Falls family) and tries to kill Norbridge, Freddy, and Elizabeth. Unfortunately, no explanation is ever given for these strange occurrences.

For those with no qualms about these events, this is a well-written, enjoyable mystery that will keep you hooked from chapter one.

For other books in this genre, check out my reviews for Greenglass House or The Graveyard Book.

CONTENT CONSIDERATIONS

Elizabeth has a fight with her aunt and says, “Someday I'll leave here and never come back!”

Spiritual

a rumor of black magic, premonitions, levitation, a disembodied, malevolent spirit