Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

After 6-year-old Beatrice disappears from an All Hallows Eve party at the Amadeuses’ mansion, Mort Amadeus is wrongfully imprisoned; now, it’s time for a reckoning. Beatrice is only one of many children who’ve gone missing from the area, and Mort’s loved ones know that he is not responsible. Thirteen years after the event, Maribelle, Mort’s wife, and Wormwood, the Amadeuses’ caretaker, invite several eccentric guests to the scene of the crime for another All Hallows Eve party. They’ve been hand-picked for their curious talents, and they can’t leave the party until they’ve identified the real culprit among their number—and the statute of limitations for the crime will be up at midnight. The countdown is reflected in each chapter heading, heightening the tension. As the guests move from room to room, they decipher clues and conduct interviews. Their unusual techniques, enlivened by fantasy elements, include creating a specter hound, consulting folklore, resurrecting and talking with a deceased bird witness, and examining an odd scarecrow. It would be terrifying if it weren’t so gloriously zany. Plus, the individual taking the lead on the case is Dewey O’Connor, an 11-year-old child who just needs to point the finger before it’s too late. This atmospheric, magic-infused mystery with an unsettling ending is a party readers won’t want to miss. Major characters read white. Devilishly clever. (Mystery. 9-13) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Publishers Weekly
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In the remote European town of Nevermore, a child disappears each year around All Hallows’ Eve. Even so, 13 years ago, the Incident—the vanishing of the mayor’s six-year-old daughter from the Amadeus family’s annual All Hallows’ Eve party—rocked the community. In the aftermath, no satisfying explanation is found, but Mort Amadeus is arrested, and the Amadeuses cast a spell over their Inkwoods-situated home. Now, six unexpected invitations to the Amadeus mansion bid guests to return for an October 31 gathering. When the manor doors lock until midnight, the caper becomes a Clue-style mystery meant to root out those responsible for the event. Attendees include an alchemist, an heiress, a hypnotist, and a spy—as well as 11-year-old Dewey O’Connor, who systematically assesses possible suspects. Ghost dogs, unsettling scarecrows, a sinister groundskeeper, and heaps of eerie clues await the partygoers and their shadowy hosts. Supplying a relentless tempo to this uneasy whodunit, the chapter headings count down to midnight as Schmidt (The Dreamweavers) pits the wary guests against both the clock and one another in a fiendishly clever mystery whose atmosphere is thick with fevered accusations and Halloween fun. Protagonists read as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Adria Goetz, Martin Literary Management. (Sept.)