Scan barcode
A review by the_fabric_of_words
Midnight at the Barclay Hotel by Fleur Bradley
5.0
This mystery is for lower elementary kiddos, a bit on the younger side, as the mystery's not terribly complicated. It features 12-year-olds JJ, who fancies himself a ghost hunter, and Penny, whose father was a proper police detective, albeit now retired, and hotel ghost-under-their-noses Emma.
JJ and Penny's parents are summoned to a free luxurious weekend at the Barclay Hotel, but in reality, they're being framed -- or at least held up as possible suspects -- for a murder. All of them had contentious dealings with the owner of the hotel, who they're told has turned up dead. (Note, no body on scene.) It's up to the kids to figure out who actually killed whom. Emma poses as the daughter of the chef, although it's made perfectly clear to the reader that she, the midnight cat, the groundskeeper and others are mere shadows of what they were in life.
Along the way, JJ figures he'll catch some ghosts. The mansion is said to be haunted, and he sets up his cameras and other equipment. Penny's the realist, who doesn't believe in ghosts, at all. And Emma...she keeps popping up or disappearing into thin air, when neither JJ or Penny expect it, but for quite a while there's no hard evidence Emma's anything other than a girl who lives at the hotel.
There's a fairly big plot twist toward the end that involves identity theft and stepping into someone else's shoes, almost literally, so I won't say much more.
Enjoy this slightly spooky middle grade mystery!
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
JJ and Penny's parents are summoned to a free luxurious weekend at the Barclay Hotel, but in reality, they're being framed -- or at least held up as possible suspects -- for a murder. All of them had contentious dealings with the owner of the hotel, who they're told has turned up dead. (Note, no body on scene.) It's up to the kids to figure out who actually killed whom. Emma poses as the daughter of the chef, although it's made perfectly clear to the reader that she, the midnight cat, the groundskeeper and others are mere shadows of what they were in life.
Along the way, JJ figures he'll catch some ghosts. The mansion is said to be haunted, and he sets up his cameras and other equipment. Penny's the realist, who doesn't believe in ghosts, at all. And Emma...she keeps popping up or disappearing into thin air, when neither JJ or Penny expect it, but for quite a while there's no hard evidence Emma's anything other than a girl who lives at the hotel.
There's a fairly big plot twist toward the end that involves identity theft and stepping into someone else's shoes, almost literally, so I won't say much more.
Enjoy this slightly spooky middle grade mystery!
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/