A review by tasharobinson
The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring by John Bellairs

4.0

Erik Adams' Halloween write-up of John Bellairs' "The House With The Clock In Its Walls" (http://avc.lu/XqSk8A) reminded me that it's been decades since I revisited Bellairs' work. And as soon as I looked for them on a library shelf, I realized there were a dozen or more of them I never read, that were mostly written in the ’90s. So I'm going back and revisiting them. "The Letter, The Witch, And The Ring" stands up really well as a spooky story that lets the kid protagonist do all the dangerous work without straining credulity or making the adults look dumb or out of touch, and it's a creditable mystery as well. I've missed these books and the way they create an atmosphere of dread and growing inevitability while maintaining a sense of humor and creating quirky, unusual characters.