A review by planet_taffy
The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene, Mildred Benson

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Keene presents us with two mysteries that intertwine, both with high stakes and exciting twists and turns. I really liked the closed setting of this one, focusing mainly on Twin Elms mansion and taking us out of River Heights for a change; old colonial mansions are one of my favorite settings for mysteries (and hauntings). The quality of the mystery and of the writing itself is greatly improved from the first book. I have no complaints really, other than I'm disappointed to have misremembered George and Bess as being introduced much earlier in the series. (Still no sign of them.)

The deciding factor between four and five stars was how much of this book stayed with me since first reading it in middle school. I'm still haunted by

the idea of a face appearing in a darkened window

or

faint music coming from the empty second floor

. Hard to deny a book that stayed with me for that long a five star rating.