Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson isn't a Truly Devious Book...Right? (book review)

GENRE: YA Mystery

LENGTH: 370 pages

PLOT

After accidentally setting a house on fire, Marlowe escapes to Ralston Island to work a summer job giving tours of Morning House where a cursed wealthy family once lived. The story has a duel present and past (early 1930s timeline) following a present day mystery and the past deaths in the Ralston family.

CHARACTERS

The main characters in the present timeline are Marlowe, Riki, Liani, Tom, April, and Van, who are the teenage workers on the island. All of them, with the exception of Marlowe, were childhood friends. Prior to the events of the novel one of their other friends, Chris, died, and since then there has been a fracture in their friendships. Johnson did a very good job conveying that tension between the characters.

I didn't necessarily love Marlowe as a protagonist. She's too passive and I also feel she was too simply written. We know she's lesbian and has an enormous crush on a girl named Akilah and that she accidentally set a house fire - that's pretty much it. Also, she has no real connection to either the past or present mysteries unlike other characters.

The characters in the past story line are the Ralston family - patriarch Philip, his wife Faye, Philip's children, and his sister Dagmar. The family members who died tragically on the same day in July were Clara and youngest child Max.

Philip is a very controlling man who is a firm supporter of eugenics. These two things are the very things that lead to the ultimate falling of his family. He's his own worst enemy. Clara was my favorite character - she's like a wild bird that has been caught and kept in a gilded cage.

WRITING

This novel is a standalone. It is told from the alternating present day perspective of Marlowe and the past perspectives of the Ralston children. The novel does a great job with foreshadowing; pay attention to everything as it's likely to come back later in the story.

This is the most unsettled I've felt reading a Johnson book - but oddly enough that's a compliment as that's the atmosphere that felt appropriate The setting feels like a house haunted by its past and terrorized by its present.

It's impossible for me not to compare this book to the Truly Devious series as those are the other Johnson books I've read. I could very easily see Stevie (Truly Devious' true crime aficionado protagonist) transplanted here to replace Marlowe. Stevie would be obsessed with the history and mystery of the island's family. Even the dual timeline style mimics that of Truly Devious. I mentioned to my friend that I really liked this book but that it was probably because it reads so much like that series. I will say, though, that this book kept my attention. I've been going through a semi-reading slump for months, but I devoured this story.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Despite my critiques of Marlowe as a protagonist and its similarity to Maureen's other books, I still rated this book fairly high. As mentioned, I like the format regardless of if it's a little too familiar. While there were parts I saw coming, there were others that had me guessing. I had fun reading this book, and at the end of the day I think that's what's most important in any reading experience.

FINAL RATING: 3.75⭐️