INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Jocelyn, Marthe

Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: Peril at Owl Park

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Isabelle Follath. Jocelyn turns to the "country house party" trope in this entertaining Aggie Morton sequel (The Body Under the Piano, rev. 1/20). Twelve-year-old Aggie (loosely based on Agatha Christie) and her friend Hector Perot are spending Christmas at Owl Park, where Aggie's sister, newly a baroness, is learning to be mistress of a great house. The mystery begins when the other guests arrive. One guest, Lakshay Sivam, is carrying a possibly cursed emerald, which he plans to return to his native Sri Lanka; it disappears just as one of the actors hired to entertain the house party is murdered--and then Lakshay goes missing. Although the police take charge, Aggie, Hector, and their new friend Lucy can't stop themselves from doing some investigating of their own. With a solidly plotted whodunit, Jocelyn keeps readers guessing through a complex cast of suspects, all with something to hide, and enough red herrings to keep any detective on her toes. Despite the high stakes, the book keeps a generally light tone, making for an enjoyable read. Jocelyn touches on deeper issues, including Aggie's concerns about her widowed mother's ongoing depression, but the action always takes center stage.

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