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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Salerni, Dianne K.

The Tontine Caper

208 pp. | Holiday | April, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9780823458103 $18.99 | Ebook ISBN 9780823462179 $11.99
(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Matt Schu. Salerni (The Carrefour Curse, rev. 3/23) creates a feisty puzzle mystery with a hearty dollop of humor in this intriguing novel. The Precipice Inn welcomes three elderly guests and their families, who have gathered to dissolve, by mutual agreement, the Carbon County Tontine, the contract awarding a vast fortune to the last survivor. Eleven-year-old orphan Nico Lombardi -- overworked bellhop of the Precipice Inn ever since his grandfather died there, saddling him with the tremendous debt of their stay -- needs money to escape his Dickensian servitude and has regretfully turned to a life of crime, pilfering valuables from hotel guests. Unfortunately, the lawyer holding the tontine hasn't yet arrived, and the other guests begin to reveal (to readers, if not to one another) varying degrees of deceit. Whose misdirected luggage contained a set of lock picks? Who has been sneaking around the inn at night? Why does feeble Mr. Ames seem sprightlier in private? The inept murder-minded antics of Mrs. Von Tropp's grandsons are just one example of the hilarious hijinks sprinkled throughout this farce, which registers surprise after surprise until, in a final sleight of hand, Salerni delivers a heartwarming ending that few will see coming. Humorous cartoonlike spot drawings illuminate the characters and inclinations of the inn residents. A well-constructed adventure sure to amuse and entertain readers.
Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2025

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