Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson
For fans of past and present mysteries, remote settings, and family drama!
Past: Phillip Ralston is a physician in the 1920s who adopted six children from England and is raising them, along with his biological child, with a strict exercise and study routine based on eugenics. Then, the youngest child is found dead, and an older sibling falls to her death.
Present: Marlowe Wexler takes a summer job on an island where the Ralston family’s mansion still stands. Marlowe is trying to escape the fallout from a truly disastrous date and unknowingly puts herself in real danger. Whatever has yet to come to light regarding the mysterious deaths of the Ralston’s children is something that someone is willing to kill to keep from being revealed.
I will continue to drop everything to read a delicious Maureen Johnson mystery, she understands the genre and delivers the tropes and mystery in a satisfying way for genre fans. If you’ve yet to read her backlist, absolutely pick up Truly, Devious (which starts the trilogy portion of the series). If you prefer a nod to slasher films and camp settings, you can also start with the fourth book, The Box in the Woods, since Johnson doesn’t spoil the trilogy resolve.
(TW: fire / forced drugging (edible) / murder-suicide mentioned, method detail/ child murder/ suspected teen suicide, method detail)