Release date: DECEMBER 1, 2015
Delacorte Press/ Random House Kids Books
MIDDLE GRADE/ ages 10 and up
ISBN: 978-0-385-74471-3
Authors: Jessica Haight & Stephanie Robinson
Illustrator: Roman Muradov
Publicity Contact: Samuel Terris [email protected]
thrilled that her family is moving thousands of miles from civilization to the
quiet country town of Ashpot, Connecticut, where she’s absolutely certain
she’ll die of boredom.
As if leaving Manhatten and her best friend,
Lizzy, the only other member of the elite Detective Mystery Squad, weren’t bad
enough, Fairday is stuck living in the infamous Begonia House, a creepy old
Victorian with dark passageways, a gigantic dead willow tree, and a mysterious
past.
Before she can even unpack,
strange music coming
from behind a padlocked door leads Fairday up a spiral staircase and into a
secret room, where she finds an ancient mirror, a brass key, and a curious portrait
of a red-haired lady. These seemingly unrelated items prove to be the first in
a series of clues that takes Fairday, the visiting Lizzy, and their new squad
member, Marcus, on an amazing adventure.
together the puzzle before it’s too late? Or will whatever’s causing trouble
find Fairday and her friends first?
Catch the Book Buzz. . .
“I really enjoyed this book. It was a marvelously
done, debut, thriller novel. Ms. Robinson and Ms. Haight are great authors that really
pull you into their story. I couldn’t get out until that final sentence. And, by then I
wanted more. To say I want a second book is an understatement. The writing style is
compelling, and makes me feel as if I was there with Fairday and her friends. I really
like the illustrations in the book. They are like the ribbon on a present, or the icing
on the cake. I give this book five out of five bookworms!”
~ Erik
Weibel/ This Kid Reviews Books
“Mixing realism and
fantasy, Haight and Robinson’s debut opens with 11-year-old Fairday’s move from
Manhattan to a small town in Connecticut, where her relentlessly cheerful parents
plan to turn a dilapidated Victorian into a bed and breakfast. No sooner has the
family arrived than eerie sights and sounds begin to haunt Fairday. The house turns
out to hold dark secrets that everybody in town suspects but nobody can explain: a
perfect mission for Fairday and her best friend Lizzy’s Detective Mystery Squad
(DMS).”
~ Publishers Weekly
“Fifth-grader
Fairday Morrow’s new home lives up to its spooky reputation, but she and her
companions in the Detective Mystery Squad find out why. At Begonia House, strains
of bagpipe music issue from behind a padlocked door, grains of sand in an hourglass
have stopped falling, and a malevolent weeping willow looms in the backyard. A
magic mirror shows an invisible door; a wardrobe hides secrets and a portal. Ruby
Begonia vanished more than 50 years ago. Is there also a ghost? Fairday has a new,
helpful friend in classmate Marcus, and her best friend Lizzy can visit on weekends
to help solve the mystery. What more could readers want?”
~ Kirkus
Reviews
with a deep desire to be near the ocean and a
love of the four seasons. She enjoys drawing while standing up and cultivating
magic in her garden. She easily floats away in the pages of a good story and is
still waiting for her owl from Hogwarts.
StephanieRobinson lives with her husband in a quiet
town, though not as quaint as
Ashpot. After teaching fifth grade for almost fifteen years, she is now
enjoying her role as a school media specialist.