A slow start to what otherwise became a funny story full of mystery and a dual-timeline Whodunit. Things heat up in the third act with a present-day murder and fires being set, climbing out of windows during a storm and getting drugged in the meantime. A little bit of a Scooby-Doo reveal towards the end but the story wrapped up nice and tight. Death at Morning House was another great Maureen Johnson book that makes me want to keep coming back for more.

Although I have not read the Truly Devious series yet, many of my students have, so I knew I had to read this one when I saw it! I think having NOT read the other series ended up being better for me here, because many other reviews seem to be doing a lot of comparing as opposed to allowing this to be stand-alone.
I really liked Marlowe as a protagonist. I loved reading in her voice and found her to be very funny. I loved the duel timelines and really enjoyed learning about the Ralston family. I do wish I got to know each of the characters just a little bit more. I felt like I only had a surface knowledge of the people Marlowe was spending her summer with. Additionally, I think the reveal of what happened in the 1930s timeline would have had a greater impact had I known the character better. Although the crimes are laid out pretty clearly at the end, motivation (in the 1930s timeline) were still murky and that was slightly frustrating. I felt like there was so much more that could have been explored with that family.
Overall, I do think this was a fun mystery/thriller. I think my students will really love it.

Death at Morning House was just not for me. The plot and characters just didn't grab me the way other books by this author have. One aspect of the book that I did enjoy was that the reader finds out about what happened in 1932 before the characters discover it. The ending was wrapped up pretty neatly, which I appreciated.

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If there’s one thing Maureen Johnson is going to excel at, it’s writing a murder mystery that perfectly blends together 2 time periods.

Putting the pieces together and trying to figure out the murderer both in the past and the present was very intriguing and I will say that while the present murderer was surprising, the past one had me jaw-dropped.

Marlowe was definitely a unique narrator for the story, this poor, anxious, awkward teenager is just doing her best after accidentally ruining a first date by burning a house down and deciding to run away to work at a creepy, old house where people have been murdered.

And then as if the twists in the plot weren’t enough, Maureen Johnson had to get me more time with the twist in the romance subplot. Again, did not see that coming!

My one tiny complaint is I wished we got more development from the side characters in the present. I feel like that’s what made the past reveal so shocking, we had more background on our potential suspects. I wish we’d known more about the people who became Marlowe’s friends.

Overall a very solid read!

As a fan of the Truly Devious series, this is another great mystery from Maureen Johnson. I love a story with interwoven storylines set in different time periods that come together at the end. This book has that and more. A mystery from the past, a mystery from the present, and a lot of fun.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC!

I really enjoyed the Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson, so once I saw there was a new mystery for her, I knew I needed to read it!!

Unfortunately, this was an average read. I was really hoping it would live up to my expectations, but it didn’t. Let’s get into why!

Marlowe just burnt down the house she was house sitting, now she’s got to find a summer job and fast. That’s why she settles to be the tour guide at the creepy place called Morning House.

This book was good, don’t get me wrong! I enjoyed the wit and and the writing as always. I just felt that Truly Devious gave the characters so much more depth and focused more on them than the mystery itself, whereas this book focused more on the mystery. This might be because it was a standalone.

Overall, decent read but not as good as her other books! Looking forward to read more by this author!

While I am still desperate for another Truly Devious book, this was a fun departure! Marlowe was a total mess (affectionately) but I found her so relatable. I really loved the inclusion of the past timeline and how it all played out. This was a really fun and perfect murder mystery for summer.

If you're a fan of the Truly Devious series, you'll definitely like this. It's written very much in the same vein - while it's clearly for a YA audience, it's still enjoyable for adults. I will say, one of the reasons I knocked off a star was that Marlowe as a character does feel a bit more less developed as a character than Stevie; she comes across as more immature and some of her actions are a little cringe-y.

The only other reason I knocked off a star was for continuity issues. As a disclaimer, I did get an uncorrected ARC of this (thank very much to Netgalley andHarperCollins), but I felt like there were a few scenes especially toward the end where characters showed up with no explanation as to where they came from. I don't know if this is fixed in the end product but it was a little disconcerting in the copy I read.

Essentially, there's a scene where the two main characters, Riki and Marlowe, go exploring in a basement. They run into a third character, shenanigans ensue and, suddenly, a fourth character starts talking with the remaining 2 chiming in. Where did you 3 come from? I even went back and re-read the entire scene and those last 3 characters were never mentioned as showing up; they were just there. There was another moment that was also disconcerting in a very similar way even closer to the end.

The highlight of the story were the chapters that happened in the past. They were so well-written and were, really, where the stronger storytelling happened.

Is this book going to change your life? No. For a quick, fun summer read, though, I highly recommend it!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my e-ARC of Death at Morning House!

Unfortunately this one just wasn’t my cup of tea. I didn’t like the back and forth between the timelines as they didn’t feel to be cohesive with one another and therefore felt a bit pointless. The 30s perspective was also a bit unbelievable as well because it was hard to see a girl who grew up then to act the way that she did. I will definitely be checking out more from this author in the future though!

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Death at Morning House is two stories in one. You're finding out what happened to the family in 1932, while also following the story that is going on now. I was riveted, in both stories, I needed to know what happened, and even developed some wild theories while I was at it.

Will I read every YA mystery that Maureen Johnson writes??? Yes. Every single one. I crave another Stevie book daily, so when I saw this was coming out, I was both excited and a little wary thinking about taking a similar format but applying it to a new character. But it really works! Marlowe is a wildly funny and compelling narrator, and the setting, as always in these novels, was exciting and interesting. Maureen Johnson is just so good at this.

There is a reason that Maureen Johnson is one of my favorite YA authors - she writes likeable and believable characters and her mysteries always surprise me. The twists and turns in this book are fresh and well thought out, and had me guessing all the way up until the end. Marlowe is such a quirky character, and her awkwardness is so relatable. I also really enjoyed the Goth love interest, Riki (hilarious and reminded me of 16-year-old me) and Van, the loveable stoner.This book has a smart and intricate plot, interesting and profound characters, and the pacing is so well done, it made it hard to put down!

Marlowe's life literally goes up in flames one night and finds herself working at the Morning House giving tours for the summer. The Morning House was built in the late 1920, and a unique family lived there. However, they were only there for a short time before 2 kids died. They quickly moved out and the house was abandoned. Now it is open for tours and there is Marlowe who finds out that the other people there are hiding secrets and a person goes missing.

This one is a dual timeline. We learn about the events that led up to the deaths at Morning House in the 1920s and then the characters in the present day are also uncovering some of the truth, too!

The family in this one was so strange I could not stop reading about them. I would check trigger warnings because things happen to kids in this one. Overall, a great read!

What a delight of a book. I really enjoyed the narrator, Marlowe, and the escapades that led up to her becoming a tour guide at Morning House. The majority of the story takes place in Alexandria Bay, where I spent a lot of my childhood summers, and it was a treat to spend more time there through this book. I think the resolution at the end came together a bit suddenly and quickly, but I had a great time along the way. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperTeen for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

i loved this book more than i thought i would! the dual timelines, from the Prohibition era in the U.S. to modern day, was so well done and wasn't at all difficult to keep up. the writing was easy to follow, and every single character had elements that made them stand out on their own. you could easily remember who each character was.

the main plot follows Marlowe as she navigates her summer after an accidental fire she caused while trying to impress a girl. the guilt and embarrassment she felt lead her to lose her job and end up working as a tour guide on an island where a large mansion sits. this mansion tells the secondary plot of the peculiar Ralston family: a wealthy doctor, his sister, his retired actress wife, five adopted kids, their biological child. they lived in this house during the Prohibition era along with their staff.

the interest in this mansion in modern day surrounds the mysterious deaths of two of the children and the way the family left their home immediately after, leaving it empty for several decades. for one summer only, the new owners of the island is allowing tours of the place under the watchful eye of Dr. Henson, who is writing a book about the Ralstons. Dr. Henson employs teens April, Van, Lianni, Tom, Riki, and then Marlowe to lead the tours.

secrets start to unfold around the group, causing Marlowe to wonder why she was really chosen and if she really belonged there. then something happens that creates chaos among the teens right before a big storm hits the island. now they have to navigate the storm outside and within. eventually, the chaos of the past and present reveals itself to Marlowe and Riki.

this book really hooked me in fast and took me on crazy rollercoaster ride. the revelations from past and present had my jaw on the floor, especially in the way they align. you knew it made sense why it happened, but can't believe that it happened the way it did. i just know i'll be rereading this in the future. and that's why it's 5 STARS for me! highly recommend.

thank you to NetGalley & HarperCollins for allowing me to read this book. i received this book as an ARC and leave this review voluntarily.

Initially, I was so excited by this book in the hopes that it was next in the Truly Devious series. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it is a stand-alone mystery that held my attention from beginning to end. Marlowe is kind of a walking disaster after she accidentally burns down a house on her first date. After, she has a new job at Morning House where she meets a handful of other teens, who are all local, working there in different roles for the summer. The director/adult who helped bring Marlowe to this new job goes missing, and things begin to unravel at Morning House. It doesn't help that Morning House has an interesting history with two dead children and a father who was heavily into the eugenics movement. Teen readers will enjoy the mystery with this book, and the fact that it wraps up loose ends nicely.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
4.25/5
This books was such a fun read. It follows Marlowe, who after a horrible date that ended in a house fire, takes a job as a tour guide at Morning House. The house is known for its tragic history as the family who lived there previously had their four year old son die in a drowning accident, and their oldest daughter jump off the roof in grief. Not to mention the local tragic accident that happened during the past school year. The whole house and surround islands seemed clouded with mystery and death.
Throughout the whole book, Marlowe was such a fun narrator, and kept me interested despite a bit of a slow start. I enjoyed the dual timeline between the Morning House in the 30’s and modern day. I also loved that Marlowe was an openly lesbian character, where one of the main plot lines wasn’t about homophobia.
The mystery was interesting and I never really knew where it was going. I loved the whole aesthetic of old money during prohibition. The dialogue and narration had me laughing at several point.
I would recommend this book to people who loved We Were Liars and Umbrella Academy. So excited for this books official release!

honestly i have read several books by this author, but none have taken the cake like this one. the characters, and plot was sooo intriguing… and it was ya *a little predictable but so good* but it was not like her other ya books. i cannot explain it well without spoilers, so i shall return when the books are in the hands of everyone and not just the arc readers! thanks so much to the publisher and net galley for the opportunity to read this with an exchange of a review! definitely pick this mystery up for a spooky read this august or September

In a similar tone to her former series, Truly Devious, Johnson writes about a cold case from the 1920s intermixed with teens from today attempting to solve it. Marlow, the main character, needs a change of scenery, so she agrees to be a tour guide on an island for the summer. This requires her to live there with the other guides, in the Morning House, the mansion built in the 1920s for a rather quirky family. Marlow doesn’t know anything about what she is getting herself into, but she quickly realizes there is a lot of drama in the group–and a history of a few murders on the island. Highly recommended for anyone who likes a good murder mystery and especially those who enjoyed Truly Devious. Johnson delivers another mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end.

In 1932, tragedy struck the Ralston family when two of the seven Ralston children died in a single day. Seemingly cursed, the family continued to suffer through the years, ultimately abandoning its opulent home in the Thousand Islands region of New York. Nearly one hundred years later, a teen named Marlowe accidentally burns down a house on her first date with a longtime crush, and when she is given the chance to escape the judgmental eyes of her neighbors, she takes it. Marlowe finds herself working on the fated Ralston family estate, and it seems that whatever curse was following the Ralstons may not yet be finished.

This engaging young adult novel is well written and reads easily from the first pages. The narrative alternates between Marlowe’s voice in the first person and those of the Ralston siblings—in the third person—near the time of the first deaths. Because of this design, readers are able to piece together elements of the mystery alongside the characters, often knowing more than the protagonists themselves. While there are some predictable elements within the narrative, these pieces add a comfort and flow to the storytelling that make this book well suited to a casual summer read.

Much like other books by Maureen Johnson, each character has a unique voice and clear motives, which helps differentiate among them as the narrative progresses. Inclusions of diverse human experiences make the storytelling more robust than it might otherwise be, and these elements in the present day are starkly contrasted against the more conservative nature of the Ralston family. In both timelines, secrets simmer beneath the surface, and Marlowe ultimately becomes the ideal sleuth in her unfamiliar landscape. Brief chapters, a stream-of-consciousness storytelling style, and an engaging premise elevate the momentum of this novel. This is a strong addition to contemporary fiction collections for young adult readers.