THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND PUBLISHER FOR THIS ADVANCE REVIEW COPY IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW
It's been a month since I've been forcing myself to read this book. I am giving up, 100 pages in, and can't relate or connect to anything.

This was one I couldn’t put down, and I can’t wait to have a physical copy to hold! I’m writing this review at 12:13 in the morning because it was too tense to not finish before bed. Death At Morning House has all the things I love about the Stevie Bell series, and all the things I love about crime dramas, and its queer AF (and since I read this during Pride Month, the queerness of this one is appreciated). Marlowe Wexler, our weird and wonderful protagonist, wouldn’t be out of place hanging out and solving crimes with Dr. Spencer Reid & the BAU of Criminal Minds, or the Detectives of Manhattan SVU, except for the fact that she’s a teenager just trying to make some money on her summer break.

Marlowe Wexler is the kind of funky little lesbian I would’ve had a crush on in high school (if I’d been out to myself then, let alone anyone else). She’s a little anxious, kind of a loner, but whip smart and secretly hilarious. She’s a great narrator, and a shockingly good detective, which is shocking mostly because she didn’t set out to spend her last summer before college solving a murder. Marlowe and her found family (yes, they qualify. How could you not, after what they went through together?) remind me of my high school friends, and they’re absolutely the kind of people I would’ve loved to read about when I was a teenage book nerd.

I don’t see this one spinning off into a series, the way the Stevie Bell novels are, but I would be delighted to be wrong about that. Maureen Johnson has been one of my favorite authors since I was her target audience, and even though I’m a whole adult, I look forward to every new chapter she writes. I would have loved this story when I was 16 just as much as I love it as a woman in her 30s.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½ (there really should be a ½ star emoji for things like this, but you just have to work with what you’ve got)

DNF. I didn't realize the book was LGBTQ+ and that is just not my reading style. I thought Marlowe was a boy name. *sheepish* Many apologies to the author and the publisher, but thank you for giving me a chance! I know many people will love this book, it's just not for me.

Thanks to Net Galley and Harper Collins for the ARC!

Death at Morning House is a twisty, YA mystery with thrills and surprises you never expect. Marlowe needs a summer job after a fiery end to her school (pun intended). She’s offered a tour guide position on a nearby island, to show tourists Morning House, a home of grandiose, mystery, and death. Marlowe meets a series of quirky characters on the island. The more time she spends at the house, she soon realizes that the house has many secrets. Before the wealthy family left the house, there were two accidental deaths at the house. Soon, Marlowe realizes there are more mysteries to solve than she bargained for.

This book, at the heart, is a great mystery. The author weaves clues throughout the story but you can’t pick them up until you’ve finished the book. The plot twists in this book slap you in the face. If you’re looking for a great mystery set in a spooky house, you’ve found it! Expected August 6th, 2024.

I always enjoy this author. Shades of London is my favorite series by this author. This read is good but not quite as good as Shades of London. I will continue reading this author.
Thanks so much for the chance to read this book and I’m looking forward to reading more.

I have read all of Maureen Johnson's other books, and this one follows her characteristic writing style of creating a dark, atmospheric mystery. The novel is told in alternating timelines, fluctuating between the time of the tragedy at Morning House in 1932 and the present day. Johnson's description of the Morning House is so lush and detailed that the reader will be transported into this picturesque locale. Our protagonist, Marlowe, agrees to be a tour guide at the tragedy-stricken Morning House to get away from her relationship troubles and reputation as a firebug. Tourists flock to Morning House to gawk at the location where two of the Ralstons died, but Marlowe stumbles across another mystery. Marlowe learns that she is replacing the sixth in a group of friends who died in an accident at a prom afterparty. Together with the mysterious Liani, sturdy Tom, chatty Alice, easygoing Van, and enigmatic Riki, Marlowe throws herself into being a tour guide and forgetting her former woes. She can't help but feel that there is something else is going on, and that feeling comes to a head when their supervisor, Dr. Hensen, turns up missing. The reader will be eager to follow along with Marlowe as she unravels the threads of the present, as well as watch the Ralstons' past unfold. I felt like both storylines would leave off on "cliffhangers" - I was excited to find out where each story was going, and I couldn't put the book down! YA Mystery lovers will definitely enjoy Death at Morning House!

Readers of Maureen Johnson's earlier books will find this to be very similar to her earlier works. Teenagers are on an island in the Thousand Island region of Upstate New York for their summer job, acting as tour guides of the mansion. An alternating timeline follows the an eccentric doctor (who happens to be a fan of eugenics, boo) with 6 adopted teenagers and a young son. We learn early on that the young son and one of the daughters died at the house. In alternating timelines, the Morning House remains the centerpiece of the book.

It takes awhile for the action to pick up in this book, it's a slow build.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley.

“I’m Marlowe Wexler and I’m fine.”
In Death at Morning House, we meet Marlowe Wexler. A teenager who insists that her name is much cooler than she’ll ever be, she’s trying to survive the summer working alongside her crush and driving under the speed limit in her Smart Car. When an accident sends her to a different job a few weeks into summer, she’s thrust into the myth and mystery of the Ralston family. In 1932, two of the seven Ralston children died on the same day. Both were ruled as accidents, but there seems to be more to the story. While giving tours of the expansive house, Marlowe might uncover some lost family secrets.
Atmosphere is key in this new mystery from Maureen Johnson. As a huge fan of her previous works, part of the draw is always the setting. She’s set books everywhere from the streets of London to an elite private school in Vermont. This one didn’t disappoint. Morning House: a huge, sprawling abandoned mansion from the 1930s located on a remote island just between the US and Canada. I found myself wanting to explore the halls of Morning House even when I had to put the book down. From the playhouse to the stained-glass dome to the creepy basement passages, all of it made me want to visit this fictional house and take one of the tours myself!
The Ralston mystery itself is twisty and juicy, but there might be more than one mystery to be solved on the island, especially when Morning House is involved. The dual timeline chapters immersed me into the lives of both the Ralston children in the 30s and Marlowe in the present. With her trademark humor and wit, Johnson has created a delightful cast of characters that I’d love to see again somehow. Closing this book felt like saying goodbye to summer camp friends. This was a perfect summertime mystery and I can’t wait for everyone to add it to their reading lists!
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the advance e-reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

* 3.5 but rounding down *

When tragedy strikes where can one turn if not an island job where you give tours to a mansion known famously for the curse that befell the owners? ‘Death at Morning House’ is Marlowe’s chance to start over but thrown into a group of other guides she finds herself in the middle of grief over the recently deceased she has trouble finding her footing even more so as a whispered lost treasure lurks beneath the floorboards.

A story with split timelines are some of my favorites especially when it comes to unraveling a whodunit like mystery however there are times when you find yourself more intrigued by one mystery vs the other and this book sadly fell into that category. As much as I enjoyed Marlowe and the idea of giving an island tour of a stricken old mansion I wanted to live in the past with the family who owned the house to begin with.

The entire dynamic of these six perfect children losing their seventh sibling and the constructs of their upbringing along with what ultimately shatters that perfect image had such a strong hold on me and I wanted an entire book with just those characters and plot. When we moved to the present, while a decent mystery, it is still one I have read before with a cast of characters I too have seen so there was nothing really new there to keep my attention.

I wish these had been separate stories but still paired together they work well and there is a sense of completion there when you reach the final page but man do I wish we spent more time in the fractures of the past.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

This was an awesome little queer story where the lesbian solves the mystery! I loved this book and couldn’t put it down. The characters were great and so well done that my interest was just captured. I plowed through this book like it was nothing. It was so well done and the large cast of queer characters made my little gay heart so happy! Very engaging storytelling, highly recommend!

The cover is stunning and the premise is interesting, but I could not get past Marlowe's narrative voice. She comes off as incredibly immature and hyper-fixated, to the point where I couldn't get invested in her. It's a shame, because I feel like the scenes from the 1930s were cool and could have built toward a great mystery. Unfortunately, I couldn't stick around that long.

When i see a new YA thriller/mystery coming out, i HAVE TO GET MY HANDS ON IT! The book takes place in the same place, which is a mansion that has a lore to it. You get dual timelines from the Ralston family in the early 1930’s and present time from Marlowe Wexler, who is very quirky, and very much in love with girls that kicks the story off with a very much failed date.

Marlowe is very much in love with Akilah and is ectastic when she agrees to go on a date with her. She plans it all out, buys a candle with Akilahs favorite scent which quickly all goes down hill when the candle starts a fire( how could she imagine a candle she spent $30 could explode?!) long story short..it’s a failed date. Marlowe is embarrassed, fired from her job, feeling guilt an opportunity arises that she can’t refuse. Becoming a tour guide at the infamous Morning House. Morning House has been renovated and for the first time, opened up to tourists where the Ralston family- a known scientist, and his ex celebrity wife, sister and 7 kids reside. The family was very known for their lifestyle they abided by including obsessions with health. Tragedy stuck and their 4 year old son, max drowned and the very same day, their oldest daughter, Clara committed suicide, jumping to her death.

Marlowe steps foot into the mansion feeling off, and feels something else has happened here after talking to her new friend. Riki, who happens to be obsessed with the crime. While she is there, another tragedy strike, her boss, Belinda Henson, goes missing and her and her new friends she has met try to uncover the crime. Secrets are revealed as she gathers the pieces of the puzzle about what truly transpired.

overall, this is a very quick, fact paced read. I think it started off slow and it truly didn’t get interesting for me until about 50% through the book when the mystery really starts to unfold. Marlowe tended to annoy me slightly here and there always commenting on wanting someone to like her, commenting on girls appearances during the wrong time. When Henson goes missing one of the girls strips down to jump into the water and of course, she makes a comment about her not minding a cute girl in underwear. Why? I don’t think the twist was truly shocking to me.

Thank you Netgalley and harperCollins Children’s books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Well-loved and highly respected as an author by yours truly, I will of course read anything that Maureen Johnson writes, even if it's a grocery list. Her new stand-alone novel is wildly more addictive and interesting and proves beyond a shadow of a doubt just how amazing and versatile of an author she is. I couldn't turn the pages quickly enough and really enjoyed the main character, a self-described "accidental arsonist". Highly recommended and can't wait to own this one in print! Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher. It was such a treat!

Thank you to NetGalley for this. I want to start off by saying that I was into the book, I just felt like some things fell flat for me. I expected more of the reveal of what happened to Max and Clara, i also wanted more from what happened to the lady in the house. Marlowe’s character was quirky and I really liked that. Overall, that was the only thing that saved it. But I did enjoy the story. I wanted to hear more of Carla’s thoughts and what she felt before she died.

Was worried about a non-Stevie Bell book - but I shouldn't have been! Marlowe is an amazing and nuanced character all on her own. The book follows Johnson's typical storyline - story in the present researching story in the past. But it still works. I was captivated by both stories and absolutely did not see the ending coming. Annoying because in retrospect, every single clue was there!

Anyway, I hope there will be more Marlowe books!

A very similar plot structure to Truly Devious of current day + historical flashback. The historical murder mystery is more solid than the present day, which I think was also the case with much of the Devious series, and it's frustrating to be invested in the past murder only to change chapters to current day. It honestly feels like a leftover story that Johnson couldn't use for Devious.

The narrator is an empty placeholder for the reader to self insert as they read. She has Johnson's snappy, sarcastic, self deprecating voice, but we don't learn or become invested in her as a character. Devious had a developed character in Stevie, and fleshed out side characters; this story's present day characters are flat and inspire no interest in the present day mystery/murder. The present day mystery felt like an afterthought, something required for the structure Johnson uses in her most recent books, a vehicle to use to unravel the mystery of the past.

I don't want more Stevie Bell stories. I would love to read Johnson write an adult mystery, if she's not writing under a different name already. She can nail writing teens but their ages feel shoehorned in for the sake of publishing in the YA genre and what's underneath is a ability to write adults. Teen protagonists box Johnson in and I would love to see what she can do without the restrictions of YA. I would also love to read a novel that doesn't rely on the flashback structure.

All in all, a fun read whose structure is familiar and comforting. Johnson is skilled in crafting mysteries and this one is just a riveting.

I loved this mystery, the blend of contemporary and past, the characters, the canny, flawed and beguiling narrator. The beginning was practically zany. A perfect blend of so many of the things I love about Johnson's books, mixing in some of her lighter earlier books with the true crime grit of her mysteries. While I was anxious for the next Truly Devious I was very happy to have this.

This was such a great YA mystery and I loved that we got multiple different POV of the days before the deaths that happened at Morning House in the 1920s that caused the family to flee the house and never return which was unfolded so well and I thought I knew what happened and it took me completely by surprise. The modern mystery at Morning house with the death of one of the teen tour guides before the job even starts that opens up the position for Marlowe to work there and get away from the disaster of life at the moment to the fact that their boss goes missing just kept you guessing. Poor Marlowe had the worst first date with her girl crush that anyone could have and just wanted to get away for the summer and instead she ended up neck deep in a mystery and trying not to get murdered. All in all, this was a great mystery that really keeps you guessing until the end.

Thanks to HarperTeen and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

This book was amazing and I devoured this book in just a few sittings! I loved the character development and how the story progressed.

Can Maureen Johnson write anything but an outstanding book? DEATH AT MORNING HOUSE, her latest, suggests we should all stop expecting anything but perfection from Johnson. Riveting, with a twisty murder mystery driving the plot and fully developed characters that reel you in, this book is simply fantastic. I loved every last page.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC!