This was a fun YA thriller with a relatably awkward protagonist. I'm not always a fan of dual timeline stories, but this one kept my interest.

My deep and abiding first love in this book was our lead character, Marlowe. She is a queer teenage girl who normally and that normally wouldn’t necessarily draw me in. Teenage girls are tough for me.

But, Marlowe is hilarious. She is smart and sensitive but she is so so funny. I loved every single minute of this book because the present timeline is completely in her voice and she just was exactly who I wanted to be spending my time with.

I also fell in love with the story in the 1932 timeline of this creepy family with their six adopted kids and then the very very interesting story of the youngest kid, four-year-old Max. I was fascinated by the day-to-day life of this very strange family from the beginning.

And the house and the island where this book takes place are equally fascinating. We have pristine waters to swim in, we have a beautiful house to explore and dank basements to find creepy things in. Every setting was delicious.

Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson was published August 6th 2024 by HarperTeen.
Maureen Johnson is the author of the truly devious series which I absolutely loved! This one was no different I loved every second of this book!

YA mystery book for the win again! Marlowe was the best character. I absolutely adored her! This book was about old history of the Ralston Family and reading about how one of the children, Max was found dead by drowning and not soon after, his sister Clara jumps off a balcony and soon dies after. Now why did they do this?
What caused this to happen?
Then the story is told in the future with Marlowe Wexler who is sent to this island where the Ralston's used to live and help give tours of the house. Strange things start to happen at the house, someone goes missing and Marlowe is determined to find out what is going on and figure out what happened in the past to maybe have caused these problems and a missing person.

I highly recommend if you love a good YA !!

Death at Morning House is a delightful YA mystery with a quirky and lovable heroine, Marlowe Wexler. Her mix of photographic memory and endearing clumsiness makes her stand out from other detective leads, offering a fresh twist on the genre. The story's blend of past and present mysteries set in a haunted mansion keeps the suspense gripping, and the setting is perfectly eerie. While it echoes some elements of the Truly Devious series, Marlowe's charm and the book's fast-paced plot give it a unique spin. Overall, it’s a fun, smart read that makes me excited to see what Marlowe gets up to next. If you’re into clever mysteries with a touch of character, this one’s a winner!

The truly devious series drew me to this newest release. And like that series, this one had a wide range of eclectic characters, an old mystery tying into a modern one, and a unique setting. I did feel as though the story took a little too long to get into the mystery in the present day, but I did still enjoy it and would recommend the book

This book was kind of a miss for me. After discovering (and devouring) the Truly Devious series, I had pretty high expectations. Death at Morning House is similar in the fact that it has a dual timeline, takes place in an old mansion, and a mysterious, strange love interest. I actually really enjoyed the timeline that featured the Ralston family. Their story was unique and fascinating, as well as well-developed. However, the present day storyline is where the book fell flat to me. I felt that Marlowe, Akilah, and the supporting cast of characters were half-baked compared to the Ralston's. I mean. I honestly couldn't tell you the names of the people Marlowe stayed in the mansion with, besides a vague description of their personality traits. I also, unfortunately, found the 'twist' toward the end of the book to be rather unsurprising and formulaic. Let me be clear. This was not a bad book by any means, and I will happily recommend it to my friends. It has an engaging plot and mystery to keep you entertained. I just probably won't go out of my way to pick up a copy, which I'm very sad about. And on a positive note, Death at Morning House has better representation than Truly Devious does, which was great to see.

Death at Morning House is an unputdownable mystery from one of my favorite YA authors, Maureen Johnson! In this standalone novel, we meet accidental firebug Marlowe Wexler, spend the summer with her at the enigmatic Morning House on Ralston Island, and uncover mysteries from the past and the present. I flew through this one in just a couple of days, which is a rarity for me—especially when the book is nearly 400 pages long!

If you've read Truly, Devious and the other Stevie Bell mysteries, you will recognize Johnson's signature dual-timeline storytelling that weaves together two whodunnits, separated by time but bound by space. This structure sucks me in every time! And while it definitely works for the story of Morning House, its uncanny echoes of Stevie Bell and Ellingham Academy are pretty loud. Maybe too loud?

I do love that this book is a standalone and that both the present-day and 1932 mysteries of Morning House are wrapped up in one volume! The characters and the setting are charming, and if Johnson decides to give us a sequel, I would happily return to Clement Bay for more hijinks. However, I am content with this story (series or no series) and can't wait to share it with other readers!

Full review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5984935020

I really like Maureen Johnson's writing style. I'm a huge fan of her Truly Devious series, so I was really looking forward to this book. I was not disappointed.

While I was not quite as surprised by the solution to this mystery as I have been at some of her other books, it was a thoroughly engrossing story. It's told in dual-timelnes, as she seems to be very fond of. I did kind of expect that. What I did not expect was for this book to touch on eugenics along with murder. That was an interesting addition. And she doesn't do it overtly - it sort of creeps up on you as you go through the story.

The characters in this book were very different; I don't feel like I got to know the side characters very well, but that's just the difference between being with them for one book as opposed to five.

Johnson writes queer characters very skillfully; if that's something you care about, you can go into this book with confidence.

Maureen Johnson can do no wrong by my estimation so it's no surprise that I LOVED Death at Morning House. In the dog days of summer the creaky murder-mystery, brings the reader along on sweltering summer days to find out not only what happened at Morning House, a remote estate on the St. Lawrence River, in the 1930s, but also current day.
Marlowe has found herself in a bit of a sticky situation and lucks into a chance to spend the summer working at Morning House, a place she's never heard of. She soon finds out that the family that owned the estate left under tragic conditions in the 30s and a new owner is set to transform it into a corporate retreat, not before it is allowed to open to the public for the first time in history, for one summer. When Marlowe gets to Morning House, she realizes the adjacent small town has experienced its own share of tragedy.
Wondering at how the two timeliness together is one of the best parts of Death at Morning House. With Johnson's signature character building and atmospheric mystery, Death at Morning House was the perfect read on the cusp of fall.

I loved this thriller. I love that it was told in multiple back and forth timelines. Will recommend!

A fun mystery with back and forth from the past to the present that will leave readers on the edge of their seats.

Marlowe Wexler has had one thing after another go wrong and after a horrible first date where she almost burns down a house. She then sets off for a new summer job at Morning House. Morning House is a mansion built on an island back in the 1920s but was quickly abandoned after the death of several family members. The house is being opened for one summer for fans of the story of what happened in the house. Shortly after Marlowe arrives, another mystery starts to unravel, and Marlowe finds herself at the center of this mystery and the danger included.

Death at Morning House is another great mystery by Maureen Johnson. I have enjoyed all of the books by Johnson, but I can’t give this one as high of a rating for one personal picky reason. I am not a fan of books that have LGTBQ type themes that are marketed to kids or in the YA section. Write that in adult books all you want, but when it is marketed to kids, I am not so much a fan. The story itself was really good and I enjoyed the mystery aspect of it along with the back and forth between the past and present. Johnson is very good at the sleuthing type genre and I knew that would make this story really good, which it did, I wasn’t sure how it was all going to turn out until the very end. I love it when writers are able to make a story twisty like that and keep me guessing. I do think fans of mysteries will enjoy this one for sure.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

I always like how Maureen’s books tie together the past and present, connecting similarities between the two mysteries. There’s always purposeful misdirection that doesn’t feel forced, having me think I know what happened without actually giving the story away. At times it seemed a bit repetitive but I liked how we got the thought process of Marlowe solving the case.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperTeen for the ARC of Death at Morning House!

Death at Morning House, is about Marlowe, who is having the worst summer of her life after accidentally setting a family friends, house on fire. After hiding out for a while she is presented the opportunity to be a tour guide of a large home in upstate New York. Taking the position thinking this is a good way to leave behind her old life, and escape her mistake, she steps into an even hotter situation.

I really enjoyed the duel timeline exploring both the current day and past mystery taking place at Morning house. It was well paced and the characters felt fully flushed out with unique, and individual personalities.

This is for fans who enjoyed Good Girl Guide to Murder and Maureen Johnson’s previous works!

I've loved Maureen Johnson's books in the past. She's great for a YA mystery where you can just shut your brain off for a few hours and escape into a mystery. I struggled with this one because of the past story that gave the Morning House it's mystery. Reading thing about small children drowning - especially a four year old when I have one - is just tough for me so it just wasn't a good match. But if you've liked her other books or want a YA mystery I'd say go for it!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I had a great time! This author wrote one of my favorite YA mystery/thriller series, the Truly Devious series, so when this book was announced, I was excited! I'm happy to say that I loved this one too.

The author does a fantastic job writing books with two decent storylines that eventually connect in a fun way. The story never feels jarring when it switches from one timeline to the next. It all flows very well!

I am so glad that the author made the main character queer in this book. She had great rep in the Truly Devious series with the side characters but its great when its the MC!

Highly recommend this book, just dive in and have fun!

I loved the Truly Devious series so was excited to pick this up. Unfortunately it wasn’t a favorite as it was really slow building up the story, and when the mystery finally hit it was resolved too quickly. The pacing was off for me and I wasn’t invested in any of the characters so it was a bit disappointing.

Maureen Johnson holds a special place in my YA loving heart. So I was super excited to get approved to read this one! I was pleasantly surprised by how easily this sucked me in. A past and present timeline gave the reader two different stories to follow along that flowed seamlessly. I enjoyed the FMC and her quirks. I liked how there were multiple mysteries going on but none of them took away from each other. This was a solid YA mystery with multiple POVs, suspects galore, missing people and a tinge of teenage angst and romance.

Maureen Johnson has always (since around 2014 or 15 when I discovered her books, so it just seems like always) been a go-to author for me because of her reliability in constructing a story and a quirkiness that I find pleasing. Her latest, Death at Morning House, is no different. Here we have Marlowe Wexler whose biggest plan for the summer is to work at her summer job with her crush, Akilah, and see what happens. What happens is that on her first date with Akilah, a special candle she bought of Akilah’s favorite scent explodes and almost completely burns down the lake home that Marlowe is supposed to be care-taking. Needless to say, the summer is no longer going to go the way Marlowe planned. Instead, she finds herself as a tour guide for a famous house on an island in the Hudson River where a tragedy once occurred in the early 1930’s. While the mystery of the tragedy is intriguing, so too is the dynamic among the local teens who are working on the island with Marlowe especially when she finds out why she was hired at the last minute.

By now, Maureen Johnson is quite adept at the twisty mystery. In this case, we have not only the current mysteries, one disappearance and one accident, but we also have the one from 1932, which was also perceived as a tragic accident. You might guess that none of these accidents are really accidents. While I did guess the perpetrator of the current scenario (although Johnson threw in a momentary glitch that had me doubt my choice), the 1932 mystery is a mystery for sure that has a satisfying although disturbing conclusion. I don’t think I’d be reaching to say that the perpetrators of the non-accidents have a similar vibe.

I enjoyed reading about the characters, quietly observant, awkward Marlowe who has a photographic memory and a big heart; seemingly prickly goth-girl, Riki; ebullient Van; and bubbly April amongst others. The characters from the 1930s were also interesting and I could have easily read more about them, although that tinge of tragedy was dark.

All said, another enjoyable entry in Johnson’s canon. If this were to become a series, I would happily read more.

Many thanks to Harper Teen and Netgalley for sending me a copy.

What a wild ride of a story. And I'm very surprised to not have an author's note or information regarding her choice of setting in the Thousand Islands and along the St. Lawrence because I'm assuming she's taken liberties with the story of Boldt Castle on Heart Island-- the man began building this extravagant house and more before his wife died. He left it unfinished and never returned to the island. Kids in particular would boat over and completely vandalized the upper floors (which are still like that as a nod to the history) including graffiti. It's opulent. But if you take boat trip you can also hear the stories of the Prohibition era rum runners and so much more that's been added to the ambience of this story.

All that aside, Johnson creates the spookiest mystery that includes a man of importance who believe in eugenics and who "adopted" a handful of children. They keep strict schedules and diets. A wife is added to the mix and they have a child. That child drowns, another falls off a balcony. That was in 1932. But then there's a contemporary story of Marlowe who is going to be a tour guide at Morning House and the death and mysteries compound. As a standalone, it hit all the right notes though a few of the red herrings and side stories didn't mesh overall, but I can move past it.

Really the setting (for me) is what made it, second is the situation with its rich, dark historical vibes.

I was lucky enough to go to a Murder Mystery party with Maureen Johnson last month and received a copy of this book from the publisher there. It didn’t affect my review, but it was VERY cool.

Maureen is a mystery magician! While this wasn’t a Truly Devious, I had just as much fun reading it and unraveling the mystery with our new protagonist Marlowe. Who doesn’t love simultaneously solving a hundred year old mystery and a current one?