This was told by Marlowe in the present day and by Clara in 1932. This was a fairly easy book to get through, but I have to say that I enjoyed Clara’s perspective over Marlowe’s. Marlowe just grated my nerves at times with her angsty attitude and passive demeanor. I was intrigued by the routines the Ralston family, and wished the book was set in this timeline rather present day. The family was odd, and it just was creepy how they dressed alike and their father was very strict with schedules.

The pace with Marlowe does not pick up until the 50% mark, and by then you just want to get on with it. I had higher hopes for this one, and wanted more of Clara’s backstory over Marlowe just hanging out at the Morning House watching things happen to her. This cover is gorgeous, but I just was bored with Marlowe.

Looked this new stand-alone book by Maureen Johnson. I thought the characters and their development were interesting and the story unfolded with great pacing. I really enjoy the whole flashbacks, with a mystery in the present and a mystery in the past being unraveled and solved with similar timing. Definitely kept me hooked. The only thing of note that I felt was out of place, was creating an image of the main character that deviates with the whole puzzle master/unraveler thing that they just threw in, I'm assuming to make sense of why the main character was able to solve a portion of the mystery. That and how they "solved" the mystery in the past, *spoiler* by a single letter being unearthed. Otherwise a solid YA stand-alone.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

when you accidentally set a house on fire with a faulty candle, you’d think that your summer couldn’r get any worse. You’d be wrong. you’d think that going to a secluded island to work as a tourguide where no one knows you would be okay, right? nope. you’ll have to face a murder mystery that our main character never asked for. oh and did i mention it’s not only a current murder mystery but one from the early 1930s as well?

As a BIG fan of the Truly Devious series, and one of the series I credit for getting me BACK into reading in 2020 - I was so excited to read more Maureen, and that it was also young adult and mystery! (not same series, new standalone book)

I will say, the audiobook narrator wasn't my favorite on this one, if I read it again or could for the first time - I'd read the physical instead. I really enjoy a spooky element that is a creepy building/house/property, and Death at Morning House delivered on that premise. Maureen also excels at creating really deep, complex characters which feels rare for mystery, especially YA mystery. It's not just surface level!

It was well paced, very mysterious, and interesting. I didn't predict most of what was going to happen, and was throughly entertained throughout the story.

*E-book copy gifted from Netgalley/HarperTeen. Physical hardcover gifted from MBC books for the bookstagram tour. All opinions/reviews are my own - thank you!

I wonder if I’ve learned to judge Maureen Johnson’s work by a higher standard than I would other authors because she’s produced so much that I think is excellent, because this book (which is fine enough by YA mystery standards) really felt like a bit of a letdown.

This is essentially just another Truly Devious book, but with less atmosphere, less humor, and without the characters you know and love. The protagonist here is a perfectly fine and likable girl, but she feels a bit two-dimensional and like more of a trendy YA archetype than actual person.

But the bigger problem is that this suffers from an issue common to dual timeline mysteries, which is that the modern timeline mystery and the older timeline mystery have absolutely nothing to do with each other except that they occur in the same location. Neither story is problematic in itself, but that they never find their way to any kind of cohesive whole is disappointing, especially when neither one is a standout on its own.

The pacing is fine here and the sense of place is good (if sadly not great in the way we expect from Johnson, but on the whole it’s a lesser animal than most of her previous work.

I almost DNF's this because Marlowe was giving stalker vibes in the first chapter, but I kept going and I'm glad I did. I liked that the book goes from the present with Marlowe to the past with some of the Ralston's. I could've done without Marlowe's wallowing and self-pity for the majority of the book. I wanted to scream, "GIRL! It was an accident and she never broke up with you!"

I was not expecting the twists that came in the book! I thought it was really well written and I want to read other books by this author.

With Death at Morning House, Maureen Johnson has once again woven together a pair of captivating mysteries into a dark and shadowy tale of murder and conspiracy through time. Fans of the author’s Truly Devious books will enjoy the new characters and setting, while new readers will be eager to explore more of her books after finishing this one.

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery.

Death at Morning House is a fun mystery packed adventure. The book follows two time lines and a whole lot of murders. I love love love reading about family drama and the time line that takes place in the past was packed full of drama. If you like any of the Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson then I think you will definitely enjoy this book!
Thank you Netgalley and Harper Collins for the ARC!

Another fantastic suspense-filled whodunnit by Maureen Johnson! With a setting of a spooky mansion on an isolated island, how can one not be intrigued. The dual stories was done well and I enjoyed getting to know all the many different characters. I appreciated that this read well for a YA book. I am finding many YA mystery books are reading "too adult", The mystery was done well and I highly recommend!

This was a fun YA Thriller Mystery book to read! This story was super fast paced and I cruised right through this one. I really enjoyed reading the 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.

Like I said, this book was super fast paced and definitely will keep your attention with how well the writing was written.

Maureen Johnson does it again. This was such a fascinating story. I love how she always has flashback chapters that tell the story of the mystery being solved. Her characters have such great arcs which I feel is harder to do since they are teenagers. One of the things that annoys me most in YA books is teenagers who whine. That annoys me in all books, but her adolescent characters are never like that. Each character is well created with a back story that relates to their actions within the story. Maureen has easily turned into one of my must-read authors. This book tells 2 great stories that are tied together beautifully yet disturbingly. I admit, I had one of the mysteries solved, the older one, but the modern-day one had me stumped. Once Marlowe started to tell the story I caught on to where she was going with it and it made sense. It was a wild yet enjoyable ride. I recommend it if you are a fan of Maureen's book or any YA mystery.

Thank you to Harper Collin’s Children’s and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review

Fun, fast paced YA thriller that I really enjoyed! I loved the dual timelines and the unfolding of similar and related situations. I enjoyed the suspenseful build up and I always enjoy a whodunnit. I enjoyed the development of Marlowe’s character and found her anxiety and self consciousness to be charming and appropriate for a 17 year old girl. I wish the other characters in the novel had been better developed, especially the eventual reveal of the whodunnit fell a little bit flat bc the characters were not super well developed. Overall, fast paced, suspenseful, and kept me guessing. Would recommend!

This was a fun YA mystery - it was easy to read!

When her first date ends in a house fire Marlowe is finding it hard to return to “normal” life afterward. Lucky for her there is an opening for a summer job on an island giving tours of the historic Morning House - a mansion famously known for the curse that befell its owners. She thinks it is the perfect opportunity to start over. But when Marlowe arrives she is tossed into a group of other guides coming to terms with a recent death of a friend and struggles finding her place among the group. And when someone on the island goes missing more than one mystery is solved.

The dual timelines were great; I though they merged well together allowing both the past and present mysteries to unravel. It was a bit of a slow burn, but when things start picking up they PICK UP!!

The “Truly Devious” series has been a winner at my school for years now (along with most of Johnson’s other books) and I’m thrilled to get to offer another home run. I read this quickly with brief necessary breaks. The pacing was very good. I never felt it drag or seem rushed. The action held enough tension, the characters were real and relatable, and I was very satisfied with the mysteries.

I read the last half of this book as it was intended: buzzed off a margarita on a summer afternoon. I love Maureen’s voice, it’s so witty and I find myself laughing out loud during a YA murder investigation. If you love Stevie bell you will love this book. If you have no history with Maureen’s books but love a dual timeline mystery you will also have a great time.

Death at Morning House had all the ingredients for a creepy, murder-filled thriller: a mysterious mansion on an isolated island, a history of unexplained deaths, and a protagonist with a questionable fire-starting track record. It sounds like the perfect setup for a suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat read, right? Well, sort of.

Let’s start with what works. The setting is spot on—Morning House is the kind of place that practically oozes atmosphere. You can almost feel the chill in the air and hear the creaks of the old mansion as Marlowe wanders through its halls. Maureen Johnson knows how to build a world that feels both enchanting and eerie, and she does a great job pulling you into the island’s dark history.

But then there’s the relationship drama. Oh boy. For a book that promises a murder mystery, we spend an awful lot of time on Marlowe’s romantic woes. Look, I get it—teen relationships are complicated, and Marlowe’s situation with Akilah is relatable. But when you’ve got a house with a body count and a history of people dying under mysterious circumstances, I was hoping for a bit more focus on the creepy murders and a bit less on whether Marlowe was going to get a second date.

The mystery itself is intriguing, but it often feels like it’s playing second fiddle to the drama. I wanted more of those spine-tingling moments where you’re not sure if a ghost is going to jump out or if another tragic accident is about to happen. Instead, we get a lot of internal monologues about relationships, which, while well-written, can be a little distracting when you’re in the mood for a good old-fashioned whodunit.

So, three stars it is. If you’re a fan of Maureen Johnson’s style and you enjoy a bit of romance mixed in with your mystery, you’ll probably love this one. But if you’re like me and came for the creepy murders, you might find yourself skimming through the relationship drama, wishing for more of those eerie, hair-raising moments that Death at Morning House could have delivered in spades.

2.5 Stars from someone who loved the Truly Devious book series - this book had a whole host of unlikeable characters in a tedious plot line. Not for me.

Marlowe Wexler fell in love with a girl. They went on their first date and it ended in a fire. Marlowe thinking she lost everything fell into a depression until her teacher told her about Morning House. She decided to join until she found out she is taking place of a dead guy. Now Marlowe is on the case.

This book was fantastic! I enjoyed the story and characters. I did get a little confused and had to go back a few times. But the mystery was great, I did fail at solving the mystery before the end of the book. Which is okay, I’m enjoyed the adventure!

Thank you so much Maureen Johnson, the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book! I can’t wait to see what comes next from Maureen

Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson is a fun and intriguing YA mystery that offers more than just a surface-level whodunit. The story follows Marlowe Wexler, a clumsy girl who accidentally sets a cabin on fire with a candle during her first date — setting the tone for a summer full of mishaps. Everything rolls downhill from there, including her ownpersonal hygiene habits. Despite her less-than-stellar start, Marlowe lands a summer job giving tours at the historic Ralston House. There, she finds herself surrounded by the wealthy teens of the Thousand Islands, but soon realizes that the shadows of past tragedies still loom large. As Marlowe uncovers the dark secrets of the Ralston family, she must race against time to avoid becoming the next victim of the curse.

What I loved most about this book is how it tackles deeper themes like family trauma, systemic racism, and mental illness, all while keeping the mystery engaging. The dual timelines add an extra layer of intrigue, providing two mysteries to unravel. While the pacing was a bit slow at times, it matched the languid days of summer, even if some points felt a bit repetitive. The rich atmosphere and well-developed characters, paired with perfectly placed bits of humor, made this book an enjoyable read. If you’re looking for something different and thought-provoking to dive into this summer, Death at Morning House is a great choice!

As a longtime reader of Maureen Johnson books, I'm a huge fan of the Truly Devious series. So I was a bit disappointed when I discovered that Death at Morning House wasn't the sixth book in the popular series. Then I “met” Marlowe Wexler on the page and that all changed!

Sure, Marlowe and Stevie have some things in common— Their urge to solve mysteries and their quirky nervousness, to start— but this new MC really breathes fresh life into a fresh mystery! Marlowe is clever and observant with a heaping teaspoon of awkward. Unlike Stevie, she's not trying to dive headlong into a mystery. Instead, she finds herself thrust into a summer job where the mystery unfolds around her after an attempt to impress a girl she likes goes horribly, HORRIBLY wrong. Marlowe could be any one of us. Who wouldn't want to do some digging into the mysterious decades-old deaths at their place of work to distract themselves from a life-altering social faux pas, after all?

Marlowe works and lives on the island with a group of teens who grew up together, though their overall closeness seems to be in question these days. While they all have distinct personalities and traits, I appreciate that they didn't feel quite as much like caricatures as the Truly Devious characters can sometimes feel. I really struggle with one TD character, but I really enjoyed this whole lineup. They have drama and secrets that only seem to be exacerbated by their isolated setting and its gruesome past, sometimes putting Marlowe in compromising positions. Of the group, Riki was very favorite because of her excellent socks and her important role in unraveling the secrets of a seemingly cursed mansion alongside Marlowe. My second favorite character was Van, for his *immaculate vibes.*

The novel flirts with the romantic storyline, starting with Marlowe’s massive crush on her co-worker Akilah and their budding relationship, which was all going so well before the incident. While there's always a potential for romance, it's not a super strong element. This was actually very refreshing to me, because some mysteries get too bogged down with interpersonal drama. There are sweet, charming moments, but they don't overpower the actual plot.

But wait, there's more! Death at Morning House is a dual timeline story! That means that on top of Marlowe's misadventures, we get the point of point-of-view of the Ralston children, mainly Clara, as you discover the tragedies that befell the family in the 1930s. The Ralston patriarch was a scientist and famed eugenicist who raised his children to an unreasonably strict standard. This POV is a little more subdued as we explore the lives of children trapped under the thumb of a dangerous ideology, yet still aching to impress their celebrated father. It’s not as fun as Marlowe’s POV, but it's heartbreaking and captivating in it's own right. I think the conclusion to this timeline's drama was even more satisfying than the conclusion to the modern story, but I loved both.

My subgenre of choice has been described as “murder-y,” so I've consumed a lot of mysteries ranging from predictable slogs to riveting puzzles. Thankfully, Death at Morning House is certainly one of the latter. There are hints, if you're looking for them, but Johnson remains a master of doling out answers in small batches and planting red herrings. Even if one of the reveals was among my theories, it certainly wasn't the only one.

Death at Morning House takes a loveable, chaotic protagonist, summer camp vibes gone sideways, and an old-fashioned mystery among the obscenely wealthy to create something this is fresh but still distinctly Maureen Johnson. if you love her books, run, don't walk to snag your copy!