My rating: 4.5
Mystery James was found abandoned in a cemetery as a baby and adopted by the funeral home director, Tía Lucy. Somehow, her life has only gotten stranger from there. She can smell ghosts, is haunted by a sleep paralysis demon, and trouble always has a way of finding her.
When an important family heirloom goes missing from one of the recently deceased, Tía Lucy takes the blame. To clear her aunt’s name and keep from losing their home, Mystery sets out to prove Lucy had nothing to do with the theft. But strange things are happening in the cemetery – things that Mystery finds herself in the middle of.
I fell in love with Mystery. She is just the right mix of headstrong, clever, and delightfully unusual to get herself into plenty of trouble. Mystery makes a solid addition to the pantheon of strong, spooky pop culture characters, beside Wednesday Addams and Lydia Deetz. There are plenty of scares and a lot of fun information sprinkled throughout. I would absolutely recommend Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave for any young reader who enjoys a twisty, creepy mystery and a relatable heroine. I am impatiently awaiting the sequel and hope for more.
Thank you to Random House Children’s and NetGalley for providing the e-arc for my honest review.

This book is pitched as Beetlejuice meets Wednesday. Going on vibes, I'd say that pitch is spot on. There's definitely room on the spooky MG shelf for this book. The cemetery atmosphere is nicely crafted and the way the supernatural elements are executed is quite enjoyable. But I found myself wishing for more...mystery? (No pun intended.)

I think this is a case of the back cover blurb not matching what's in the pages. The mystery promised to us seems to revolve around a missing heirloom, but the 'who' and the 'why' is solved almost immediately. The rest of the story follows a different "mystery" involving the supernatural but it's not one with a lot of clues to let the reader play along. Most of the conclusions Mystery comes to are due to things she's read/been told off screen before the book even starts. Hard to find that satisfying. And there are some loose ends that are left unresolved (mainly the story about Mystery's birth mother, I don't want to spoil but I expected a conclusion about the vision Mystery had).

That being said, I can still see this being a hit during Halloween season. And as someone who's adopted, I appreciate the way Mystery's curiosity about her birth mother is resolved at the end.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mystery James, you have my spooky heart!
🖤
This was such a fun and spooky read. Mystery (13yr old) was raised in a funeral home with her aunt (Tía Lucy). You could say Mystery is “weird and unusual” because she can see and smell ghosts!! She also spends a great deal of her time across the street at the cemetery. I don’t want to give away too much. But stop what you’re doing and preorder this Wednesday meets Beetlejuice children’s book 👻 there’s so much adventure, mystery and paranormal encounters. I also love the cool map. I love flipping back and forth and seeing where the characters travel.
🖤
Thank you, NetGalley for the advanced copy.


Goodreads: Brenda (Jadore_2Read)

This is a perfect middle grade horror book. I want to tear up thinking about the kids that will finally feel represented in a scary story and I’m so excited for the generation of horror readers that will be created by this book. It’s scary, it’s funny, it’s smart, it’s inspiring, I loved this book so much and I hope that it’s just the beginning of a series because all of these characters are just absolutely fantastic. I will be reading this to my class and recommending it to any and all middle graders interested in a good story!

Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave was a spooky little read filled with family, ghosts, an evil vampire and an arachnid named Coffin. This was such a fun read and I loved the funeral home and cemetery settings! Mystery was such a lovable main character. This is a perfect fall read for any age even though it's middle grade as it has adventure, grief and ghosts.

An entertaining read for fans of the supernatural, as well as otherwise scaredy-cats (like me!) who occasionally liked to be spooked! As someone who suffered from sleep paralysis as a child, the terror described by Russell is all too accurate—I had to remind myself that I was reading fiction, ha. I also appreciate the care with which the funeral home and its responsibilities are described, especially as an uncommon setting in young people's literature. The resolution, at least to this adult reader, felt a little pat, and I would've also loved a bit more character development for Tía Lucy, for instance. But this is Mystery's story after all, and an overall delightful one, at that.

Omg, this was such a fun read. I really enjoyed the historical aspect of how vampires were dealt with, and how Mystery navigated her ghost sensing powers as they grew. She acknowledged her fears, and learned from them to become a better version of herself with the help of Coffin and her friend Garrett.