Ellen Raskin (1928–1984)

A motley crew of long-time Milwaukeeans get suspiciously good deals on apartments in a new building next to the haunted old Westing mansion. This proves very convenient when millionaire Sam Westing turns up dead and all of the building residents are named as potential heirs. One pair of them will inherit two million dollars, if they can figure out which one of them is the murderer. But Sam Westing and the apartment residents have a lot more secrets than just that.

Having read this many times show more as a kid, it has lost some oomph. But I still appreciate the double-triple-quadruple twists, and the constantly changing point of view. The characters are diverse, interesting, and endearing. The views on gender roles and race hold up well (at the end of the book a black woman is appointed to the Supreme Court .... a thing which is still nowhere close to happening 45 years later) but the views on disability, particularly intellectual disability, definitely do not. Read with caution. I enjoyed revisiting this story as an adult, but now that I know all the secrets I don't think I need to read it again without good reason. show less

With a large cast of characters and an intricate game and a puzzling mystery, Raskin's novel is so deftly composed, cunningly plotted, and briskly paced, such the reader is constantly jumping back to make sure they haven;t missed something - they usually haven't, it's all there. I'm not sure I've ever read a kids' book that that could challenge most adult books for complexity of plot, yet it all skims along lightly until the final unexpected twists and satisfying turns. A small masterpiece, show more perhaps even a work of witty genius. show less

Several great hooks occur right off the bat, setting the tone and starting the mystery. This leads up to sixteen might-be-heirs being informed of the late Sam Westing's game he left in his will that will determine who inherits his $200 million estate. They are divided into eight pairings, and each pair receives four clues. Only Sam Westing and we the readers know what all of the clues are. If I was in the target age I can well imagine trying to sort and arrange all the clues into some kind show more of sense before the mystery's solution is revealed. It's a good gimmick.

Among the many secrets in play there is (or is there?) also a murderer, a bomber and a thief in this mix of sixteen people, as well as someone who doesn't belong at all. The amount of diversity among them is incredible for its time - I looked in vain to see whether the text has been updated in the intervening decades but nope, this appears to be the original. There's more going on in this story that meets the eye, with several surprise revelations along the way, and the pace is rapid-fire. With sixteen suspects/detectives, all of them clever and each of them developing their own pet theory about what's going on, it's almost impossible to track and remember what everybody knows or doesn't know or thinks they know, until they do the next thing that reminds you. It's best not to try keeping it all straight but just let it wash over you. Most theories are quickly discarded in any case as contrary evidence arises.

I liked several of the characters. Chris is excellently depicted, and though his condition is never defined it's almost better that way. Angela and Turtle are both well drawn, sisters who care for and envy one another at the same time. Everyone in fact is well drawn, but with having so many people to shift between and all of them made sympathetic, it is nearly impossible to root for any one team. Some readers come away feeling they didn't get close to anyone in particular, because Raskin would rather have you become close with all of them at once. I suppose that's a weak point. That ending, though. That gets this book its five stars. show less

I first read this as a kid probably not long after it was published (which was in 1978, so I'm clearly dating myself). I was a quiet, shy, introvert who spent more time in books than in the real world, or so it seemed. Or so I preferred. I picked this up at the library and took it home. Read it cover to cover, over and over. I checked it out many times. I loved this book. As an adult, I ordered my own hardcover copy because I wanted to have it nearby whenever I felt like re-reading it again, show more as I have just now in 2025, nearly 45 years later. Recently a friend of mine asked me if there was any book that I've ever read that I wish I had written myself. For my own personal and philosophical reasons, that's a difficult question to answer. But this one came to mind as an easy answer. Maybe it's because I love the intricate plot that was cleverly woven together to give us interesting characters, a vibrant setting, and a mystery that blew me away when I first read it (I suspect my adult mind would have unraveled it well before the last page, but I'll never know). Maybe it's because it has aged well; written in a "different time" it nonetheless embraces diversity and progressive themes that would make a modern author proud. Or maybe it's just because I would love to have written a book that so captivated a young reader it made him wish he could write books himself and thus spent the rest of his life trying and contemplating that possibility. show less