The Dollhouse Murders: Library Edition

The attic is always a great place to look for nuggets of one's family history, but when 12-year-old Amy explores her great-grandparents' attic, she uncovers clues to a chilling family secret. As Amy and her Aunt Claire sift through clothes, trinkets and other memorabilia, Amy comes across Aunt Claire's long-forgotten dollhouse, a finely crafted replica of the house they are in. Aunt Claire seems unusually distressed about the dollhouse and Amy is determined to find out why. The real fun begins when Amy learns that the dolls in the dollhouse move on their own will and that they seem to be trying to tell her something. After a little sleuthing at the local library, Amy learns that her great-grandparents were murdered years ago and that Aunt Claire's fiance (who died in a car accident that same night) was the prime suspect in the unsolved case. Before long, Amy unravels the mystery, helping Aunt Claire to resolve her feelings about the past. A subplot about Amy's relationships with her parents, younger sister and best friend adds depth and warmth to this crisply paced tale. Stewart handles the narration with aplomb, using her voice to give listeners a hint of each character's personality. Her portrayal of Aunt Claire, who delivers a few chillingly snappish retorts to Amy, is particularly strong.

About the Author

Betty Ren Wright dreamed about writing stories and books almost as soon as she was old enough to read them. For many years she was a children's book editor with Western Publishing; during that time she wrote the texts for a number of picture-storybooks. She also published adult short fiction in a wide variety of magazines. Soon after her marriage to Wisconsin artist George Frederiksen in 1976, she left editing to concentrate on writing novels for boys and girls. Her third book, THE DOLLHOUSE MURDERS, has been a popular ghost story for nearly twenty years; it's won numerous awards, been published in dozens of languages and a dramatic version was released several years ago. Delighted to find that so many readers like ghost stories as much as she does, she has continued to write them, interspersed with other kinds of suspense and adventure stories. Betty Ren lives in Racine, Wisconsin with her constant companions, Gracie (the dog) and Nougat (the cat), who are never far from her desk when she's writing.

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