The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

I have to admit it that Ryan has good taste in books. He recommended The Westing Game because he remembered liking it as a kid. It took me a minute to get into it, but once I did, I had a hard time putting it down. Even better, a bunch of my students spotted me reading it and had a lot of comments about it which is always a good sign.

So, this is an Agatha Christie style mystery aimed at a middle school audience. The whole thing starts with a mysterious apartment building and an apparent murder. 16 people are then invited to solve the murder and earn a millionaire's fortune.

There are a lot of moving parts in this one, but usually I have a pretty good idea how a mystery is going to end by the mid point of the book. Not so for this one. I had some of it worked out for sure, but the end still caught me by surprise.

All in all, it's a worthwhile read.