HORROR AT THE HAUNTED HOUSE

A small, sturdy ghost-story featuring characters introduced in Terror at the Zoo (1992). Ellen and motormouth little brother Corey volunteer to appear in staged dramas of historic executions and deaths as part of a Halloween haunted-house fund-raiser in aid of turning an old mansion into a museum. Ellen, cast as Joan of Arc and burned nightly at the stake, develops a fondness for a valuable collection of Wedgewood acquired by Lydia, a long-dead inhabitant of the home. Lydia appears to warn Ellen that many of the pieces have been artfully counterfeited and switched, while the real ones are headed for England. Ellen catches on—well behind readers—after overhearing a crucial, convenient phone call. Confronting the perpetrator, she nearly goes up in real flames—but then finds a way to put Lydia to rest. Here, Kehret doesn't mess around with complex twists, trusting readers new to the mystery genre to revel in her special effects and in Ellen's personality—thoughtful, careful, genuine. Light, but with many simple, deft touches. (Fiction. 9+)