I SPY SOMETHING WICKED

Mysteries and ghosts abound when Tessa Kelling is named heir to her late uncle’s remote estate.

Seventeen-year-old Tessa remembers being saved from falling out of a tree as a child by Andre, a strange, handsome man who disappears after introducing himself. Now, Andre becomes her ghostly roommate (and maybe something more) when Tessa inherits her uncle’s house and moves to Ama, Oklahoma. But the house is nothing like she imagined—in fact, it harbors secrets that Tessa’s uncle leaves her clues about and which lead to multiple break-ins peppered throughout the story, without much substance in between. The mystery plotline is introduced early on but then forgotten about until the end of the narrative, where it finally shows up to give readers a speedy and transparent climax. Tessa shows keen insight about what’s going on in her new house and is the most well-developed character; the rest of the cast is unfortunately one-dimensional. The only part of the novel that evokes real emotion involves a very difficult experience Tessa endures without her mother’s support, although her trauma is never quite dealt with. All characters are assumed white.

Predictability and muddled language make this a mystery not worth solving.