When three girls are stranded at the grand Bramble Estate in the middle of a snowstorm, they stumble into a murder plot. Someone has poisoned wealthy Emily Vanforte in the middle of a family dinner - which means Devi, Lizzie and Jayne are trapped in the house with a killer and a mystery to solve. With knives under floorboards, vanishing guns and secret passages in the walls, no one is safe and everyone is a suspect. But in a house of liars and corruption, will the girls save themselves...or learn to fit in?
A mixed review! I always try to be fair in my reviews, so here we go; this is a fabulous idea, the writing is great - I loved the house with all its secret passages and and hidden corners, it's exactly the right kind of setting for this kind of story. The characters were great. However, I don't feel that we could have guessed whodunnit because we were actively lied to early on, and while I know that's not unusual in mysteries - people will lie to the detectives and the other people around - I still feel that it's not solvable. But maybe I just don't read enough mysteries, maybe it was all perfectly obvious to other readers!
The descriptions and writing are all wonderful. As often happens, I would have liked a map - I'm very visually oriented and I would have loved to be able to follow people around the house. But as (almost) always, I was reading a proof and by the time this is published there may be floorplans of the house included.
This is a great addition to the mystery/thriller books that are currently all the rage for YA, and I can't wait to see what Ravena comes up with next.
Catch your Death publishes on the 7th of December, 2023. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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