The Graham Quartet and the Mystery of the Day Maid

Good little mystery! The clues kept me guessing throughout the story, and it has the flavor of a vintage Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys mystery, which was really fun. I loved reading about the relationships of the siblings to each other and with their parents.

Now, apart from the mystery and the characters, which were really great, there were a few issues that kept it from a “very good” or “excellent” rating. First, I didn't realize this was the second book in a dependent series. Do yourself a favor and read the other book first! I found myself dumped into a world I knew nothing about. At first I assumed from the context that I was reading about modern middle-schoolers, and wondered why they were running around town without supervision. At 30%, I realized it must be right after WW2. At 50%, I realized that two of the siblings were old enough to drive! So, yeah...read book one!

Second, I found the first chapter being out of chronological order to be exceedingly jarring. If there had been a heading note, it would have been fine, but there wasn't, and I never did quite figure out where it fit. Just be prepared for that leap.

Third, I didn't like a lie that was told. When they are watching for a boat, they tell a man who asks that they are watching for their Uncle Kyle. It was treated as a joke, that they made up an apocryphal uncle...it isn't something I would approve of in a middle grade book. All the siblings had to say was that they wanted to watch the boats.

Other than those three things, it's a really fun read. I think my favorite side character was the lighthouse keeper!