What a fun, creepy mystery this was! I enjoyed the cast of unusual characters were interesting and the mystery of what happened to Beatrice all those years ago really pulled me into the story.

This is fast paced and full of secrets and reveals. I especially enjoyed Dewey and his detective skills throughout. I would love to revisit this fantastical town someday and recommend this for the upcoming spooky season!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Holiday House and NetGalley for the copy.

If you like mysteries that gather a group of peculiar and interesting characters in one place, like a house, to solve a crime then you're in for a treat.

Beatrice disappeared 13 years ago. One person was sent to prison, but is he guilty?
Dewey, the only kid in this party investigates all clues like a true Sherlock Holmes.

A great mystery investigation is suitable for children and adults will appreciate it as well. It has all the mystery elements, red herrings and clues, and plot twists in a house that feels like a haunted doll house.

The first chapter introduces several characters quickly but efficiently, these are the ones who will participate in the event. Although it is a fast read, the author attributes to the world and characters a lot of personality. One sells bottles of sunshine so people can grow flowers during the night. Ingenious. Another can see the immediate future. Fun.
Fairy tale vibes, because whatever clues they learn from these stories may explain what happened to Beatrice's disappearance.
Also, the end is very cool. I hope this becomes a series.

It has magic, a bit of humor because each character is a treat, one awesome fun character, magic, fairy tale vibes, and great investigation.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC. My opinions are honest and my own.
Posted on Amazon on pub day.

When Beatrice vanished at the annual All Hallows Eve party, people in the town of Nevermore were quick to judge and make comments. Where did Beatrice go and who is responsible.

This is such a great read for this fall season. Mysteries and twists & turns, make for a fabulous story. All the characters are intriguing, and I love that we get a glimpse from some of their point of view. My favorite part of this book is how the author skillfully added cliffhangers to the end of the chapters, which keeps you telling yourself, just one more chapter, over and over. This is a great read, I really enjoyed it and would recommend this to others.

This middle grade mystery book is a perfect Fall read. This story will likely be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys the board game Clue. All the suspects are brought together at a Hallow’s Eve party to figure who is responsible for the disappearance of young girl named Beatrice Willoughby. The suspects in the book come from different backgrounds and have odd personalities, making it difficult to peg who is guilty at the beginning of the book. As the story progresses, the reader is given clues that allow for them to try and figure out which character is guilty. This story reads more like an Agatha Christie style mystery book but would likely be enjoyed by readers of Nancy Drew and/or the Hardy Boys. This book is a fun mystery to read and is a good choice for introducing young readers to the mystery genre.

Thank you to Holiday House/Peachtree/Pixel+Ink, Holiday House and NetGalley for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So so happy to have had the chance to read this book!
It was a delightful reading and the combination of mystery and magic that float in Nevermore make it even more intriguing. And the fact that everything takes place during All Hallows Eve only makes the setting more fitting.
What I really loved about this book besides the investigative aspect were the characters, the way they were treated, with their particularities, made them unique and for this reason easy to worship. The way the mystery was handled at the beginning reminded me of the case of Agatha Christe where the characters involved are reunited with the detective and for this, I loved it even more.
I will keep this review short because this is one of those books that you have to read instead of reading the review (excuse me, but my vote is not enough to entice you to put this book in your tbr?).
It's a perfect reading for the target to which it is addressed but also for whoever wants to spend an afternoon immersed in the atmosphere of All Hallows Eve.


Thanks to NetGalley and the Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink for allowing me to read the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good book, I think it was really interesting the execution of the book and was a nice read leading up to Halloween. I think this would be a great book for young teens as I know at that age this would have been a 5/5 for me.

The Curious Vanishing of Beatrice Willoughby is a well-written middle grade novel. This is the first book I have read by G.Z. Shmidt and am looking forward to reading more.

“The Amadeuses were always considered somewhat strange” –and they were not the only ones. One of the loveliest aspects of G.Z. Schmidt’s novel is the clever winks it employs, because it isn’t long before we suspect that the Amadeuses aren’t the only strange inhabitants of the tiny mountain town of Nevermore. No, Schmidt gives us much more than the mystery of Beatrice Willoughby’s the curious disappearance to uncover.
The entire cast is intriguing. To our delight, we get some point of view from them all—and yet, they are still quite capable of harboring secrets. In fact, Schmidt is artful in the way she casts shadows.
The experience of the read will call to mind the film Clue (1985): individuals drawn together via a mysterious invitation to a strange manor; each connected to the host in some way; the puzzle mediated by “the butler.” Too, are the references to significant figures from libraries of classic horror, folk- and fairytale. The Curious Vanishing of Beatrice Willoughby is book adults will enjoy reading—potentially aloud.
While the novel opens with the different invitees to the mysterious All Hallow’s Eve party, moving through Nevermore as it does, it will eventually linger with Dewey at the party--a young protagonist to help us navigate the secretive, scheming, and dismissive world of the adults.
Dewey introduces us to the understanding that when you live in a world where the fairy tales are real, anything could happen. The question becomes less about what is true or possible, but what isn’t true or possible. In genres like Horror and Mystery, the imagination is welcome and necessary. Schmidt luxuriates in it and we are invited to do the same.
The Curious Vanishing also brought to mind Grace Lin’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon in how her novel interweaves stories of folk and lore for the reader to intuit and incorporate into the mystery at hand. It is a celebrated element in Lin’s piece and the clever Schmidt integrates it in her own way here. Honestly, I could do with a volume of tales invented or retold by G.Z. Schmidt—with illustrations. I’d have loved a few illustrations in The Curious Vanishing. (Next edition?)
I raced through the novel. The mysteries are enticing. The deft movement between multiple character points-of-view artfully deepening interest. Short chapters sail and she adds those delectable cliff-hangers that propel you into the next. Too, paired with chapter numbers is the counting down of the clock. Schmidt provides the deliberation necessary in a Mystery, but she keeps it moving. Set details add atmosphere, and seeming asides are just that seeming. Schmidt is not wasteful nor weighty. And she keeps it both charming and creepy.
The Curious Vanishing is a spooky read. The atmosphere darkening as skillfully as it is paced. The whimsy saturating her magical world has a delightfully gruesome and sinister edge. Children are going missing among other dark plots. Schmidt demonstrates the careful tread with which those like Arden, Auxier, Black, Gaiman, and Schwab* are so successful. She offers capable-yet-vulnerable protagonists, levity, and a careful, clever control of her elements. That isn’t to say she makes it boringly easy and conclusive. I mean: that delicious shiver she delivers on that last page.
The Curious Vanishing of Beatrice Willoughby is a perfect seasonal read: cozy, well-spiced, twisting, and dark. A nice horror for non-genre readers. A must for readers of fairy tales, folklore, and the macabre. It is certainly for lovers of magic and the adorably strange.

+

* Katherine Arden [Small Spaces series], Jonathan Auxier [Night Gardener; Peter Nimble series], Holly Black [Doll Bones], Neil Gaiman [Coraline, Graveyard Book], Victoria Schwab [Blake Cassidy series]. Adam Gidwitz’s A Tale Dark & Grimm series came to mind, as well as Michael Buckley’s The Sisters Grimm series.

This book is a delightfully spooky tangled mystery that neatly irons out at the end. It begins by introducing the reader to a cast of odd adult characters, each with a clear secret. And each is invited to an Addams Family-style house for a Halloween Party in which the truth of a disappearing child will come forth. Dewey, a boy who shows up with his traveling dad, plays the detective, following a series of clues that lead everyone deeper into the secret lives of everyone present.

The mystery is the core story, and this will be an utter delight for kids who love puzzles. Schmidt sprinkles just enough details to provide excellent hints, and there's a marvelous red herring too (near the end, a character talks about it, a clever way to introduce the word and concept to young readers). Give this to students who enjoy sifting through clues and trying to figure out the answer before the detective.

This book immediately starts out with explaining Beatrice’s disappearance and the strange happenings in the town — this has a very locked room / clue the board game feel from the beginning. If you like this style game —will enjoy this story . Full of fantastic fantasy moments and I love the Dr. a kind of mad scientist character. The young investigator Dewey crashing the party — each character who comes to the party are introduced and you want to know how they are all connected and what happened 13 years ago when Beatrice went missing , who’s involved and what happened to her ? I really liked how they weaved many aspects of the Grimm’s fairytales into the story as well.
Recommend for age 12 and older . Really enjoyed the story — a page turner - and the ending ... well ... I am looking forward to future books by this author !

This would be a perfect read aloud as a family during Halloween book. It was quirky, magical and a little silly with the right amount of creepy.

Beatrice Willoughby went missing from a Halloween party 13 years ago and everyone that was in attendance was invited back this Halloween to figure out which one of them took her and why.

It gave Clue vibes and I was here for it.
Very fun.

Thanks to NetGalley and Holiday House for an eARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange of an honest review!

I really enjoyed this book. It gave me major A Series of Unfortunate Events vibes, with the cast of eccentric, whimsical characters, but at the heart of it is such a curious, intriguing mystery: what happened to little Beatrice Willoughby? The idea of adults having to pay for the sins of the past, having to come together to pick out the culprit under strange, intense circumstances reminiscent of a locked-room mystery for preteens really brought this book together. It's such an ingenious premise, and Schmidt does wonders wrapping up the end!

This book was so much fun! It felt like I was reading a fairytale.

The town of Nevermore is a very peculiar place, there’s a Count who can see into the future, a Duchess who wears a very mysterious veil and has a dark past, a Doctor who sells weird potions and even poison, an innkeeper owner with a weird affection for crows and of course there’s the Amadeuses, who every All Hallows Eve threw the biggest party ever, there is, until Beatrice Willoughby, the mayor daughter disappeared on one of their parties, Mort Amadeus was convicted for the crime and the Amadeuses stopped their All Hallows Eve party.

But something new is going on in the town of Nevermore because thirteen years later, all major players who attended the Amadeuses party on the night Beatrice Willoughby disappeared are being kindly (or in some cases, forcedly) invited to attend a new party at the Amadeuses Mansion and they have until midnight to discover who kidnapped Beatrice.

I really had the best of times reading this book, every little detail was so charming I couldn’t stop reading it! I really hope the author writes another book with these characters

Thanks Netgalley and Holiday House/ Peachtree/ Pixel Ink for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review

The Curious Vanishing of Beatrice Willoughby by G Z Schmidt is a perfect middle grade mystery with a bit of creepiness thrown in. The characters in the Amadeus mansion are strange and the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Beatrice suitably intriguing. When six invitations are sent out for a party at the mansion, 13 year old Dewey and his storytelling father become part of the team trying to solve the mystery. This will appeal to any child loving a good mystery.

This read like an MG version of CLUE but with a supernatural spin. On top of that, the author cleverly worked in fairy tales as real life events that occurred in the story's setting of Europe.

Large fascinating cast of characters, told in omnipotent point of view. Each character was introduced with their own idiosyncrasies, but many of them still had additional surprises uncovered by Dewey. The deadline of having to solve the mystery of Beatrice's vanishing of just a few hours kept it intriguing. Even though it was dark in the sense that a girl had gone missing and "lost her life", it eventually came to a happy ending.

The Kindle e-ARC I got from NetGalley actually had the book in it twice. At first I was confused as to why the story was coming to a conclusion half-way into the file. Then I realised it was actually the end of the book. That's a good sign because it means it didn't feel like it was too long!

Offering a bit of mystery, magic, and the macabre, this middle-grade tale combines just the right amounts of fun and fright. The Amadeuses have hosted an All Hallows Eve party each year for the residents of Nevermore. It was the most anticipated event of the year with elaborate decorations, freakish puppets (hand-crafted and available for purchase), and fantastic food. All of that ended, however, when 6-year-old Beatrice Willoughby vanished during one tragic party. Mort Amadeuses was blamed for the crime and Beatrice was never found.

Fast forward 13 years and a few select residents have received mysterious invitations for an All Hallows Eve party at the Amadeuses' creepy mansion. Presumably one of the guests was responsible for Beatrice's disappearance and those in attendance are tasked with solving the mystery and bringing the true culprit to justice. But they only have until midnight and time is running out. Will the mystery be solved or will more people face the same fate?

A perfect tale for Halloween with a storyline to get a youngster's heart racing but hopefully not enough to give nightmares. Has the creep factor of the Addams Family and readers are kept guessing until the surprising & satisfying conclusion. This could be a good family read for children 8-11, or a read alone for 12+ audiences. All in all, it was a clever story with lots of interesting "reveals" along the way.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of The Curious Vanishing of Beatrice Willoughby from NetGalley for review. No other compensation was received. The opinions expressed are my own.

This breezy, darkly fantastical romp for the under-twelves takes us to a typical Mitteleuropean mansion full of secrets, peoples its rooms with strange characters and goes all old-fashioned whodunnit on us. Thirteen years ago a mahoosive society Halloween party was the last anyone saw of the mayor's young daughter. She would now be nineteen, but it's only come about now that the hosts (including the one fingered for the crime and locked up since) are inviting people back – but this time they're not letting the select few leave until they've worked out, or had a confession, as to which of them is really guilty.

And so we have a lumpen, bragging duchess, a hotelier, a pair of people whose presence nobody else can even remember from one minute to the next, a pharmacist with the knowledge of the dark arts, someone who can read the future, and more. It's a motley bunch, but designed to be, not only for the sparky touches of humour they can all bring. As one of the characters reminds us, a lot of rum people are in the cast of folklore and European legend, and this happily dips its toes into those waters on its wilful way.

Happily it does this as lightly as it does everything else, not lumpenly feeding and riffing off legends of yore. It's intended to be a whimsical drama, a slightly spooky old school mystery, and I think it achieves all it wants to do in that regard. The cover focuses on the youngest reluctant investigator, but nobody really stands out as a lead, and this is a pleasant ensemble work. Happily, this was better than I might have expected – so often when we get a book where the author has clearly said "I can do anything I like – and you're going to enjoy it!" only the first half is true. This does deliver solidly four star enjoyment.

While the ending was predictable, it seems that was by design. It also really didn’t take away from the fact that this was a fabulous story of mystery and magic with some familiar characters sprinkled in.

Thirteen years ago, Beatrice Willoughby disappeared at the annual Halloween party the Amadeuses threw. After that, Mort Amadeus was arrested and since then, no parties were held. Until this year. A few town residents get invited and show up, only to learn they are tasked with solving the crime - and one of them is guilty.

I really enjoyed this one! It incorporated fairy tales and other stories in such a fun unique way. I also like the way magic was incorporated without it solving all the problems. It was such a fun, unique story, and I loved following all the clues with Dewey. Definitely a great one for mystery lovers, kids and adults alike!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

What a great book for reading together with the whole family. A great clue based mystery that appealed to the whole age range of my family. The interwoven stories added an extra dimension. More please.