I want to visit this escape room! Three friends try overcome their fears and solve the ultimate riddle to avoid being separated, perhaps forever. This is an intriguing story full of gentle peril, jokes and kindness. It’s perfect for middle school aged children, with a message about using your talents and combining your strengths to meet challenges. It’s funny and clever.

This is a perfect middle grade book. It’s an adventurous story of 3 kids that love escape rooms and try to conquer the ultimate one. They went looking to find a long lost treasure from an old abandoned fun house/escape room. The story pulls you in with the different rooms they encounter and how they try to solve the clues to each one. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced reader’s copy.

I love this type of story that is focused on a specific game. Perfect for adventure-solving clues and escape room lovers. And a great book to join famous classics (movies too) with the same theme.

A team of three children (Sarah, Hannah, and West - adventurous, courageous but also nerdy) embark on a perilous journey in a famous abandoned escape house, never once solved before. Most have been caught by the police before even solving the first room.
The Deltas (their group name) are confident they can do it. They will face each room and clues for a noble cause. They risk everything to help Sarah, the main character find a treasure and stop her from having to move away with her parents.

What I love most about this book is that it doesn't take too many pages at all to present us with the problem and plunge us into the game. We're in the fun house along with the children trying to find the treasure. Each room and clues are easy to visualize and understand and we never don't feel lost.
Has a great ending.

I've read a digital advance copy but I'm excited for it to be out and collect the physical one. Meanwhile, I am curious about other works from this author who is new to me.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this e-ARC.

“𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧, 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤, 𝐰𝐞’𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲.”

I’m always on a hunt for a new novel to add to my classroom library, and this one was so much fun.

Lindsay Currie crafts a love letter to escape rooms and the power of friendship that is a blast to read. Main characters Sarah, West, and Hannah have a passion for solving puzzles; their friendship is a huge highlight in how they work together, and support one another. I liked that Currie didn’t make their relationship perfect though - they got on each other’s nerves at times and were able to argue, yet still have a sense of unity and compassion. These are key components of relationships that younger readers can learn from and use in their own lives. The abandoned funhouse with a rumoured treasure, and Sarah’s family facing multiple problems related to money (a foreclosure on their house, a sick father, an overworked mother, and a possible move away), alongside some risks made for a high stakes story. The themed rooms contained creative puzzles, and I liked that there were elements that leaned into Hannah, West and Sarah’s individual strengths. Although, I thought this would be a take on a classic locked room mystery, I was pleasantly surprised that it felt more in line with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or a personal favourite, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library.

The Mystery of Locked Rooms is a story of perseverance, luck, confidence, and friendship. Middle grade readers will love this adventure filled with puzzles, riddles, and teamwork. Thank you to Sourcebooks Young Readers and NetGalley for the ARC!

Sarah, West, and Hannah are best friends who rock at escape rooms. But when Sarah’s house sports a foreclosure notice, the three are extra motivated to beat what may be the greatest escape room of all-an abandoned funhouse rumored to have a treasure at the end for anyone who can beat it.

This was an extremely fun middle grade read. I love escape rooms, so reading how they beat each room was great. The characters are so engaging and so easy to root for. There’s a level of mystery surrounding the funhouse that just adds to the enjoyment of reading this book. I would definitely recommend this book.

This was fantastic! Interesting characters and a story that was impossible to set down. I'd hand this to kids who like Mr. Lemoncello's Library series and the City Spies series.

Sarah, West, and Hannah are the perfect trio. They love escape rooms and just get each other. Hannah feels like she finally belongs, but it is all threatened when her parents receive a foreclosure notice on their home. Hannah decides she must do what she's best at to help her family-- and escape room!
I loved this story! First off, who doesn't love a good escape room, then throw in Willy Wonka, and you've got the perfect story! I love that Hannah has such great friends who support her and her good intentions, even if it did result with some law enforcement intervening. The twists and turns were great and it was the perfect length too!

This book was so much fun! I loved reading about this trio of best friends who work together to accomplish "impossible" tasks! The descriptions of the funhouse/escape rooms were vivid, and as an escape room fan, I was wanting to go through them myself! I loved reading about the struggles each character had but how they grew to overcome them. Solid middle school read and I can't wait to get it in my kids' hands!

Do you love escape room and puzzles? If you answered yes, then this book is for you. This fast paced middle school read is perfect for fans of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and those who love the magic of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Sarah learns that her family may lose their house. She sees how her mom struggles to keep up and her dad's illness effects the family and she wants to find a way to fix everything. Sarah and her friends, the Delta's, love escape rooms. When they hear about a possible treasure waiting to be claimed in an abandoned 1950s funhouse, the Delta's are ready to put their skills to use but this isn't your average escape room. The stakes are much higher.

This book was a little mellower than Lindsay Currie‘s middlegrade thrillers that we love for Halloween reading but the story grabbed us immediately. Sarah, West and Hannah love escape rooms and as slightly nerdy math lovers they are really good at them to. When Sarah‘s troubles - her home will be foreclosed on since her mom can’t keep up the payments and her dad is sick - threaten to break up the trio THE DELTAS, they leap to action and want to be the first to conquer a mysterious 1950s fun house at the outskirts of town and find the treasure rumored to be hidden in it. The quest forces them to be more open to each other than they have ever been, to trust and to use their smarts, to appreciate the different abilities each one of them brings to the table, different as they are. I tjought this book and reading it together made for a great conversation starter on connection, vulnerability and the brave face or even show we sometimes put on for others, at the same time it was a great middlegrade mystery that had us rooting for the three protagonists from start to finish !

Thank you to @netgalley @sourcebookskids for providing us with an eARC and to @lindsayncurrie for writing this gem. All opinions expressed are our own, mine and my daughters !

This is a fun book that will appeal to readers of all ages, particularly those interested in escape rooms. The mystery is engaging and will keep readers entertained with the puzzles and riddles. Friendship is key and right on par for the targeted age group.

This was a fun middle-grades book! A great story with themes including teamwork, perseverance, friendship, and the power of adventures. This will surely keep your growing readers interested as they travel through the book and go on a magnificent journey!

What a fun book! Currie's Mystery of Locked Rooms grabbed my attention and kept it throughout the entire book! I loved the puzzles and riddles throughout and also the themes of friendship and that the right friends will love you exactly as you are! I will definitely be recommending this book to my middle school kids.

**4.25 stars

This very fun adventure book is about Sarah, who wants to help her family. She decides the best way to do this is to get her two best friends and try to break into an old fun house that is rumored to have a treasure. This is book is full of puzzles, plot twists, and just plain fun. There are themes of friendship and loyalty and commitment to family. I think the kids are going to love this one.

Instead of a middle grade horror novel centered around historical events, Currie is giving readers a book built around escape room puzzles... though true to Currie's style, there are still historical elements to it. I really appreciated the healthy friendship between Sarah, West, and Hannah. The Deltas for ever!

The puzzles were interesting even if the architectural logistics of the house don't always make sense. Not only to The Deltas have to solve escape room puzzles, but they have to work through their own mental and emotional struggles to accept their strengths and weaknesses (and acknowledge that neither are bad, they're just who they are). The ending is a little convenient, but works for a middle grade novel.

I didn't love this as much as Currie's darker novels, but I can see this being an easy sell at the library and think that kids who like puzzles will enjoy it.

I was disappointed that "that's lame" is used throughout the novel though, while this was a common phrase in the past, it's ableist and there are other words that could be used instead to convey the same message.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, SOURCEBOOKS Kids, and Sourcebooks Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book appealed to me as an adult reader, & it met its promise of a great mystery! It's totally appropriate for children, too, of course. I'm recommending it to my 4th and 6th grade children, although there are moments that are a little scary if one is not a fan of enclosed spaces...
The protagonists are huge fans of escape rooms, & they find out about an abandoned fun house with a promising prize at the end. Without telling anyone, they go there to solve it. The rooms sounded genuinely mysterious & fun, but the suspense was definitely there too as they worked their way through the house with no easy way out. It definitely kept me reading!

did not finish the book- the story wasn’t pulling me in sadly. it turns out i don’t really care about people solving escape rooms. /: this hurts because i love LC’s middle grade horror novels, but don’t think this type of book is for me!

thank you to Netgalley, Sourcebooks Young Readers, and Lindsay Currie for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Lindsay Currie has done it again, and I'm SO glad to see this book getting all the love it deserves! THE MYSTERY OF LOCKED ROOMS felt like an immersive experience, breathlessly following the Deltas as they tackle riddles, puzzles, and their own doubts within an abandoned funhouse. It's the type of book you can't help but devour in a single sitting!

And now, I have the urge to find my town's escape room ...

This book was a fast and fun read. Upper elementary students who are fans of Mr. Lemoncello’s Library or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would enjoy this one.

Sarah and her friends are obsessed with escape rooms, so when Sarah’s family experiences financial trouble, they decide to attempt a long abandoned funhouse with the hope of finding a treasure. While the characters show a little growth along the way, this story is mostly about the puzzles. So there’s not a lot of depth to explore, but it was a good time. I can see students in grades 3-5 having fun with this as a class read aloud.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5mqhnDNgRI/?igsh=MWV5aDk5M3Njc3M5ZQ==

I love the whole idea of an escape room book, and I love the way the three kids need to work together to solve the clues and get to the end. It will be a fun addition to our library!