What a great read from Lindsay Currie! The Mystery of Locked Rooms had vibes along the lines of Mr. Lemoncello, Willy Wonka, and the Ambrose Deception, but with a perfectly unique and heartwarming storyline about the importance of friendship and perseverance. Perfect for readers who are looking for a bit of mystery and spooky vibes without anything too scary! Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!

I love it when my favorite authors surprise me by writing outside their genre, and Lindsay Currie certainly did with The Mystery of Locked Rooms. Taking her trademark MG voice and perspective, she brings a breath of fresh air to mysteries for kids.

Sarah, West and Hannah make for the perfect sleuthing trio. They jump off the page and compliment each other as they solve riddles. The personal angle of Sarah’s impending home foreclosure adds depth and meaning to the story.

I so enjoyed the tight mystery plot, the carefully placed clues, and action that kept me turning the pages. Kids will love this segway into the mystery genre by Currie, who is already at the top of her game in scary MG. I can’t wait to read more mysteries by the author. Highly recommended for reluctant readers and kids who are ready to read outside the scary MG box.

VERDICT:
Purchase for your middle-grade library.!

BACKSTORY:
You'll sometimes see people distinguish between books that are plot-driven and books that are character-driven. The Mystery of Locked Rooms does it both.

The plot is driven by a piercing real-world pain: Sarah, one of the three main protagonists, may have to move. Her house received a foreclosure notice after her father was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and her mother hasn't been able to keep up with the bills.

Sarah is a member of the Deltas, a group of three kids (get it? three sides to a triangle, triangle = Delta?): Sarah, West, and Hannah. They love escape rooms and are one of the few winners of a local one in town.

After Sarah tells West and Hannah about the potential move, Hannah tells them about a local funhouse with a supposed treasure, all put together by triplets by the name of Stein. (Yes, the number three is significant across the book).

WIth twelve-year-old convoluted assumptions ("treasure is the only way Sarah can stay so we have to find it!") and confidence ("we can break into the funhouse ourselves even though no one else has ever found the treasure and other people have gotten arrested for trying!"), the jig is off and the book plunges into the bulk of the story: how they make it through each room, and how their friendship and understanding of each other grows with each new challenge.

Indeed, this is both an adventure story (think, Mr. Lemoncello books), a mystery (Blue Balliett without the heavy research and historical accuracy), and a story of team friendship (A View from Saturday comes to mind, although this is a wildly different format). With each room comes a new personal challenge that one of the Deltas has to overcome—for example, embarrassment about a way one of them feels like they "failed," or shyness about a skill they have. The clock is also ticking down. The character-driven obstacles plus the clock help keep the book moving, but the feeling that the stakes are shifting starts to slow down. I found at some point that the number of rooms and puzzles they had to solve started feeling skimmable.

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The one dissonant note I might say, other than perhaps a room too many, would be the ending. I love a good "and they live happily ever after" ending, but felt in this case there was a bit too much tidying of loose ends. Sarah's father miraculously goes into remission AND they find the deed to the house AND they get the money to stay AND the house gets reopened under the name The Delta Game? It felt a bit too "of course,"—the father going into remission being what put it over the edge of too perfect for me.

That said! Overall a fun book of adventure and friendship and a great addition to a middle-grade library.

Sarah Greene and her best friends Hannah and West love puzzles and escape rooms. The three even manage to beat the buzzer on the second hardest escape room at Escape City, Lasers and Lava, because they have an unbeatable combination of organization, puzzle skills, and team work. Sarah's aunt has given her a membership to Escape City, and it's a highlight in her otherwise difficult life. Her father has chronic fatigue syndrome and has been so ill that he can't work. Her mother has to work a couple of jobs, and her older brother Sean is worried that he won't be able to go to college. When Sarah sees a foreclosure notice in the mail, she knows what she needs to do. She, Hannah, and West are enthralled by the abandoned fun house from the 1950s that is near their town of Park Glen. The longstanding rumor is that the triplets who constructed it, Hans, Stefan, and Karl Stein, left keys to a treasure in it. The brothers were orphaned at age 8, separated, and built the house when they reunited as adults, only to have one of them die young. Some people have tried to get in, but most are caught by the police first, including some recent attempts. The house has been in the news for years; back in 1962, parents were saying that the place was a hazard. Still, given the skills of the "Deltas" as they call themselves, and Sarah's urgent need to find a way for her family to get enough money to not have to move away and live with grandparents, the trio attempts to solve the mystery. They manage to arrange a day when they can get to the site and not have their parents come looking for them so that they have more time to unravel the clues. They are lucky right away, thanks to their keen observation, and manage to get inside the house without forcing any doors. Sarah is worried that this isn't a good idea, which isn't unwarranted given that West breaks through the floor and the kids have no phone signal in the building; and no one knows where they are if things go wrong. The Deltas escape room background serves them well as they figure out clues, manipulate locks, search for hidden doors, and manage to understand the decades old riddles that the Stein brothers posed. It's stressful and dangerous; the kids end up in tight spaces with no ways to get out, experience some significant sheer drops, and sustain some minor injuries. West and Hannah have their own challenges; West has an extraordinary memory that he tries to hide even from Sarah and Hannh, since people at school treat him differently when they find out about it, and Hannah has "failed out" of dance. Despite all of the challenges, the three friends manage to make it through the house right before their parents and law enforcement show up at the fun house, but don't find any treasure. Is this the end of their attempt, or are there still a few clues that they missed?
Strengths: This was a particularly well crafted book; I can't imagine the notes necessary to lay out all of the clues and rooms in the house! The emotional state of the three students was interspersed through the adventure perfectly, so this never dragged or got too confusing with all of the fun house action. Pacing is tough, and this book is a master class in balancing elements so that the story is engaging. This also gets off to a great start, after a thorough but brief explanation of the Deltas' interest in puzzles, the Stein's creation of the funhouse, and Sarah's problems at home. I spent a lot of time after reading this thinking about what the house must look like and trying to map things out. This will appeal to middle grade readers because of the absence of parents (who are struggling but still alive!), the intricate mystery, and, of course, the promise of a treasure that will help kids save the day! I sort of want a prequel about the Stein brothers!
Weaknesses: I'm not an anxious person, and certainly let my own personal children play in the creek and bike around town on their own. But a 70 year old fun house with secret passage ways sounds like all kinds of dangerous, so this made me very uncomfortable. Younger readers will love this, and the chances of my students reading this and then trying to get into abandoned buildings is pretty low! I am also the last person you would ever want to be in an escape room with! It does not sound fun!
What I really think: This had all of the engaging clues and puzzles of Bertman's Book Scavenger (2015), the fun house elements of Guterson's Winterhouse (2018), and the enticing but hard to balance mix of adventure and personal growth found in Anderson's Ms. Bixby's Last Day.

If Encyclopedia Brown was more than a one-man operation (I know he had Sally, but she was the muscle behind the operation.) or Nancy Drew delved more into social dynamics with her friends, you would have something like The Mystery of Locked Rooms. Starring a friend group - the Deltas - who conquer escape rooms as an unstoppable trio, this middle grade story mixes just the right balance of plot and character to keep you on the edge of your seat and your heart in your throat.

What I liked most about this book was the perfect level of well-intentioned irresponsibility of the twelve year-old antagonists; they have just enough maturity to acknowledge that what they're doing may be dangerous and just enough misplaced confidence to think it'll all work out. The characters each have their own motivation for wanting to succeed at completing the main "escape room" in the story, but the story wisely pours most of its attention into our narrator, Sarah, whose father became ill two years before the start of the novel and whose inability to consistently work threatens the family's ability to keep their home. Her internal sense of responsibility for supporting the family despite being a child - a common theme in Currie's work - pulls at the heartstrings and has you rooting even harder for a win.

Beyond the puzzles and codes in the story is the mystery of the triplets who designed and eventually abandoned the funhouse that has "escape room" vibes that the story is centered on. While I would have loved to have more detail and dive more into this background, it might have made for a clunkier read and ultimately the focus being on the main trio was the right call.

This novel is so visually rich that some readers who may not visualize as they read may struggle with keeping track of the puzzles and the layouts of the rooms, but this may also be an opportunity for educators to use this book to help develop that specific comprehension skill. Overall, it's a great read that's tough to put down and easy to love.

ARC received from NetGalley

The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsey Currie follows the Deltas - West, Hannah & Sarah - as they try to solve the ultimate escape room located in the middle of nowhere.

Sarah’s father has gone from the strongest one in the family, to bedridden due to an illness. Meanwhile, her mom is trying to hold down the fort by working multiple jobs to support the family of four. After a foreclosure notice is posted on Sarah’s front door, the severity of their financial situation becomes real. Sarah reaches out to her friends West and Hannah for support and in a brainstorming session the idea of using their escape room skills to find The Triplet Treasure appears to be the best solution to help Sarah and her family.

Using their superpowers - West with his recollection ability is the riddle master, Hannah with her poise and strength from years of ballet can provide the balance needed to get through physical challenges and Sarah uses her knowledge of probabilities to lead the decision making for the trio - the Deltas make the trek to the funhouse built by the Stein triplets in the late 1950s.

Will the power of three help the trio find the lost treasure or will they lose their sense of direction as they work through the physical and mental challenges left by three brothers so long ago?

Full of fun rhyming clues, puzzles and traps, middle grade students are going to love this adventure-mystery.

I loved this engaging break out adventure. The friends in this story are incredibly supportive and understanding about each other, their insecurities, and their flaws while still helping each other to grow and to stretch beyond their comfort zones. It was fun to follow Sarah, West, and Hannah as they faced the different challenges in the puzzling funhouse. This is a great story for readers who love puzzles, adventure, friendship stories, and stories about overcoming challenges both emotional and physical. I will definitely be purchasing and recommending this entertaining adventure to my middle school readers!

Do you love escape rooms?

If so, make sure you pick up The Mystery of Locked Rooms immediately. This middle grade novel gives major The Ambrose Deception and Mr. Lemoncello's Library vibes.

Sarah, West, and Hannah are the best of friends. They love to solve mysteries and puzzles in their town's escape rooms. Sarah might have to move and break up their friend group after she sees an eviction notice on her front door. Since her father has not been able to work in recent years, the eviction notice means her family might have to move out of town. Sarah, nor her besties, want that to happen.

Hannah tells the group about the Stein siblings who created a funhouse back in the day. The Steins supposedly hid a treasure for people to find in the house they built. To their knowledge, no one ever survived the house and found the treasure. Sarah sees this as the only way out for her and her family. The threesome researches the Steins and their house. They decide to give it a go to ensure their friend doesn't have to leave them. Once they get in the Stein funhouse, they realize their decision might not have been the best idea. Will they make it out? Is there even a treasure?

The friendship between the three is beautiful. and realistic. They pick on each other, but love and care for each other deeply. The three capitalize on their strengths throughout the novel...just like true friends do. Sometimes your friends know more about you and your talents than you yourself realize.

I would definitely recommend this book for all middle school libraries and most elementary school libraries. I also think some ninth graders would enjoy the book as well.

Thanks to NetGalley for the copy.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this middle grade mystery.

I really enjoyed this and can think of a number of students who will love this one. Along the lines of the Mr. Lemoncello and Mysterious Benedict Society books, this is a great puzzle quest for those who like those adventures!

The Mystery of Locked Rooms is an incredibly fun book with so much heart. I loved every page and I know MG readers will too. Three friends who love escape rooms decide to challenge themselves with the ultimate escape room: visiting an abandoned fun house/escape house in hopes of finding the long-lost prize. Sarah is determined to win, despite it being very hard and very risky, because her family may lose their house and the prize could help save it. What will happen when the three 12-year-olds break in and try to escape? Readers will be dying to know!
I love how readers who might not love spooky stories will have a Lindsay Currie story to enjoy! Readers will not be disappointed!

Thanks to netgalley for providing an ARC for an honest review.

Fun read! If you like escape rooms and choose your own adventure stories, this book is for you. Some heavy themes are mentioned (chronic illness, money troubles, bullying), but they do not pull too much focus.

I am so excited to share this book with you! A huge thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted copy. I am a huge fan of Lindsay Currie and have enjoyed her Middle Grade spooky books immensely! This time she is taking a different kind of adventure. Think The Goonies mixed with an escape room thriller, all starring middle school kids. This was by far my favorite book of the year. It is of course perfect for middle Grade kiddos on up, but this adult enjoyed it so much. I keep thinking what a great movie it would make. The kids in the action are all so relatable and fun. They all have a great depth of character. Their friendship is what makes this book really special. I love to see pre-teens and teens reflected in a way where they are supporting each other and lifting each other up. These kids aren't perfect but they care about each other and each support each other through their trials and support their strengths. This is a book I would be proud to share with my kids and any kids I know. It would make a great gift this spring!

Do you have what it takes to solve the mystery of the locked rooms? Sarah, West and Hannah are confident they can find the treasure that's supposedly hidden in an abandoned funhouse built in the 1950s, but they've never been in escape rooms like these! This is a fast-paced, funny mystery perfect for fans of the Mr. Lemoncello series.

The Mystery of Locked Rooms was such a pleasure to read! Known for her signature spooky stories, this is a bit of a departure for Lindsay Currie. She, instead, applies that sense of suspense and mystery to a tale of three friends Sarah, West, and Hannah, who find themselves faced with the ultimate escape room—an abandoned funhouse. Such a challenge reveals much about their character, pressures, and fears. What would you do to help your family? Fans of puzzles, codes, riddles, and adventure will love this book. My students are already uber fans of Lindsay Currie and this is sure to keep her at the top of their reading list. I’m looking forward to the day I get to read this aloud to them.

When I say I devoured this book! I was already a huge fan of Lindsay Currie and her spooky stories. At first I wasn't so sure how I'd feel about this divergence but wow! I'm so glad I read this book.

(spoilers ahead)

Sarah Greene is a middle schooler whose family is having a hard time. When she discovers a foreclosure note taped to her front door, her world completely falls apart. Sarah's dad is chronically ill and her mother's been working two jobs to try and make up for the loss of income--and failing. And if the bank takes their house, Sarah will have to move to another state and lose everything.

Together with her best friends (the Deltas), a trio who enjoy puzzles, adventure, math, and challenges, Sarah devises a plan to visit a boarded up funhouse created by triplet brothers in the 60s. Legend has it that they left a treasure behind and encouraged the public to find it. But then tragedy struck and they never finished the funhouse in time to open it up.

Once in the funhouse, Sarah and the other Deltas realize that finding the triplet treasure might be harder--and more dangerous--than they thought. In a brilliant series of rooms, the Deltas not only face the very real threat of not making it through the funhouse and finding the treasure, but also their own insecurities.

The Mystery of Locked Rooms is a heartwarming story of friends who encourage each other, are supportive, and teach kids that differences aren't bad. It's also a wonderful tale about letting go and trusting that things can work out in the end. Lindsay Currie truly is a master storyteller, no matter what genre she writes in. I was hooked from the first chapter and the quick and exciting pace kept me turning the pages.

Imagine entering a real-life escape room where your family's future depends on your success of finding a decades-old treasure that you aren't even sure really exists. A charismatic trio of friends, Sarah, West, and Hannah, also known as the Deltas, take on the suspenseful challenges of the fittingly-named Delta Game--a game that three brothers created in an attempt to build the greatest fun house ever--in hopes of winning the money to save Sarah's family from losing their home and having to move away. The Deltas' determination to crack each code, beat each challenge, and move through the intricate mazes will keep readers eagerly turning the pages in anticipation of what will happen next. Additionally, readers will enjoy trying to solve the puzzles the three friends encounter. The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie is an action-packed, mysterious adventure that is a thrill-ride from beginning to end.

When I was a kid, one of my favorite reads was Goosebumps: One Day at HorrorLand. I love that The Mystery of Locked Rooms has those same funhouse, mysterious, “will we get out?” vibes.

My students love, love, love BreakoutEDU and the concepts that surround breaking into those locks, as well as the clue hunting, problem solving, and creative thinking challenge that these and escape rooms present. The mere mention of that being the premise will beckon them in to read this book, and the fact that the creation of the game is done so intentionally and skillfully will keep them in suspense reading and trying to figure it out with the Deltas along the way.

I love the way the Deltas persevere through their mistakes and the way they approach teamwork. Currie weaved the challenges of the game with the personal challenges of each of the three main characters in a beautiful, meaningful, insightful way. Readers will both be able to relate and be able to vicariously pick up life lessons along with them. I found myself bookmarking quite a few of the revelations the Deltas made on their journey because they felt like exactly the right words and sentiments that would be useful time and time again.

Lots of authors are amazing storytellers, but a step even above that is the way Lindsay Currie’s writing flows so beautifully that it makes the pages turn effortlessly without any barriers that make you stop reading or want to put down the book. I am always transported fully into the story with her characters and their worlds.

Also worth mentioning: Fantastic pacing and a first chapter that acts as everything a perfect one should be! (And… I did have some tears in my eyes toward the end…)

An easy call to add this to my school library collection and to recommend others do the same!

Fortune favors the bold in this high-stakes, middle-grade adventure where turning back is not an option.

Goonies meets Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library meets Willy Wonka in a mystery adventure that combines the most brilliant and unique challenges with a bit of wit and lots of excitement.

Readers will not be prepared for the caliber of riddles and clues that will stump even the most experienced escape room player.

From a circus-themed fun house to swinging ropes and trapdoors, there are 16 rooms that need to be escaped and none of them are for the faint of heart. Three main characters must face mysterious hanging boxes, giant statues, and even one lipstick wearing goat.

Lindsay Currie delivers a fast paced high tempo book that will keep readers up way past their bedtime, trying to uncover the mystery for themselves .

Every item is a clue, and every clue is its own riddle. Proving that the impossible is not truly impossible if you work together as a team.

This book is sure to be a top read of the season, proving the adventure, friendship, and solving mysteries is still the winning combination.

A sweet adventure story about three friends who conquer the ultimate escape room together. Sarah, who is a bit of a misfit and struggling with her home life, joins up with two friends as the Deltas, making quick work of nearly any puzzle. Her friends are believable and supportive, even if the premise really isn't.

This is a gentle adventure story that is full of positive messages and accessible for most young readers. Adults who aren't specifically interested in escape rooms probably won't find it too compelling.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Kids for an eARC of The Mystery of Locked Rooms! This is a fun middle grade read, and I shared it with my ten year old son via bedtime read aloud over the last few weeks, and he and I both loved it so much!

MC Sarah’s family has been struggling financially ever since her father developed a chronic illness, but she believes she can help them out, if only she can find the treasure locked away in an abandoned funhouse with the help of her best friends, Hannah and West.

Sarah and her friends, “The Deltas” (as they call themselves), are obsessed with escape rooms. Several people have tried to solve the mystery of the abandoned funhouse over the years, but perhaps the Deltas are the ones with the skill set to finally crack the seventy year old codes?

This story, and the writing, are nearly five star material, in the vein of The Mysterious Benedict Society, a wonderful and sensitive introduction to the mystery genre with an underlying message about friendship and teamwork. The only thing that caught me (trying not to leave a spoiler!) was at least one instance of a rhyming puzzle “clue” that absolutely made no sense in light of plot continuity (just *how* exactly did the person who left the note seven decades ago know that the person who found it would have made exactly three attempts at guessing the answer to the puzzle before finding the note? It made no sense to me, but my son did not pick up on it and it didn’t bother him at all- I didn’t mention it to him, either).

Overall, while not perfect, it was a fantastic, exciting story, and we loved it. My son says five stars, I say four- so, an easy 4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ - we will recommend it to our friends, for sure!