This wasn’t a book I planned to read in just two sittings. However, after continuing to tell myself “I’ll take a break after this chapter” and then not taking a break after the chapter, I finished it in a blur of twists and reveals that left me gasping.

Death at Morning House follows Marlowe Wexler, an average teenage girl with a years-long crush on Akilah, her ice cream parlor coworker. But all of Marlowe’s summer plans go sideways when she accidentally sets fire to the cottage she was house-sitting for family friends, which she was not supposed to be using for (literally) hot dates. All in a rush, her almost-girlfriend gets a new job and Marlowe loses hers after falling into a spiral thanks to the guilt over the burned-down cottage. The moping doesn’t last long, however, because one of her teachers gets her a job working as a tour guide at the famous Morning House, a mansion on an island estate built in the 1920s with a strange and deadly history.

At the estate, Marlowe meets the six other teenagers already working there, and she gets close with some of them while others hide themselves away. She learns all about the eccentric Philip Ralston and his family: the original owners of the estate before it was abandoned. The mansion is huge and mainly used for tours, though Dr. Henson, the professor employing Marlowe and the others to do the tours, lives in it while doing her research on the family. As Marlowe learns more about the estate and the other teens she’s working with, she finds out some things about the boy she’s replacing—things some of her fellow tour guides don’t want her to know. Her curiosity leads her to start investigating, and when someone goes missing, she can’t help but wonder if the cases are connected.

The second storyline follows Clara Ralston in 1932, the eldest of seven Ralston children during the days leading up to the first of many tragic deaths of her whole family, starting with her youngest brother Max, then her own later on the same day. The Ralston family are an intriguing bunch, and I really enjoyed the sections about them and the circumstances leading up to the collapse of their seemingly idyllic lifestyle. Their family is tight-knit, but dysfunctional in many ways, especially as Philip tries to mold his children’s views to match how he sees the world, including educating them on the “science” of eugenics. He sets tight schedules, prescribes strange diets, and forbids alcohol and sugar, so it’s no surprise that Clara and some of her siblings chafe against their father’s orders.

We learn early on who else in the Ralston family dies, the order of their deaths, and how. It’s all part of the Morning House tour. This knowledge makes it all the more interesting to find out exactly how the deaths came to be. They were written off in the news reports and history books as accidental or simply bad fortune. But were they really chance, or was foul play involved?

My absolute favourite part of any Maureen Johnson mystery is how she weaves together a compelling storyline from both the past and the present that parallel each other in multiple ways. The Morning House tour guides are a group of six friends, and one newcomer to them all (Marlowe). There were six adopted children in the Ralston family, plus Max, the odd one out as the only biological son. I thought this made really interesting dynamics between characters, and tied each period together despite two entirely different mysteries occurring in them.

As I said, I ate this up and barely even stopped to ponder who might have done it, so the ending was a thrilling rush of revelations and plot twists that made sense even though I didn’t predict them. While it’s got all the hallmarks of a good thriller—a missing person, general skulduggery, and many horrible deaths—the ending is sweet, to put a cherry on top of this captivating tale of extremely messy families, friendships, and friend-group love polygons. If you’re looking for a book to tie together the end of summer with the arrival of spooky season, give Death at Morning House a read!

Eternally grateful to read anything by the inimitable Maureen Johnson. I've been following her authorship for over a decade, and seeing the evolution of her writing and stories has been a damn delight. Death at Morning House is absolutely no aberration to that.

This book was honestly quite predictable. It was a bit fun still but not my favorite. It was nice to read between some heavier books.

I love the Truly Devious series and was hoping to love this book as well. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me. I think a lot of the back and forth relationships/hook-ups felt too HBO series to me. Will still give check out other books by this author though as I've had significantly more hits than misses.

While I found Marlowe’s voice to be stiff at times, the point of views of the Ralatons and the mystery in present day was entertaining enough. Some of the clues were too-obviously planted, but I liked it anyway.

This is an interesting book - the mystery was interesting, the setting was interesting, and most of the characters were at least somewhat interesting. Except the main characters. Her two character traits seemed to be being gay and being a dumbass, and it was off-putting. I wanted a lot less romance and a lot more mystery and investigation here.

Another wonderful mystery from Maureen Johnson. This one didn't feel quite as cozy mystery as her Truly Devious series. In those she is actively looking for clues. In this one the clues just seem to be happened upon. I know this is going to be a very popular title.

Marlowe Wexler accidentally set a house on fire and lost her girlfriend. So when an unexpected job offer at an abandoned island estate comes her way, she takes it. She will join several friends as a tour guide at a historic home. The only problem is past murders. And there might be a few murders in the present day, too.
I really like the author's writing style! It's casual and funny. I would definitely read more of their books.
The story was interesting with plenty of twists, turns and red herrings. It wasn't as engaging as I hoped, though. Besides Marlowe, I wasn't invested in any of the other characters.
I liked the eugenics angle. In the end, manipulating genes did not provide the win the doctor father hoped and planned for.

This is the first book I've read from this author but I was super hyped because I know she's super loved and I'm a big fan of ya thrillers.
I found the mystery plot of this book intriguing, and that’s the main reason I kept reading until the end.I wanted to uncover the resolution to the crime. As the protagonist, Marlowe seemed to be written as someone who struggles with anxiety and becomes obsessively focused on certain things to manage it. However, I found her behavior, especially when it came to her crushes, a bit unsettling. She took things to an extreme, researching their interests and trying to match them to the point of obsession. While some of her actions, like a typical anxious teenager trying to connect with a crush, felt realistic her behavior was exaggerated in a way that I don't think most readers would find charming, at least I didn't.
Unfortunately, experiencing the plot through Marlowe’s perspective hindered my enjoyment. The story may have been more engaging and received a higher rating if the protagonist had been less passive. She came across as incredibly bland, with events happening to or around her, rather than her actively driving the plot.

There’s a clear difference between showing and telling in literature, and I feel the author mostly relied on telling here. As this was supposed to be a mystery/thriller, I expected a certain level of curiosity and active problem-solving from the protagonist as she encountered obstacles or puzzles. Instead, I felt the author simply revealed the entire solution in a lazy way that was dissapointing to me.
3 stars

*Thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for the ARC*

First I want to thank HarperCollins for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The fire wasn’t Marlowe Wexler’s fault. Dates should be hot, but not hot enough to warrant literal firefighters. With her house-sitting career up in flames, it seems the universe owes Marlowe a new summer job, and that’s how she ends up at Morning House, a mansion built on an island in the 1920s and abandoned shortly thereafter. It’s easy enough, giving tours. Low risk of fire. High chance of getting bored talking about stained glass and nut cutlets and Prohibition. Oh, and the deaths. Did anyone mention the deaths? Maybe this job isn’t such a gift after all. Morning House has a horrific secret that’s been buried for decades, and now the person who brought her here is missing. All it takes is one clue to set off a catastrophic chain of events. One small detail, just like a spark, could burn it all down—if someone doesn’t bury Marlowe first.

What I Loved:
- Morning House, I love the idea of this grand house in the middle of a groping of islands that has such a horrific past but of course people make money on tours
- Dual Timelines, the story takes place both in the past with the original family and the present with Marlowe and her coworkers spinning different but related stories
- Twist, I was shocked when the "bad guys" were revealed in both the past and the present
- Characters, I wasn't a big fan of the characters in the past timeline but the group of kids at the Morning House was a fun mix of people who were unlikely friends

As a fan of the Truly Devious series, I was excited to read this standalone and I was not disappointed. This story kept me interested and wanting to learn more to try and figure out who done it to be pleasantly surprised that I wasn't even close to being right. If you are looking for a good story with lots of twists and turns and multiple mysteries to solve without getting lost then I suggest you consider picking up this book.

I Absolutely loved this book! I read Johnson's Truly Devious series and I love her writing style!! I couldn't figure out the plot twists and the characters were so lovable. Marlowe's personality was how my personality was in high school except she knew she was queer haha

Loved the characters and found them to be fun!
The writing felt 100% YA, but that is okay because that is what it is.
-Multiple POVs annoy me at times, but mixed with dual timelines it was hard to follow.

Loved the story though and look forward to reading more.

Death at Morning House was easily my most anticipated book of the year because I would cut off my left foot if Maureen Johnson told me to. I even was lucky enough to get an ARC of this title! Why did I wait all the way until now to read it? Because I am an idiot.

Death at Morning House is this author's first publication not in the Truly, Devious universe in several years. While this book may not follow Stevie and her friends, this is still a mystery that will delight fans of that series. We follow Marlow Wexler who, after a disastrous date, finds herself working the summer at Morning House. In the 30s, this home was the scene of two terrible deaths, and that curse stalked the family throughout the generations - but Marlow isn't as worried about that as she is about getting through this work assignment without screwing her life up even more than she already has.

This book was super fun. It's incredibly easy to compare the characters of Stevie and Marlow, but these are definitely two completely unique characters. Marlow has her own distinct voice that has Maureen Johnson's typical funny, awkward voice without sounding like a carbon copy of Stevie. I loved her from the jump and only wanted good things for her.

The other characters were fun but unfortunately didn't charm me in the same way that the Truly, Devious crew did. By the end, I felt like Ricki and Van got the most screen time while Liani, Tom, and April got relegated to the sidelines. I actually forgot that Tom was even a character for a little bit. They're perfectly fine side characters - I just wish that all of them got fleshed out a bit more.

I thought that the past perspective in this book was done particularly well, and I could not wait to get back to those chapters as I read. Like Dr. Henson said, people love to observe the weird, and the Ralston family's strange life was a train wreck I could not look away from.

This is another big win from Maureen Johnson, perfect for fans of Holly Jackson and Karen M. McManus. And if you haven't read Truly, Devious yet, you should start right away!

As a huge fan of the Truly Devious books, I was incredibly excited to jump into a new Maureen Johnson mystery and Death at Morning House did not disappoint!
It has all the elements I love: a charming, chaotic and queer main character (nobody ever fit the term "disaster sapphic" more than Marlowe, I think), a locked-room feel with the island location, a colourful and intriguing cast of secondary characters and suspects alike, a dual timeline, and all the vibey twists and turns!

In short, I had a fantastic time diving into this mystery and watching it all unfold! In particular, I appreciated how many layers there were to everything, it made the reveals even more satisfying for clues to not just be one and done and stretch across the timelines as well. I think anyone who loves a YA mystery and is looking for something with fun characters, a historical twist, and all the vibes and humour will have as great a time with Death at Morning House as I did!

While I have enjoyed most of Maureen Johnson's books, it is her Truly Devious series that I have loved the most. Still, I was happy to have the chance to read this early and hear a different kind of story from her.

Thank you MetGLley and publisher for ARC.

I’ve never read this author’s previous book before but I may have to! I loved this book. I mean, it was a bit young (makes sense given this is a YA book). But I loved this fast paced, mystery book!

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperTeen for providing me with an eARC of Death at Morning House in exchange for my honest review!

This was quite the charming YA mystery to pick up as it pulls me into the lives of Marlowe Wexler and the people in her circle, as it lets me learn about the Ralstons and their dysfunctional family dynamic. This puts me in a good old whodunnit mood with its suspenseful mood and its twisty plotting. It actually makes me want to return to Maureen Johnson's Truly Devious series, since I'd enjoyed the first book, but then I somehow never got back to those novels.

Overall, I'm officially rating Death at Morning House four out of five stars, and it's worth checking out if you're in the mood for a mystery.

Maureen Johnson is an auto read author for me. I was really excited to see her write a mystery outside of the truly devious series. I thought she did a good job of making her main character sound like her own person, and not exactly like Stevie from Truly Devious. I really enjoyed the friend group that was made, but the romance part of this was just a little crazy and the way it played out was super weird. The mystery was fun and I will definitely recommend it.

I was super excited about this book going in and it definitely did not disappoint. I, too, want to be a teen detective. I've missed my calling by about 10 years.

I did not read the Truly Devious series so Maureen Johnson is new to me. I really enjoyed this. The characters, the mystery, all of it. I couldn’t put it down. I hope this becomes a series because I’m looking forward to more!!