This book was amazing and I devoured this book in just a few sittings! I loved the character development and how the story progressed.

Can Maureen Johnson write anything but an outstanding book? DEATH AT MORNING HOUSE, her latest, suggests we should all stop expecting anything but perfection from Johnson. Riveting, with a twisty murder mystery driving the plot and fully developed characters that reel you in, this book is simply fantastic. I loved every last page.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC!

It opens with the worst first date ever and I couldn’t put it down.

I absolutely loved Marlowe’s voice throughout Death at Morning House. She is self aware, awkward, and hilarious. Her descriptions of her co-workers is great, albeit sometimes insulting.

He had the widest mouth I’d ever seen outside of a muppet.

The first act moves a little slow but Marlowe’s humor does some heavy lifting to keep it all moving. In these early chapters, I was more interested in the history of Morning House than I was in Marlowe’s experience with being exiled there for the summer. Much of what she goes through is very slice-of-life.

It’s a summer job, she does summer job things.

The only modern day death to occur, within the first act, happens before the story even starts and does affect the relationships between the characters.

Then someone goes missing (trying not to spoil things here) and everyone runs around looking for them. Eventually they conclude they are no longer on the island and assume an accident happened, echoing an accident happening in the past.

We watch a murder get planned in the past and then spring forward as a massive storm moves toward the island to trap Marlowe and her coworkers just in time for her to realize that the missing person had been murdered.

I was pushed out a little when Marlowe comes to realize that a murder took place. She does so off the smallest of evidences, which could have easily been washed away or from came from anything else.

The third act is action packed, people get drugged, there’s climbing out tall wet windows, and things heat up, but the the reveal of the murderer’s identity felt very Scooby-Doo.

How could it not? There are only a few other characters on the island and they didn’t all get equal screen time. There wasn’t really a lot of room to have us follow smoking guns for each character simply because of the tightness of the setting.

The ending wraps everything up nicely, the murder(s), the consequences, and the effect of everything on all of the relationships.

I highly recommend Death at Morning House for everyone looking for an end of the summer read.

This was a fantastic YA thriller. It was set on a mysterious island in a house where two deaths had occurred. It flipped back and forth between the past and the present and I loved the slow unweaving of this mystery. This was a very readable book and hard to put down.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with an arc of this book! I do have to say out of all of Maureen Johnson’s writings, This one was my least favorite. I loved the whole mystery aspect and where it was going, but I feel like a lot of the writing was focused on the main character trying to emphasize her sexuality. Every other paragraph was her describing how she was attracted to one of the girls in the group, or she was commenting how depressed she was that she was not with the girl she originally liked, at least half of the book was her having an inner monologue of her checking out EVERYONE or her failed relationship. I feel like there were loose ends with the deaths, unnecessary drama that really did not add to the story which turned out to literally just be lack of communication. I think the main thing I didn’t like was just the main character was not mature at all and it was a distraction, she really didn’t do any research or investigating, everything she found literally fell into her lap by accident. The only person who did all of the detective work was a character who I will not name. She was the star of the show and should have been the main character.

A captivating mystery that oscillates between the details of two mysterious deaths that took place during the 1920's prohibition era, and a string of strange occurrences in the present day at a remote, historical home. The Morning House was originally inhabited by the Ralston family and their seven children. After two children die suddenly, the family leaves the island, unable to recover from the tragedy. Many years later, the house is inhabited by teens working over the summer to provide tours of the historical home with its twisted history. One teen, Marlowe, begins to unravel secrets from the past as similar tragedies seem to befall her peer group. This is a fun standalone mystery perfect for fans of the Truly Devious series.

I’m not a huge historical fiction person, so Johnson’s historical prologues always throw me off a bit, but then I get into it. (I actually really like the way she writes the past.)

This is not a Stevie Bell mystery, although it’s similar in a lot of ways (positive). We get a sapphic mc though! An absolutely useless and hilarious & (seemingly) neurodivergent lesbian. I love her, and being in her head is so fun. Somehow, Johnson is able to maintain the same slightly goofy style the whole way through, even with all the murder and danger. Sidenote: Johnson is so much better at writing her love interests than she was for Stevie. There’s a bit of a love triangle here, but it’s sapphic and I like how it’s handled!

She’s so good at somehow making her mysteries spooky! I legit shouldn’t read them alone at night. I got fully creeped out.

The twists and turns almost made me want to reread the whole thing, which is how you know it’s good.

Overall, highly recommend. I even have a bit of a book hangover.

Thanks to Netgalley for the EARC! It’s out August 6.

I have to admit that as popular Truly Devious is at my school, I haven't gotten around to reading it yet--mainly because it's always checked out! So this is actually the first Maureen Johnson book I've read, and I can't wait to read more! Death at Morning House follows the main character Marlowe Wexler who, after a failed date that ended up in someone's guest house accidentally being burned down, takes a job at Morning House, a mansion on an island that holds a mysterious history. It was owned by a family from the 1930s and had been abandoned after two of their children died the same day. On this island Marlowe meets up with five other teens, all of whom have known each other since nearly birth. They have all taken summer jobs working with the tourists who come visit the island, and they have their own mystery to unravel. My only trigger warning is that there is discussion of eugenics in the book as the father who owned Morning House was a believer, and this does influence some of the story line. Overall, however, the mystery unravelled well, and the story was paced well, balancing light-hearted moments with action and some very good laugh lines. I do recommend this book for all high school libraries and thank Net Galley and the publishers for the ARC.

While browsing #NetGalley, there's always a book or two that you request even though you KNOW you will get rejected, because What If. Well, what fucking if!?! I was accepted to read an ARC of Maureen Johnson's "Death at Morning House." YAY!

["The fire wasn’t Marlowe Wexler’s fault. Dates should be hot, but not hot enough to warrant literal firefighters. Akilah, the girl Marlowe has been in love with for years, will never go out with her again. No one dates an accidental arsonist.

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."]

My ARC didn't come with a map, it being an ARC and all, but I was still a little sad (I'll survive).

But I did LOVE how the book had 2-3 chapters from Marlowe's POV, and then it switched over to the Ralston Family POV (the original owners of the Morning House), taking turns through the individual family members to show us readers that the Ralston Family wasn't as perfect as the prologue (a Life magazine article) insinuates. It was brilliant (and it added that second layer suspense through a second mystery).

It took me a while to get through this book, NOT because it wasn't good (it was GREAT), but because life and stress and other books debuting (and my lack of impulse control) and whatnot getting in the way. The hook for this book did take a bit to catch you though, so many that was it as well.

But when it did hook you!?! Holy. Fucking. Shit. So much murder and secrets and treasure and "accidents" and wow. Just wooooow. The moment everything started to come together? I don't think I breathed for the last like 2 hours of this book.

Everyone needs to buy this thing when it comes out on August 6, 2024. Ev. Ery. One.

#deathatmorninghouse #maureenjohnson #thriller #yathriller #murdermystery #yamurdermystery #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Marlene Wexler had a very bad day that began with kissing and ended with a fire.

After the fallout from that day, Marlene needed a summer job. Her parents decided that she also needs to get away for a little while. That’s how she ends up giving tours, along with several other teens, at Morning House, a mansion built on an island in the 1920’s.

Marlene figures that there’s a low risk of fires at her new job, but then people start dying.

I loved Marlene and her dry, sarcastic wit! I also loved the duel timelines with the Ralston family in the 1920’s leading to the tragic deaths of two of the Ralston children and the mysterious deaths happening at Morning House in the present. This was a fun, fast paced read that left me hoping for a sequel.

Oh my goodness this was fun. I love the Truly Devious series, and this was so different but so similar in so many ways!

The main character is awkward and delightful, I absolutely loved being in her head. I was equally engaged in both timelines of this story, and couldn't wait to find out what happened.

The best way i can describe this book is… you tell your self one more chapter and then you have read 10 chapters and it’s midnight 😂…. Because it’s just that gripping!

The plot is absolutely fabulous and thrilling i couldn’t put it down it took only a few days to finish and jumping from timeline to timeline really got my attention from the start. You have Marlowe an extraordinary character whos relatable in all her teenage thoughts but is also trying to solve a disappearance that has her look at all her co workers on the island. You also have POV of the children of morning house from the 1930s. I really saw nothing coming my way so it made for the best story!! I would recommend to all my mystery lovers

You follow this lovely queer main character named Marlowe she unfortunately went through a tough time and burned her parents best friend’s house down obviously by accident with a candle that exploded.

While go through this tough time of the embarrassment and trouble going around town of what she did her parents have a proposal for her to spend one summer doing tours at a house on an island that has been abandoned and is …. Haunted she agrees

She is met with many challenges like trying to fit in with a group of friends that are also known for trouble they each are suspicious of murdering there best friend chris by pushing him off an island on to rocks. Police deem it an accident but theres tooo many suspicious behavior…. As well as the coincidence of 2 children dying at morning house that same summer…

Guess you’ll read to find out who done it!

Excellent mystery layered on top of another mystery--great cast of characters, surprising twists, and realistic reactions. Nothing was truly as it seemed, and it was such fun to read!

Maureen Johnson never fails to keep me engaged from the first page to the last.
Death at Morning House, with its alternating points of view from past to present, follows the mysterious deaths of children in the past with teens in the present who begin to discover that not all on the island is as its seems.

Though I figured out several pieces of the puzzle, there were others that I only knew as they were revealed in the text. This was a perfect balance for me- I enjoy being able to figure things out- but also appreciate an author being able to keep me in the dark!

I highly recommend this book to fans of Johnson, of Karen McManus, or just of YA thrillers in general!

Another win from Maureen Johnson! This dual-timeline YA mystery will have you turning pages late into the night.

After an unfortunate incident with a fire on a first date leaves Marlow Wexler's house-sitting job in literal ashes, she takes a new job at Morning House, a dazzling mansion built on an island in the 1920's. The house was abandoned in the 1930's after two of the six Ralston children died in the house. The mansion has reopened to tours for one summer, but when an incident leaves Marlow and her fellow tour-guides reeling, she realizes that there may be more to this house's history, and her coworkers, than she thought.

Marlow is a snarky, sarcastic narrator whose voice will keep readers engaged throughout the story. I loved the dual-timeline telling of the history of Morning House and the events of Marlow's time on the island. The twist was not one I saw coming! I highly recommend to fans of Johnson's Truly Devious series, as well as Holly Jackson's Good Girl's Guide to Murder and One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. Good purchase for school libraries.

Death at Morning House was really, really fun. I absolutely loved the protagonist, her voice really shined through the entire novel. The various POVS, especially told over different time periods, was really well done. I'd love a book about the Ralston family, or at least something set during that time period as I felt Johnson did a great job with those chapters. Will definitely be recommending for book clubs and to my patrons.

I love Maureen Johnson's Truly Devious series, and loved this standalone just as much. She writes whip-smart, snarky teenage girls so well!

The set up and setting of this was so fun: Marlowe accidentally burns down a house while *finally* making out with her long-time crush and ends up taking a summer job as a tour guide at the abandoned, soon to be taken over by finance bros, Thousand Islands mansion of a wackadoo Kellogg-style/Road to Wellville family (who turn out to have even darker secrets than a love of early morning calisthenics and nut cutlets). Chaos ensues.

Now we just need Stevie and crew to meet up with Marlowe and my head will explode from joy.

Highly recommend!

This is not a Stevie Bell story, which I truly love. Yet, as a stand alone it was a true Maureen Jonson mystery. Death at the Morning House has all the elements of a Maureen Johnson novel, especially her ability to have two stories going in one, with out there being confusing. Must read.

It’s not surprising that I loved this book as much as I did! I’ve read the entire Truly Devious series and pretty much adored all of the books, so as soon as this story was announced I knew I NEEDED to read it asap.

Death at Morning House felt reminiscent to TD but what I loved about this one was Marlowe felt less like she was LOOKING for this mystery and more that it was happening to her one way or another! She wasn’t so much of a sleuth, but more like picking up and noticing details since she loves to solve puzzles inside her mind!

The dual timeline, one set in the prohibition period and one set in model times, was EXCELLENT and expertly weaved together to make a stellar murder mystery story!

I’d really love if Maureen Johnson decided to come out with more stories following Marlowe and the crew like she did with Stevie Bell. I adored this cast, they were almost all quite likable and fun!

One last thing to gush about, the SETTING! Death at Morning House takes places in the 1000 Islands at an old mansion where a super strange and rich guy lived with his seven children and wife. The somewhat remote island and old mansion really lend a helping hand to making this story just a bit more eerie!

Overall, I adored it but I’m not surprised at all!

From beginning to end this novel kept my interest! Maureen Johnson is a fantastic storyteller! This book has a gothic feel that moves back and forth between two time periods. Marlowe has fallen in love with a friend, and wants to impress her, unfortunately a fire destroys everything. Marlow's fami!y finds her a job on an island to bring her out of her slump. She is thrown into two different mysteries through no fault of her own.