Based on an earlier negative review of this, I was expecting to see conflict between the author's religion and the spiritualism of the scenario and some of its characters. I didn't get that at all. I certainly saw conflict, mind – an utterly detrimental amount. This is at times nothing but bickering – bickering for want of more interesting dialogue, bickering instead of character, bickering instead of better plot.

This look at nominative determinism has a tweenaged girl called Raven Gallows brought up in a funeral parlour, without a mother, with an absent father and older relatives to care for her. They're all in a small Ozark town in Missouri, where the levels of unpaid child slave labour are so high they'd be illegal here in the UK. Her best friend wants to become a medium like her mother (yes, here she's just a little, boom tish!) and so when they investigate the town's resort hotel, and a ghost gives her messages, Raven crashes through a wall (don't ask) and finds a corpse. From then on a varying number of kids (remember – bickering) try and work out who he is, and why he's there and at whose hands.

The whole thing then swoops later on to be something concerning a real world, true-life crime, which would be interesting if done earlier and done better. The whole thing – the character, plot and bickering alike – also all hinges on, well, not so much a twist but a reveal at the midway point that I saw coming on page five. It all leaves the murder mystery dead in the water, with a very small list of suspects and nothing really to be happy with.

A better hand was needed with the characters (one noted by dodgy eyes and eating a lot, and that's it), and with the small town feel we could have had and didn't. The world is built up by clumsy phrases along the lines of "this wasn't as bad as the time when… this was like it was when x happened… this felt worse than that time with the blowtorch, the stuffed bunny and the revolving chair" (I jest… just). And certainly anyone a second over the target age range would find the crime case here a disappointment – it never tries to justify the fact the dooflidonk was ever in there with the dead man. A pity.

Adventures and secrets unravel when Raven, a twelve-year-old girl, discovers a mummified body at Moonrise Manor – the most haunted hotel in America. Raven lives in a funeral home in her native town of Sassafras Springs, Missouri, with her sister, aunt and grandmother, who is also the county coroner. She is the daughter of an art historian and an anthropologist, and is herself an aspiring scientist, detective and skilled mortician. Yet there is one characteristic that stands out above all – Raven has the drive and desire to seek out the truth. Along with the mummified corpse, she makes other curious discoveries which ultimately link to her mother’s mysterious death of six years ago. With the help of her friends, the Truth Trackers, Raven spurs into action, crafting a thoughtful investigation plan. But probing into crimes can be a dangerous path to follow, and soon Raven finds lies, secret societies, deceiving family and community ties, paranormal activities, and more. Raven and the Truth Trackers prove to be great detectives, but a larger mystery looms in the cliff-hanger ending. The text, which taps into the real-life art theft at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of the 1990’s, is rich with forensic science terminology and detective and crime-solving strategies. This mystery thriller is an entertaining and informative read that promotes curiosity and the power of truth, while incorporating an abundance of parallel, literary references to Edgar Allen Poe throughout. Discussion questions are found in the back of the text.

The Secret of Moonrise Manor holds many surprises. This middle-grade book blends mystery and suspense. However, the story felt scattered. Some parts might be too scary for younger readers. A corpse, ghosts, a mummy, and a seance add spooky elements. Older kids will likely enjoy this chilling tale, it's too intense for me to read to my second-graders, The friendships are heartwarming and humorous at times. The core mystery is truly engaging. I recommend it for ages ten and up. Goosebumps fans will adore this new series. Its intriguing plot and interesting characters will captivate them.
3.5 Stars

What a nice childrens fiction about some dark and hard topics. It talks about death in a way that children can relate to and it is still spooky and adventurous. I hope this becomes a series.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the eArc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Finally, someone who understood the joy of discovering a corpse.

This book is a middle grade adventure lover’s dream. It’s also a great introduction for me to this author’s books. The story had everything I love about middle grade. There are smart kids, friendships, a mystery that kept me guessing, ghosts, secret societies, and stolen artifacts.

I loved the chapter headings. They fit perfectly with Raven’s personality. I also enjoyed her replacement curse words, they made me laugh. Raven is a fabulous character that wants a scientific answer to problems, but add in her mystical friend, Cosmina, and she’s able to see things in a different way. Mikes and Eric bring a lot the investigation too and I appreciated how well they worked together. Grandma and Aunt Lenore were also great.

There are surprises and twists and turn of events that bring more questions and I’m excited to see what is next for Raven and her friends.

Huge thank you to the publisher for the approval. All views are my own.

This had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed about the children's fiction and how it uses the spooky element that I was expecting. Stephanie Bearce has a strong writing style and was glad everything worked together with the characters and the plot of the book. It had that tension that I was looking for and was invested in the mystery element.

The Secret of Moonrise Manor is hopefully the first in a series of mysteries solved by an intrepid group of adolescents led by Raven Gallows. After accidentally finding a mummified body in the wall of a haunted building, Raven and her four friends set out to solve the murder and find answers about a decades old art theft. Along the way, friendships are challenged and new ones forged. There is danger, there is suspense and there is an ache for a loved one presumed dead. This book is perfect for grades 5 on up. While the story deals with the death of a parent, there is nothing graphic.

I was given an advance reader copy for free. All opinions are my own.

The Secret of Moonrise Manor is an engaging middle grade whodunit with a plucky heroine who’s part Wednesday Adams & part Sherlock Holmes. Ghosts, secrets, & a real life art theft mystery definitely kept me on my toes. I loved following Raven Gallows & her intrepid friends as they solve the clues to several perplexing mysteries.

As the granddaughter of a coroner & funeral home director, Raven Gallows is familiar with the macabre. Her scientific mind is always searching for answers much to the dismay of her grandmother, aunt, & older sister. When she & her ghost hunting friends find a modern mummy hidden in the wall of the old, haunted Moonrise Manor, Raven’s shocked to find her dead mother’s locket in his pocket. Determined to learn more about the man in the wall & her mother’s death, Raven sets out to find the truth, but has she stumbled into more than she bargained for?

I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery which reminded me a bit of Scooby Doo combined with Edgar Allan Poe & Agatha Christie. Raven Gallows is the modern day American equivalent of another favorite mystery detective, Flavia De Luce! Like Flavia, Raven has a great scientific mind & desperately misses her mother who was murdered six years ago. She also has an older sister who’s her complete opposite & more into fashion & acting than sleuthing.

Helping Raven on her quest to solve the mystery are a delightful, eclectic group of friends. Cosmina’s a young spiritualist who thinks she can talk to ghosts. Miles is the son of the caretaker of Moonrise Manor whose older brother’s a local heartthrob. Then there’s Eric Wong, the computer wiz. I enjoyed these differing personalities & how they worked together through differences & found forgiveness.

The mystery drew me in from the beginning & I loved that it was based on a real life unsolved art theft. I also enjoyed the secret society aspect & can’t wait to learn more about it in future books.

A fantastic start to a new series middle grade readers & mystery fans will love. I received an advanced complimentary copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own & voluntarily provided. 4-4.5 stars!

CW: Mentions of ghosts, mediums, a seance, & using crystals.

The Secret of Moonrise Manor by Stephanie Bearce, 256 pages. Shadow Mountain Publishing, 2025. $20.
Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: MANY
Knocking a hole in the local hotel’s wall was honestly an accident, but Raven (12yo) isn’t sorry when it reveals a mummified body. Spunky Raven and her eclectic group of friends dive recklessly into solving the mystery of Mummy Man, working around working for family businesses and being grounded. Even so, they’re sure to figure out the whos and whys of the murder before the adults do.
Bearce has imbued her characters with big personalities that, at times, both help and hinder their goals as they clash over opinions of science versus paranormal activity and possible truths that hurt more than lies. This group of determined kids can accomplish much good if they’re willing to learn lessons of forgiveness along the way. In order to find the answers to one mystery, Raven and her friends find several other buried secrets, promising future adventures.
The majority of characters are implied White; Eric is implied Asian. The mature content rating is for mentions of alcohol, illegal activity, and mild scary elements. The violence rating is for corpses and mentions of suicide and murder.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

The Secret of Moonrise Manor by Stephanie Bearce is a fun middle school age novel that is entertaining to adults and kids alike.

This is a surprisingly entertaining mystery novel that I enjoyed, despite being an adult. I have a soon to be middle school son, so I am always looking out for good, quality, and interesting chapter books. This definitely checks all of those boxes. It is full of mystery, with a murder mystery plot placed within, and a great cast of characters that really keeps the novel plugging along. The Truth Trackers: Raven, Eric, Miles, and Cosmina are all a great group of characters that help create plenty of material for future books. Their relationships, how they navigate life, loss, reality, science, and superstition are all things that any growing kid will identify with.


This seems like it might be the first book in a continuing series, A Raven Gallows Mystery, and I hope that it is…I would like to see these kids investigate another mystery. I most certainly would read more installments and highly recommend this book.

5/5 stars

Thank you to Shadow Mountain Publishing for this wonderful physical arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 2/4/25.

The Secret of Moonrise Manor by Stephanie Bearce is a middle grade mystery that takes place in an Ozark town in Missouri. Raven and her two friends accidentally discover a body in the Moonrise Manor hotel in town. While waiting for the police to arrive, Raven finds a necklace that her deceased mother used to wear in the pocket of the dead body. This discovery leads Raven and her friends on a mission to solve the murder!

This was a fun, middle grade mystery that I know my students at school will enjoy. Can’t wait to share it with them and hope to see more books with Raven Gallows in the future!

This middle grade mystery was a ton of fun! It’s full of wonderful characters and features a puzzling mystery set in the charming town of Sassafras Springs. One of my favorite parts was all the Edgar Allan Poe references and quotes! So clever!

The characters were wonderfully weird and quirky. Raven was likable, if a little hardheaded. I appreciated her curiosity and her love of all things science. Her friends were also very likable. Cosmina, her best friend who talks to ghosts; Miles, the new boy in town; and Eric, who’s great with research. I enjoyed seeing them all team up and use their unique skills to try to solve the mystery.

Speaking of the mystery, I thought it was really good. They found a mummy at Moonrise Manor, which might have a connection to the mysterious death of Raven’s mother. I had my suspicions about who the guilty party was and why they did it, but I wasn’t 100 percent sure until the reveal.

I really enjoyed this story and am looking forward to reading more books following this group of mystery-solving friends.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and comments are my honest opinion.

I requested a digital arc of this book as soon as I saw that cover, it screams spooky adventures and mayhem.

This was such a fun and quirky story that centers around Raven Gallows, with a name like that of course she happens to live in a funeral home. Along with her grandmother, aunt and a teenage sister. Her best friend is a ghost hunter and new friend works at the haunted hotel, and why not just pull a computer expert in the midst. It all starts as an innocent walk through this supposedly haunted mansion when three of them stumble across a mummy hidden in the walls. They get more than they bargain for as they search on their own to discover the who and why along with what is going on.

I really enjoyed my time spent in this read. It wasn’t hard to connect with Raven, who is still mourning the loss of her mother even though it was 6 years ago. But now she starts to question the past and this community. Like I said it was quirky, entertaining, mysterious, with a great cast of characters, some ghostly vibes and a well written story.

The ending was great in that, I’m hoping that there is a sequel because I think there was a little door left open.

My thanks to Shadow Martin Publishing (via Netgalley) for a digital arc in exchange for a honest review.

I had a lot of fun reading this middle grade mystery about Raven Gallows, a science loving young girl who has an eclectic and delightful group of friends. Together they made such a fun cast for this story. Cosmina, Miles, Eric and Raven, all had me giggling several times throughout the book. They were a great team as they worked together to discover the mystery of who the mummy was. And the added shock of Raven finding her dead mother's necklace with the mummy!

As sometimes happens, this ragtag group has to work through their squabbles and disagreements. I loved seeing how they figured out those disagreements and made their friendship worth more than a mere argument.

I kept guessing right along with our young sleuths and had a fun time as I did so. I think this will be a fun addition to a library for middle grade students and families who enjoy reading together. When my kids were younger, this would definitely be one of the books that would be picked for family read-alouds.

Content: Talk of a mummy. One character believes she can talk to ghosts, a bad guy and a dead character. The main character lives with her grandmother in a morgue.

I received a copy from the publisher, Shadow Mountain Publishing, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

Happy Reading!!!

What a fantastic book for a middle grade/ young reader.

The Secret of Moonrise Manor is set in a small town where a group of friends rally together to solve a mystery. Moonrise Manor is a hotel with a historical past where tourists flock in the hopes of seeing something supernatural.

Raven Gallows is the main character, a twelve year old budding scientist who is full of enthusiasm, curiosity, and determination. She lives with her aunt, grams, and older sister in their family run funeral home.

Ravens mum died 6 years ago, and Raven has been trying to solve the mystery as to why the murder wasn't investigated. Will she find her answers?

All the characters are charming with Cosmina a young ghost whisperer, Eric the techie kid who can hack into anything and Miles who is new in town hoping to make new friends, his father is the new manager of Moonrise Manor.

It is a lovely story based around friendship, family, and truth seeking!

I really enjoyed this book, even as an adult! It's beautifully written with lots of detail. The characters are spot on for young readers to imagine.
The mystery is easy to solve for an adult. However, it's definitely a lovely mystery to unpick and solve for a child.

Thank you, Shadow Mountain, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing. I'm voluntarily leaving a review, and all opinions are my own.

Middle Grade Mystery, Crime Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Conspiracy

Step aside Nancy Drew, Raven from THE SECRET OF MOONRISE MANOR is on the case! This is the next detective everyone wants to follow.

Raven, the main character, is science-oriented, smart as can be (think Sherlock), isn't afraid of death (think Wednesday Addams), has a tempestuous relationship with her older sister, and is DETERMINED. I absolutely adore determined young girls in books! In fact, Raven reminds me of another one of my favorite child detectives—Flavia from Alan Bradley's series. (However, that series is written for adults, and Raven will tickle elementary school kids.)

This is 100% a murder mystery. We've got Edgar Allen Poe quotes, a dead body, a murder weapon, and lots of suspects. AND Raven's mother died 6 years ago, so how does the dead body relate to that?

The characters are spot on for middle grade. Raven is focused on her goals, Miles wants to fit in since he's the new kid, Cosmina is edging towards having crushes, and Eric is techie and wants girls to leave him alone. There's a great balance of personalities and skills. Cosmina is definitely as quirky as Raven (the future mortician) with her belief in ghost, communing with said ghosts, and exuding a hippy vibe. And of course, there is a mean girl, and I'm interested to see how she works into the stories as the series continues. The adults in these kids lives are vested in keeping them safe and are there as a support system.

I highly recommend this book for mystery lovers. I was vested in the outcome from the beginning and couldn't wait to find out the solution.

Happy reading!

** “Death sure knew how to deal out tough cases. But Death hadn’t met Raven Gallows.” **

Stephanie Bearce journeys into the fiction world with “The Secrets of Moonrise Manor,” a story of determination and spunk.

Twelve-year-old Raven Gallows is filled with scientific curiosity, which comes in handy while helping her grandmother and aunt run the family funeral home. But it does, at times, bump heads with her best friend, Cosmina, who believes she can talk to ghosts. While visiting Moonrise Manor, the most haunted hotel in America which just happens to be in their hometown of Sassafras Springs, Missouri, she makes a shocking discovery that leads to a deeper mystery on a personal level.

With the help of Miles Farnsworth, the hotel manager’s son, and computer whiz Eric Wong, the foursome dive into the mystery found at the hotel. Will that mystery lead to answers to Raven’s mother’s unsolved death six years ago?

Bearce fills her story with great characters, like the brave and plucky quartet, as well as some equally loathsome bad guys. She also includes some good themes, like knowing truth is important, even if it hurts; loyalty to friends and family; always seeking to do what is right; and science versus faith versus the supernatural, and how sometimes they can work together.

This book is recommended for children ages 8 to 12, but adults will easily enjoy it too. With almost Nancy Drew vibes, fans of the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley and the Sinister Summer series by Kiersten White will love “The Secret of Moonrise Manor,” which is due out Feb. 4.

Five stars out of five.

Shadow Mountain provided this complimentary copy through NetGalley for my honest, unbiased review.

Loved this so much! I thought it was a fun adventure story and the main characters were great. Appropriate for kids and I would recommend to everyone who comes into the library. Such a great read!

I loved this story so much. I rated it 5 stars because I couldn't put it down for a second. The Secret of Moonrise Manor by Stephanie Bearce is a masterpiece! I loved it all.

A fun MG mystery with wonderful characters you grow to care about and a quirky humorous story that keeps you gripped and guffawing. Middle graders and adults young at heart will love it!