megancsparks

I first picked up this book in high school, if I remember correctly, from the high school’s library. I fell in love almost immediately, and when I recently saw a copy at Half-Price Books I picked it up so that I could own it.

“The Westing Game” is a wonderful, clever and engaging book. It’s a murder mystery, a puzzle, and a treasure hunt, all in one, centered around the unique cast of characters that inhabit Sunset Towers apartments. The reader essentially becomes a participant in the mystery as we follow each character. There are bombs. There is death. There is a snowstorm. And there is a lot of shin-kicking.

One of the things I love about this book is that rereading it always brings up a little gem or tiny detail the brilliant author hid within its pages. Reading it as an adult yielded many insights I never picked up on as a teenager (and would have missed completely as a kid). I love the solution to the puzzle, and I especially love the ending. It does a good job of tying everything together and satisfying a child’s wish to know “what happened next” while still remaining bittersweet and grown-up.