Middle grade May is starting a bit early with the blog tour for The Haunting of Elmwood Manor. I really wanted to read more middle grade this year and this one sounded really interesting. Thanks to Xpresso Book Tours and the author, I was provided with a copy of this book to read and review. Let’s take a look at what I thought of this book.
The Haunting of Elmwood Manor
Pamela McCord
(a Pekin Dewlap Mystery)
Published by: Acorn Publishing
Publication date: March 1st 2019
Genres: Middle-Grade, Mystery
Pekin Dewlap hasn’t seen a ghost since she was twelve. But she’d do anything to get them back. Starting a ghostbusting business with her two best friends, Amber and Scout, seems like the perfect way to accomplish her goal. Of course, playing with ghosts isn’t high on their wish list, so Pekin has to do some arm-twisting to get them on board.
Once committed, Pekin and her friends find themselves in deep, trying to solve the disappearance of fourteen-year-old Miranda Talbert. Miranda went missing in 1918, and her spirit has wandered the halls of Elmwood Manor for the last hundred years.
In the midst of finding Miranda, discovering her budding feelings for Scout, and consoling a terrified Amber, Pekin is met by an angry ghost set on thwarting her plans. Will the Ghosties be able to help Miranda, or will Pekin’s business die before she solves the mystery?
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Review
As a big fan of mysteries, I couldn’t say no to a middle grade book with ghosts and a problem to solve. I remember being a big fan of Harriet the Spy and I’m sure if I was still that age, I would want to be a ‘Ghostie’ and help ghosts move on! The author made this whole journey seem like fun, even if it is a little spooky!
Our characters Pekin, Scout and Amber are all best friends. Pekin had an idea to start her business. She got it all set up and figured if she did, her friends would join in on everything. That didn’t go completely as planned, but in the end they decide to help her out. I loved their friendship. Even though they may have had their doubts, Amber and Scout still decided to stick around and help Pekin out. That’s definitely a true friendship.
This story starts out with the possible ghost haunting Elmwood Manor. The mansion seems spooky. It’s old, dusty and dark. When our Ghosties are inside it feels creepy and they even hear someone call ‘get out’. That even had me a bit spooked. I loved the balance of the mystery of why this ghost was stuck, but also how these friends were dealing with everything going on.
The Haunting of Elmwood Manor is definitely more than just a mystery. Our characters learn to face their fears, deal with first crushes and how everything fits in their life. That being said, the characters are 15/16, but in all honesty I thought that was a bit old for a middle grade. Not only that, but they all seemed younger! I would’ve liked them to have been younger, it would’ve made more sense. There is also a particular quote that made me feel that the kids reading this one should be on the older side of the age range for middle grade. It’s pretty intense and I think some may find it disturbing!
He believes he owns me. He gets pleasure from tormenting me, scaring me. Hurting me.
All in all, this was a really fun mystery and I loved how everything played out. Miranda the ghost was an interesting character and the author did a good job in having Pekin, Amber and Scout show her a bit of the modern world. As a big fan of Harry Potter, I’m always happy when books mention it here and there.
The Haunting of Elmwood Manor would definitely be the perfect book to read around Halloween. It gives the scary and mysterious vibes that are fun around that time of year!
Author Bio:
Pam was born in Arkansas several decades ago. She’s not sure if that makes her a Southern Girl or if moving to Southern California when she was five revokes her Southern Girl card. She started writing later in life when she was challenged by a friend to create a book out of his story idea. Reaching the first 5,000 words was a milestone, but with time and hard work she managed to finish an entire book, much to her surprise. Since then, she’s written several novels, in several genres. Romance, middle grade and paranormal comprise most of her work. Pam has spent over 40 years working as a legal secretary at a law firm in Orange County, California. Aside from writing, she follows the stock market, buying, selling and trading stocks and options. In contrast to that, she loves trips to Las Vegas where she can spend many happy hours at the Pai Gow tables. She shares a condo with her very own My Cat From Hell TV star, Allie, who manages to exude just enough affection to make her scary feral ways tolerable.
BLOG TOUR
Of course I’m not the only one participating in this blog tour. To see the list of all the amazing blogs participating, click here. The list is updated daily with the links to the posts for this tour!
GIVEAWAY!
During the blog tour for The Haunting of Elmwood Manor, there’s a internation tour-wide giveaway. For a chance to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card, click on the link below!
The Haunting of Elmwood Manor was the perfect way to start off Middle Grade May (even though it’s only April)! I’m really looking forward to the next book in this series!
This sounds so fun!!
Oh this one seems fun!
This sounds really cute and well written! Great review, Candyce! 🙂