It's Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday with a review of The Tontine Caper by Dianne K. Salerni , illustrations by Matt Schu

The Tontine Caper by Dianne K. Salerni, illustrations by Matt Schu
Publisher:  Holiday House

Format:  Hardcover ARC
Number of pages:   208 pages
Published:  April 22nd, 2025
Source:  Publisher

Opening Lines: "It was the wrong time of year to expect guests at the Precipice Inn."

It's November 1901, in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, at the Precipice Inn.  Typically, rooms weren't fully booked this time of the year, yet Gunter Hogg, the innkeeper, was buzzing with excitement as all five rooms were soon to be occupied by the guests of Arnold Hawes, a lawyer.  Eleven-year-old Nicodemus Lombardi has been working at the inn since the sudden death of his grandfather, Nonno five years ago.  Gunther insisted that Nonno owed rent for their stay prior to his passing, and forced Nico into a life of indentured servitude to pay off the debt.

The first guest to arrive was Mr. Beauregard Ames, accompanied by his granddaughter Beatrice.  Due to his impressive height of six and a half feet, he had to switch rooms with the Von Trapp brothers, Edgar and Raymond and their grandmother Diana.  Lastly, the Deetlebaum's arrived, consisting of Mabel, her daughter-in-law Carleen, and her  granddaughter Lottie.        

Meanwhile, Nico busied himself carrying the guest's suitcases to their rooms, but his curiosity got the better of him when he caught site of a letter addressed to Mrs. Deetlebaum, with the intriguing word "finalist."  It wasn't long before Nico learned the purpose behind the gathering:  Mr. Hawes who had not yet arrived, had summoned the guests to the inn to discuss the dissolution of a long-standing tontine.  Years ago, they had invested in shares of the Carbon County coal mine, forming the tontine.  The agreement originally dictated that the accumulated wealth would go to the last surviving member.  However, a provision allowed for the final three members to vote on dissolving the tontine early, splitting the fortune equally among them.  

Unfortunately the guests reached an impasse over dissolving the tontine agreement, leading tensions to simmer, and greed to cloud their judgment. Thoughts of betrayal and conspiring to eliminate rivals even became a tempting prospect.  The quiet inn soon became a place of suspicion and deceit, where it was best to question everyone's motives and hidden agendas.

The Tontine Caper has been described as Clue meets Knives Out, and it really is a lovely blend of mystery and suspense, with a quirky cast, and the perfect setting for intrigue.  I love old manors they always make me think of dark halls, hiding spots, and multiple rooms to search.  The heirs were entertaining with their scheming and sneaking around at night, and their underhanded tactics to try and gain the fortune for themselves.  The dynamics between Nico and the innkeeper added an emotional layer to the story, and the painting added a nice element of mystery too.  The black and white illustrations by Matt Schu depict the various characters from the story, I just wish there were more of them.  Included at the back of the book is a quiz to determine which character you resemble, and an author's note explaining that the inspiration for the book was an episode of The Wild Wild West that included a tontine.  Read this if you enjoy mysteries, old houses, books like Winterhouse or you enjoyed the authors Carrefore Curse.    

 I hope you'll check out all the other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge's blog HERE