Margaret Benoit

Grade Levels: 6th-9th

Category: Mystery

Read Alouds:
The majority of this book is great to be read aloud. There is a lot of dialogue and a Readers theatre practicum could be used predominately with this book. The ending would be great to give out as scenes and see what each group could do with it.
Summary: The main character and her dog get lost. They find a large inn in the woods and decided to knock. Olive answers and is so kind and very loving of the dog. Angel and Miro the dog stay the night but are awaked by a blood-curdling scream coming from the kitchen. Angel spots the dead body of Olive and the mystery begins. And through all the murderous cooks and icicle mishaps, Angel comes out alive and two people behind bars.

Theme: The main theme I noticed through out the novel was judging people by what they look like or how they act. Expect the unexpected when it comes to people you don’t know. Learn to examine all the possibilities before jumping to conclusions. Angel suffered this daily being a female investigator, but she also learned more about herself through this case.

Discussion Questions:
1. As young investigators, what would you have changed about Angel’s technique?
2. List and describe each of the “suspects” and why you thought they were the murderer.

Reader Response: This was a fun fast read with many different characters to follow and see what they had in store for the reader. The book wasn’t graphic or disturbing in nature. It was well written and great for a middle school classroom heavily involved in science class as well. I could pair this book with either other mystery novels or even nonfiction novels about death and dying.
One thing that stuck out to me in the novel was the reader’s theatre capabilities within it. There was so much dialogue and monologues within the novel, I just would really like to see what students could do with a piece like this one.… (meer)