The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’m not sure how many times I’ve read The Westing Game now. Half a dozen or so. Probably read it a half-dozen times or more again, eventually. This time around I was reminded of it by a TV show. My wife was watching the summer-running reality show “Whodunnit.” I was reluctant to join in, but was eventually hooked. It’s cheesy, over produced, over edited, and not quality television at all. But it was fun, and it reminded me of the excellent novel by Raskin, so I’m not going to knock it too much.
The great thing about The Westing Game is, of course, it’s re-readability, which is really saying something for a mystery novel based on a very specific sort of puzzle. It’s the minor characters I always forget about. Like Doctor Deere, who turns out to be a decent guy. And Mrs Hoo, supplying the necessary red-herring moments.
This is a novel to give to someone who you like a lot, a young person from whom you expect great things. Someone curious. Not just a reader—a re-reader. Someone with whom you want to share the joys of mystery and discovery. Me, as soon as I got hooked on “Whodunnit,” I knew I wanted my wife to read this book. I’ll let you know what she thinks.