The Last Resort by Erin Entrada Kelly

"She went up one step. Two. She felt Teddy's breath on her neck. Another step. Another. Was it her imagination or was it getting darker and darker? Up another step. And another. The stairs creaked and moaned. She imaged herself as a brave, brave warrior, completely unafraid. She reminded herself that fear was what red them ... She thought of herself covered in blood ... She felt the fear growing in the pit of her stomach, sprouting and growing, and tried to damp it down. I'm not scare. I'm not scared."

I am not really a fan of ghost stories but one thing that the story needs to have is motivation. I need to know why the ghosts are there. In this case it is due to several crimes. One hundred and fifty years ago the circus that had come to town burned to the ground and all of the performers were killed. Investigators also discovered the ring master had been shot.

The second crime is more recent. Lila along with her brother and mother and father have moved into their grandfather's home. It was actually once run as an Inn. On the first night Lila is visited by the ghost of Grandfather Clem. He tells her he did not die from a heart attack - he was murdered. All he wants now is to go back through the portal so he can be reunited with his wife who died many years ago.

Now that we have the problem we can assemble the team to solve this - Lila, her brother Caleb and the boy from next door - Teddy. 

As with all mysteries (in books and on television) I tried to solve this before reaching the end. I thought I had worked out the murderer and his motivation, but things sure did get way more complicated in those final scenes. If you have readers aged 10+ who enjoy ghost stories and like books where kids solve a mystery then this is a book you can recommend. The writing is very atmospheric and Erin entrada Kelly does conjure some very tense scenes. Erin talks about her book in this video.  Ms Yingling includes lots of plot details in her review. 

Kirkus gave this book a star review: Hauntingly good and sure to possess any horror aficionado. It wasn't quite at that level for me but as I said I am not a huge fan of ghost stories and also I found it a little odd that Lila did not recognise the circus performers even though Teddy had already told her about the fire from last century. 

This book is the first in series and it contains extra materials which you access via a QR code. Decades ago I read another book from Scholastic that included an element like this but of course over time the link has disappeared. (The Skeleton in the Creek and The Ghost in the Machine). 

I love that the kids went to the library to read old newspaper reports about the circus fire. I also enjoy books that refer readers to other books - here is the one Teddy is reading when the kids go over to talk to him:

Here is the Goodreads blurb for Wait till Helen comes (1986): Heather is such a whiny little brat. Always getting Michael and me into trouble. But since our mother married her father, we're stuck with her ... our "poor stepsister" who lost her real mother in a mysterious fire. But now something terrible has happened. Heather has found a new friend, out in the graveyard behind our home—a girl named Helen who died with her family in a mysterious fire over a hundred years ago. Now her ghost returns to lure children into the pond ... to drown! I don't want to believe in ghosts, but I've followed Heather into the graveyard and watch her talk to Helen. And I'm terrified. Not for myself, but for Heather...

Companion book (just because it contains a mirror and the quest for immortality):