Hope Smith can’t stand rich people — the dictionary magnate family the Wintertons most of all. Not since she and her twin brother, Gordon, learned that their dad was one. So when Gordon enters the family into the Winterton’s charity spelling bee, Hope wants nothing to do with it. But with their mom losing her job and the family facing eviction from the motel where they live, they desperately need the money, and it looks like Hope doesn’t have much of a choice.
After winning the preliminary round, the Smiths are whisked to Winterton Manor to compete in the official Winterton Bee against their long-lost relatives. Hope wants to get in and out, beat the snobbish family at their own game, and never see them again. But deceased matriarch Jane Winterton had other plans for this final family showdown. Before her death, she set up a clue hunt throughout the manor — an alternate way for Hope and Gordon to get the money that could change their lives.
Still, others are on the trail, too. With tensions at an all-time high, a fortune at stake, and long-simmering family secrets about to boil to the surface, anything could happen. This twisty middle grade mystery for fans of Knives Out, The Inheritance Games, and The Westing Game is a gripping series starter to satisfy even the most voracious armchair detectives.
"Each family receives an unexpected letter unrelated to the spelling bee: It describes a missing original Jane Austen manuscript and gives the first clue in a treasure hunt to find it. The winner gets to keep the manuscript, worth millions. The intriguing plot adroitly unveils family dynamics and secrets against the backdrop of the dual tensions of nail-biting daily spelling bees and the competition to solve the scavenger hunt clues.... Intelligent, intricately plotted, and ultimately moving." — Kirkus Reviews
Recommended Age | 9 and up |
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Author | Janet Sumner Johnson |
ISBN | 1645951979 |
Publication Date | Oct 31, 2023 |
Publisher | Pixel+Ink |
Series Name | The Winterton Deception |
Language | English |