The Case of the Haunted Wardrobe

Kereen Getten's The Case of the Haunted Wardrobe is a mystery for 9 year olds that returns Fayson to her cousins' island with a secret she REALLY doesn't want out.

What happens

Fayson has been counting the days until winter break. Her cousins Aaron and Omar collect her from Mama's flat, and soon she's back on Lighthouse Island, off the coast of Jamaica, with her best friend Gaby and the rest of their detective gang, Di Island Crew.

She's brought a whole folder of plans. Rules for the gang, a job for everyone, flyers to hand out. (Some of it is borrowed from her detective books, which she keeps very quiet about.) Not everyone loves being organised, though, and Omar tells her she's getting bossy.

Then a typed note appears under her bedroom door. Whoever wrote it knows the truth about Lizzy, her old best friend back home. Fayson has hardly told anyone about Lizzy. So who sent it?

Meanwhile the crew lands its first case. Old Mrs Hammond's house looks like the kind of place ghosts live, and a wardrobe inside it keeps making a noise nobody can explain.

It's all in Fayson's own words, so you're inside her head as she suspects just about everybody. Her cousins, quiet Ace, even Elma the housekeeper for a split second! It's funny too. Omar pushes her into the pool, and a neighbour called Mr Devan insists he always wanted to be a detective (his wife says he didn't).

If you've got a reader who likes friendship squabbles mixed in with their mystery, this is a good fit. The gang fall out and make up and fall out again, which feels very real.

There's a quieter thread about home as well. Mama is on her own back in their little flat, and she and Uncle Edmond have barely spoken for years. Fayson badly wants to make her proud.

What to read next

This one looks back at the crew's first mystery quite a lot. So if you can, start with The Case of the Lighthouse Intruder, where Fayson's twin cousins first ring out of the blue and invite her to their holiday house on the island.