The Westing Game

Raskin, Ellen. The Westing Game. Puffin Books, New York, 1978. 217 pages.  Tr. Pbk. $4.99 ISBN 0140386645

Plot Description:

The residents of Sunset Towers were handpicked to live in the swanky apartment complex.  Not long after moving in the residents notice that the long empty Westing Estate has an occupant again.  Sam Westing, the town’s self-made millionaire has returned to town, but not for long, the next day the papers announce his murder.  That day 16 people receive invitations to attend the reading of Westing’s will.  All of the people invited are connected with the Sunset Towers, either they lived there or worked there.  In the will, Westing has stipulated that the 16 people be paired into 8 teams and has challenged them to discover the person among them responsible for his death!  The team to uncover the murderer will inherit the vast Westing fortune, but someone is out to stop them from discovering the truth!

Review:

The Westing Game was a bit slow to start and keeping track of so many characters was a bit difficult, but the mystery Raskin weaves is clever and unpredictable.  The mystery of Sam Westing’s death goes much deeper than it first appears.  Turtle is an extremely clever young girl, though she comes off much younger than her 13 years and is not always the most likable character.  While I found myself caught up in the mystery as it became more complex, I never found myself emotionally invested in the book or the characters.  This might be because with so many characters, Raskin could not fully develop all of them and if she had the book would have been far too complex. 

Genre:

Mystery

Reading Level/Interest Level:

Grades 4-7

Similar Books:

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

Awards/Honors:

Newberry Award 1979