From one fire accident to a murder/cursed house, what could possibly go wrong?

A big thank you to my hubby for giving me this one for Christmas! I just LOVE Maureen Johnson’s books and I was hyped for this one. It didn’t disappoint!

😍 The cover is just fab!
😍 I loved the Now and Then. We switch from Marlowe and her summer job and the murder(s) that happen there to 1932 (and some other dates) and what happened at the Ralston house and with the family.
😍 The Now parts were just fantastic, I was so invested in the whole thing and I loved getting bit by bit on what happened. Slowly, you get a bit more of the puzzle and slowly you can build it. But it isn’t till the end that you have everything you need and I was just gasping in delight and shock at that point! I even read some parts to my hubby as I just HAD to share it with someone (and since my hubby has no intentions on reading it he doesn’t mind some spoilers). The Ralston family was an interesting one and I loved learning about each of the kids. We mostly get Clara’s (the eldest) POV but a few times also other family members. We see how they feel about their father. About Max their little brother. About being stuck on the island (which was fine when they were kids but we see that now as teens/almost adults they want to do their own thing). I was happy for the kids that the staff did their best to give the kids some good food as well and not the strict regime of the dad (no sugar/no meat for instance, so they were given some chicken and cookies to eat).
😍 The island and learning more about the other islands. For me it sounds quite fun to be able to summer on an island. Have your own private place. With water on all sides to swim and do water sports and other fun things.
😍 The murder/death that happened. We learn not that late in the story that Marlowe is filling in for a dead guy. Just before summer there was a party on an island and someone of the friend group died. We see how that affects the group, we hear rumours and facts about the guy. But there is also an actual murder and we see how things are connected to that death before summer in a very fun/exciting way. Things got quite exciting as more and more secrets came out and Marlowe discovered more on what happened. I was definitely on the edge of my seat when shit really hit the fan.
😍 Marlowe trying to not be distracted by the cute girls she is surrounded by is such a mood.
😍 I loved seeing all the workings of the summer job and what each of the group did. OK, my favourite was definitely the tours and seeing how each of those assigned to it handled it. Some with just facts and some flair, the others with more room for the influencers/tourists to do their thing.
😍 The ending was fab, I loved how everything came together and how everything was tied up neat and tidy.

😂 I don’t light candles that often (especially scented as my asthma doesn’t agree) so I didn’t know they would explode. I would be like Marlowe, just running around like a chicken without a head. You are having a hot date with your girl, finally you are going for it, and then BOOM, fire.

🙄 While I do love a romance in my novels, even if there is murder/mystery galore, this one I wasn’t always such a fan of it. For me it didn’t help how obsessive Marlowe was in regards to Akilah. She was constantly thinking about her. She had along the lipstick she got. She obsessively browsed her social media to the point that hours have passed. I just found it weird, over the top, and slightly creepy. And then there is another romance, or well budding, as well. Namely with Riki a girl who works at the mansion as well. I was so hoping that Marlowe would just get over Akilah and start dating Riki, but instead she just strings her along (sorry, but that is how it felt given how much Marlowe was still into Akilah and hadn’t made any final things in regards to that). You need to make up your fucking mind. That is why I was happy with Riki. You could see that she was clearly in Marlowe, but she choose to keep it safe. She didn’t want to be the third wheel.

All in all, I am so happy with this book. It had humour, excitement, tons of OMG moments, great mysteries, and more. Maureen Johnson has done it again~