The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

216 pages

"A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing's will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chose a virtual stranger--and a possible murderer--to inherit his vast fortune, one thing's for sure: Sam Westing may be dead...but that won't stop him from playing one last game!" -Back Cover

{SPOILERS}

I read this book (which won the Newberry Medal) probably in junior high but couldn't remember much of it so I thought it was time to read it again. It's a good little mystery. Sixteen people are brought together and invited to live in Sunset Towers, an apartment building in the shadows of Westing House. After seeing smoke coming from the chimney of the house, which has supposedly been vacant for years, the teenagers of Sunset Towers become curious and stage a late-night run to the house. Turtle Wexler is dared to go in the house and offered money for each minute she stays there. What she discovers is Sam Westing's dead body lying in his bed. Shortly after, the sixteen are invited to a reading of Westing's will and invited to play a game with the winner inheriting Westing's vast fortune.

The sixteen people are paired off and given clues that will help reveal the murderer's identity. They become suspicious of one another and somewhat paranoid. Then someone starts setting off bombs around the Towers. (Which, once the identity of the bomber is discovered, was the only part of the story I didn't think was explained very well. It didn't really make sense why that person would plant bombs.) The puzzle part of the story was fun--the reader could play along and try to figure it out, too. Any reader will probably be able to figure out that Sam Westing might not actually be dead and he's also not vindictive. Each of the sixteen people's lives are changed for the better as a result of playing The Westing Game.