Greenglass House
Greenglass House by Kate Milford is the first in the Greenglass House series. Book one is a mystery novel recommended for ages 9-12. The Greenglass House is an inn that is notorious for being a stop and resting place for smugglers and other criminally minded people. The owners, however, are kind, gentle people who run an inn and don’t ask questions. In the history of the inn, the home was originally built by Doc Holystone, a famous smuggler and was eventually purchased by Milo’s family to become the inn that is present in the story.
As the story opens, it is a December winter wonderland, Milo is finishing up his vacation homework so he can focus on enjoying the rest of his winter vacation with his family. However, just as he finishes his homework, the bell of the inn begins to ring and over the course of early events, five guests mysteriously show up. It isn’t long before the full mystery begins as items go missing and everyone is looking for more at Greenglass House than just the missing items.
When the inn’s cook shows up to help with the new guests, a mysterious girl known as Meddy in the story appears and wants Milo’s attention. He gives in and they eventually begin to play a role playing game to figure out the mystery of the missing items and what exactly has brought these five people to Greenglass House to begin with.
The story itself is intriguing and mysterious. For most of the novel, the readers are following the protagonist as he is collecting clues and trying to solve the mystery, even for themselves before Milo. However, the true twist in the story comes near the end when the mysterious thief is confronted, and Milo must run and hide to save himself. It is revealed that Meddy, the girl who Milo has been spending time with and playing the role-playing game with, is actually a ghost and is the daughter of Doc Holystone – the original owner of the home. From this point on the story begins to resolve itself as the real treasure hidden in the home is uncovered and the family and guests come to quick terms of having a ghost in the house.
Other points of mention:
Milo reads a book of folklore and one of the stories contains a discussion about orphan magic. Milo is adopted, so this type of power appeals to him. He uses that idea as strength to overcome the obstacles before him and save his parents.
In a told story, a spirit from a wishing well kisses a character randomly on the lips (113).
Milo’s mom tells a ghost story about the inn – which turns out to be a story about Meddy.
The word crap appears on page 225 when Milo’s mother says “Oh, crap.”
Page 322 is when Meddy is revealed as a ghost. Afterward there are mentions of haunting and not haunting the inn.
On some level I did enjoy the story and the mystery, particularly until the revelation of Meddy as a ghost, which now makes sense why the second book is titled Ghosts of Greenglass House. Unfortunately, that is what lost it for me. I do not particularly like ghost stories or those that involve ghosts – I have always had a strong aversion to that. From reading the synopsis on the back of the book, that information isn’t made clear – so unless you read reviews or more detailed summaries, it isn’t apparent that ghosts appear in this story.
