The Haunted Mansion by Thomas Lockhaven

Item: The Haunted Mansion
Rating: 5
Author: karenbaron

Posted December 24, 2022 by karenbaron in #HolidayMystery, Children's, Mystery, Review, Series / 0 Comments

The Haunted Mansion

by Thomas Lockhaven

Published by Twisted Key Publishing LLC on November 12, 2018
Setting: Massachusetts
Genres: Middle Grade Mystery
Pages: 132
Format: Hardcover, Kindle
Goodreads
BookBub
Get Your Copy at: Amazon

A Christmas Mystery Story
It's Christmas, so why not accept a dare to explore a creepy old haunted house?
In this third book of the Ava & Carol Detective Agency series, fearless best friends Ava and Carol set out to prove that the Butcher house isn't haunted. Only, Carol is pretty sure she saw something inside one of the windows, and moments later, they are chased by a headless monster?!
The girls receive an ominous threat: Stay Away or Else! Now, more than ever, the girls are determined to find out who is trying to scare them away. But before they can continue their investigation, a string of mysterious robberies take place. The thieves simply vanish without a trace.
Join Ava and Carol as they race against time to track down a headless monster terrorizing the neighborhood, solve the mystery behind the Butcher house and stop a band of ruthless thieves before they strike again!

The Haunted Mansion by Thomas Lockhaven sees the girls solve a case with Derick.

Will the girls heed the warning or continue to solve the case?

Ava and Carol start at a camp for kids to keep them out of their parents’ hair for a while. They hear a ghost story that leads them to investigate the Butcher house to see if the ghost story is true. The girls don’t think the house is haunted, but what’s up with the mysterious light and the robberies in their town? Ava and Carol are on the case with Derick to help out. I love that the girls aren’t afraid to do something they know is dangerous when they want to help a friend out. That’s a fantastic quality that I love to read about with them.

Ava and Carol’s friendship proves to be their most important quality while solving mysteries, and this book, even more, makes that accurate since they have to trust each other.

The Mystery

Ava and Carol go to the Butcher house to see if it is haunted. Carol sees the light, so they creep closer just to get run off the property by a headless monster. Instead of scaring them away, this makes the girls want to even more solve why this headless monster wants them to stay away from the house. There has been a string of robberies in town, so now the girls have two mysteries to solve. I have to admit I had no clue how they would solve this one, but I do have to say that I love how Mr. Lockhaven strung out the clues. I completely missed them.

Five Stars

I am giving The Haunted Mansion by Thomas Lockhaven five stars, and I recommend it to readers of all ages. Mr. Lockhaven has an excellent storytelling way of keeping you entranced in the story and hiding the clues to the mystery the entire time. I love this series so much and can’t wait to read more.

Ava & Carol Detective Agency Series

Also available on KindleUnlimited

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of The Haunted Mansion by Thomas Lockhaven.

Until the next time,

Happy Reading!

About Thomas Lockhaven

You can blame my 7th grade English teacher, Mr. Ownby. I began writing mysteries in middle school, with gripping titles like, The Secret in The Swamp and The Ghost of Hollow Lake—Mr. Ownby, would kindly read them, and then encourage me to keep writing and reading the classics. His words, some day I’ll be reading your mysteries with the rest of the world inspired me.

Forty years later, I was able to fulfill my dreams and become a full time writer. When I began writing, I decided that my books would be a safe-haven from the real world. My children’s series all have strong messages of perseverance, thinking outside the box, friendship and loyalty. I have a daughter, and as I work through my manuscripts, I always try to imagine what I can say to inspire and entertain at the same time.

For my cozy readers, I spent much of my life traveling to small coastal towns in North Carolina and then later in my life to the coastal towns in New England. I’ve always loved the idiosyncrasies of the locals, and I’ve always wanted to bring them to life in a book series. My Coffee House Sleuths stories are just that. And just like my children’s books, I endeavor to write stories that are clean, with very little violence and no profanity. I do my best to help people disappear from the craziness of life, even if just for a little while.

I currently live in Boston, but my dream is to move to a small coastal town, stare out over the ocean, and to let the words flow. I have an incredible wife who constantly inspires and encourages me- and an amazing daughter who is my most harsh, but loving critic. As I said earlier, my passion is to write and to continually improve and perfect my craft. For those of you who read my books, I humbly thank you. For those of you who have never read my books, I welcome you with open arms.

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