Connect the Scotts

Starred review from October 1, 2018

Gr 4-8-In the fourth installment of the series, young (and living) detective October Schwartz and her ghostly gang strive to uncover the events behind ghost Tabetha's death, while also juggling a contemporary investigation into a theft at school. A third thread unites the different books in the series as the friends continue their investigation into an enigmatic secret society, which seems to leave sticky fingerprints all over the suspicious activities in their town of Sticksville, Ontario. Three concurrent mysteries could easily become convoluted, but the plots are well woven through the voices of October, a third-person narrator, and black-and-white illustrations. Disguised as a light-hearted romp, upon deeper consideration, the story includes affecting historical information about the experience of enslaved people who escaped using the Underground Railroad during the U.S. Civil War, as well as illuminating insight into the racial injustice and bias confronted by people of color then and now. Plentiful pop culture references and witty dialogue flesh out the personalities of goth October and her haunting companions. VERDICT Fans of the series will be thrilled with another spectral mystery glinting with subtle mirth.-Alyssa Annico, Youngstown State University, OH

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2018
October Schwartz and her five dead co-conspirators are back again to solve a double mystery tied to the unsavory history of Stickville, Ontario, in this fourth installment from Munday.For this most recent round of resurrection, October and the dead kids plan to investigate the death of their own Tabetha Scott, a black girl who died a few years after her escape from slavery, and its possible connection to the sinister Asphodel Meadows society. The mystery only deepens when a furtive pair is seen making salt circles around children's graves in the cemetery--circles the dead kids can't pass through. As if her detective plate weren't full enough, tensions skyrocket at school when $5,000 is stolen during the Band Warz competition, and the band accused of the crime asks October to clear their names. Munday's narrative, mannered as ever with alternating narration and typeface changes, steers readers to consider systemic racism both as Tabetha slowly remembers her escape via the Underground Railroad and the discrimination she faced after arriving in Canada as well as the racist underpinnings of the frame job against the only nonwhite band at school arise. White guilt and angst over absolution--particularly October's--is prioritized perhaps a touch too much, but a fairly elegant interweave of three mysteries that refuses to pull punches (historical or otherwise) regarding discrimination and with more than enough tantalizing intrigue and mortal danger to go around is enticing nonetheless.A draw for veterans and newcomers alike. (Supernatural mystery. 12-15)

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