The Back Door of Midnight (Dark Secrets)
Grade 7 Up—When Anna O'Neill Kirkpatrick receives an invitation from her great-uncle Will asking her to visit him and her great-aunt Iris as soon as possible, she goes willingly. She had lived with them as a child after her mother was killed in a robbery, but was then put in foster care and later adopted by her loving foster mother. When she arrives, she finds that her uncle was killed in a fire, that the perpetrator has not been caught, and that her aunt is either senile or crazy. Anna sets out on her own to investigate the murder and discovers her family history in the process. She soon learns that some family secrets are to die for. Chandler does a fantastic job of keeping readers on edge and creating a suspenseful mood and tone. This is an excellent stand-alone book that is sure to be popular.—Sherry Rampey, Gaston Branch Library, SC(c) Copyright 2011.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.