Secrets of Lakeluster House
Diane Scott Lewis with Jorja Parkinson
BWL Publishing, 2025
Ebook, 160 ppg.
ISBN: 9780228635598 (PDF)
“Lakeluster was always said to be haunted.” And until 13-year-old Sage actually goes into the house to see it for herself, she hadn’t been so sure. Up until then, there were just rumors about the house being haunted. A house which her great-great grandmother once worked in so long ago and where there were stories filled with mystery and scandal surrounding it. So when Sage and her 14-year-old cousin, Patrick, and her 11-year-old brother, Nate, go inside the house to meet with the new owner, Miss Dora, she is the only one who does, in fact, see a ghost. A REAL ghost!
Secrets of Lakeluster House by Diane Scott Lewis is a young adult paranormal mystery novel of one young girl’s mission to uncover the secrets of a mysterious house and try to find out what really happened when her ancestor worked there.
If it hadn’t been for the ghost, Sage probably would not have had much of an interest in the house beyond wanting to know about what happened when her two-time great grandmother. But seeing the ghosts keeps tugging at Sage’s curiosity about the house, especially since there is a young ghostly girl living there who is intent on revealing to Sage all of the horrible things that happened there.
There is also the fact that she had a teacher who was investigating the house’s history and ended up dead under mysterious circumstances. Sage just has this burning desire to know the house’s secrets, no matter what kind of danger it might get her into.
Fortunately, she has her cousin and her brother along for protection. She seems to feel safer being in that house if one or both of them are with her, even though their occasional rudeness and daring annoys her. Still, she is a good sister/cousin to them both, often adopting a take-charge attitude to keep them out of trouble.
I was surprised that the butler, Huntley, tolerated her many visits to the house so well. She is smart enough to pretend she’s doing research, so she has at least this to go by when she starts suspecting something about Huntley.
Along with her fascination with Lakeluster House and finding out the truth about what really happened there when her great-great-grandmother worked there, Sage is also still trying to cope with the recent death of her history teacher, Mr. Saunders. The man was found hanging from a tree near the house, his body skinned. It’s a terrible tragedy for everyone and nobody knows why or how it happened. While she investigates Lakeluster, she also tries to get to the bottom of what really happened to her former teacher. She and her best friend sometimes talk about him, and both of them want to know why it happened, which is natural considering they were his students. After Sage learns that he was likely murdered, she wonders if his murder happened because he was investigating Lakeluster House.
I liked seeing the character, Sage, grow and develop in this story. Apparently, she hadn’t seen any ghosts her whole life and now she was seeing them. It frightens and mystifies her at the same time. Plus, at some point, she accepts that it is just a part of her life now: “All this craziness had become her normal.” (Page 85) She does feel some hesitation about revealing her new gift to others, and she understands that she has to be careful about who she tells it to, especially after she is indeed in danger the further she investigates the murders in and around Lakeluster House. But she learns to be brave and to persevere, admirable traits in a young character.
I also appreciated how the grown-ups in Sage’s life made sure she wasn’t getting too obsessed with ghosts and haunted houses and murders and such. Sage is 13 and should enjoy a happy summer like most 13-year-olds. Plus, the topic of death and murder, along with the horrifying ways such things happened, are mature topics that can frighten and traumatize a teenager. So her parents make sure that Sage takes time away from her visits to the house and a break from her investigations to hang out with her BFF, visit historical sites and have fun at the beach. All good summertime activities that kids, and teenagers, need to have in their lives. So many authors of young adult books say to keep adults and parents out of the stories but sometimes kids need to have that kind of guidance when going through a scary experience. But it’s not like the grown-ups are all over the story – aside from the GHOSTLY grown-ups! There’s a good balance of Sage or Sage and company (the “motley crew,” like Huntley calls them – LOL) and Sage with grown-ups.
Sage has trouble adjusting to her new gift of being able to communicate with and see ghosts, and she learns some hard truths about her experiences too. Along with this investigation, she struggles with uncertainty about her parents’ future together and the details of her teacher’s murder, and all of these elements in the story cause her to grow up and be more mature. A fitting situation for a girl about to go into high school and encounter all of the dramas and angst about her teen years. In some way, everything she goes through sort of prepares her for it all.
The Secrets of Lakeluster House is a chilling ghost story about a teen girl trying to come to terms with the mysteries of her past relative and put a stop to the enduring evil inside of a creepy manor. Filled with tension, mystery and frightening haunted moments, this novel is sure to be enjoyed by readers of any age who like to read ghost stories, as well as stories of a haunted house!
Five stars
Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Good review. www.writeradvice.com
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