A Study in Secrets

Only Murders in the Building meets Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library in this “intriguing, fast-paced” (School Library Journal) novel about a girl pulled into a mysterious treasure hunt at her new boarding school.

Ever since her mum passed away, twelve-year-old Megumi “Meg” Mizuno has been spiralling. After too many low grades and missed classes, she’s been expelled from school—apparently, everyone else has moved past her grief and expects the same from her. Her dad secures her a spot at the prestigious Leland Chase Academy, a boarding school in middle-of-nowhere New York, dubbed the Last Chance Academy by its student body. If Meg can’t make it work there, she’ll be forced to live with her horrible aunt.

At first, Leland Chase seems like an average, if very strict, boarding school, though Meg tentatively warms up to her roommate and some of their classmates. Then, one night, a mysterious envelope appears under her door, inviting Meg and her roommate to participate in a scavenger hunt. The only rules: don’t get caught by faculty or staff and no cheating. The grand prize? A luxury stay at a fancy resort in California. After learning her dad has plans to sell their family home—with all its memories of Mum—Meg knows she has to win the competition and use the trip’s one-on-one time to convince Dad they shouldn’t move.

Thanks to her mum, who taught her how to solve ciphers, Meg has a knack for puzzles that she uses to get ahead in the hunt. But she quickly learns that her classmates seem to have their own sets of skills keeping them in the competition. As they delve deeper into the game, Meg and her fellow competitors realise the anonymous creator has their own agenda… and LCA isn’t quite what it seems.