 People in the small college town of King's Creek had always said the grand old Southern manor on Walnut Hill was haunted. Tomboy Peggy Patrick and her family move into the house and soon find out that not only is the ghost real, but it's their Great-Aunt Matilda! With their friends and a flop-eared dog as conspirators, Peggy and her brother set out to clear the name of Aunt Matilda's long-dead fiance, Calvin, wrongly accused of suicide. What follows is a deliciously creepy, often hilarious, rousing good mystery as the Walnut Hill gang plunges deeper into the fascinating past of Aunt Matilda. Along the way they discover an amazing fact: the first electric light may have been invented in 1857--when Thomas Edison was still a little boy--by their great-great-great-grandfather (in real life, Dr. Alexander Means of old Emory College at Oxford, Georgia). The location of the lost invention, the secret of the missing diary, and the truth behind Calvin's death are just some of the many mysteries of Aunt Matilda's Ghost.  "This is a thoroughly enjoyable mystery with the various strands tied up into a satisfying whole." -- The Atlanta Constitution "An old Southern house, a ghost, a mystery. Who can resist such a combination? Mignon Ballard has happily mixed these ingredients with believable, loveable characters, excitement and fast-paced storytelling in her thoroughly entertaining mystery for juveniles." -- The Charlotte Observer "A most engaging, sprightly, and occasionally creepy mystery/comedy which ought to hold the attention of readers in the 9-14 age bracket." -- The State (Columbia, SC) " ...enough ghostliness to attract middle-grade sleuths, and the mystery is attention-holding." -- Booklist Back to the top |