Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Co. Inc.
Date of publication: March 13th 2021
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Young Adult
Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo |Google Play
Goodreads Synopsis:
A small Wisconsin town is shaken to its core when four high school boys stumble upon an unexpected discovery. As past and present secrets are exposed, more unsolved mysteries are revealed, leading to more danger than anyone could have ever imagined.
First Line:
It was the last period of the school day on a Friday in mid-May at Ashbelle High School, and the seniors in Mr. Winters’s U.S. History class were pretty much checked out just like seniors all over the coutry were this close to graduation-“senioritis” they called it.
mystery in the hill by aaron qualio
When I read the blurb for Mystery in the Hill, I was interested. I knew that I wanted to read this mystery. I am glad that I read it, but I felt that it fell short of my expectations.
Mystery in the Hill is a fast-paced book. It starts fast and keeps the pace up throughout the book. There is a tiny bit of lag in the middle of the book, but it wasn’t enough to distract me from the book.
Mystery in the Hill has dual timelines going on. The book went between 1997 and 1944. There were also dual plotlines going on. While the 1997 plotline dealt with the mystery of why a door was buried in the hill above the high school, the 1944 plotline dealt with three men stealing something that could get them in a lot of trouble. I had no issues going between the different timelines or keeping track of what was going on in each one. The author made that very easy.
I did feel that there were a lot of extras added to the plotline. I understand why the author did that (he wanted to flesh out the plotline and the characters), but I felt that it took away from the book.
I didn’t feel that the characters were as fleshed out as they could be. There were times where they felt flat, and their interactions felt forced. I couldn’t form an attachment to any of them.
I did like the mystery angle of the book. While the author didn’t hide anything (except what happened to the police officer in 1944), I still enjoyed reading that angle. For me, it was more of when is everything going to happen than who did it.
The end of Mystery in the Hill was interesting. The author was able to wrap up the plotlines in a way that satisfied me as a reader.