This was a surprisingly deep read. I borrowed this book thinking that it was going to be about murders and haunted dollhouses (which it is), but I didn’t expect the touching depiction of life with a mentally challenged sister that was also inside.

In The Dollhouse Murders, Amy temporarily moves to her Aunt Clare’s home after being exasperated at the fact that she has to take care of her neurodiverse sister Louann every day. But when she discovers the gorgeous dollhouse that Aunt Clare has, Amy finds out that her family is hiding a dark secret, one that hasn’t been resolved.

In terms of mystery, this was very straight forward. There aren’t many twists or much of a sense of satisfaction when it came to the big reveal. The dollhouse did play a pretty good role in making the story feel spooky, but if the mystery was the only thing the book relied on, then it wouldn’t have been as good a read it was.

What made this book stand out was the character of Amy. Wright accurately captures the complexities of living with a neurodiverse sibling; Amy’s love, guilt, and frustration with Louann was very real to me. The book is really centered around their relationship and Amy’s relationship within her family as Louann has to take on a major caregiver role to her sister. I was pretty touched to see how Amy worked through her feelings and relationship towards her sister through her stay at Aunt Clare’s and her investigation into the mystery.

Overall, this is a book with surprising depth. It’s definitely aimed at a younger audience, but the characters were excellently written and, I feel, will resonate with those who have neurodiverse people in their families.

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