Meh to the meh'est

The Poisoned House
by Michael Ford

Clever tale, cleverly told.  A hundred years ago, this would have satisfied the children's audience for whom it was intended.  It started off well, but soon you discover that the bad people weren't all that bad and the ghost didn't have a sense of humor and the plot is awfully contrived and the characters weren't ever going to get interesting motives.  He could have added a love interest, at the least.

Sorry to be so negative. a lot of people loved this book.  Wish I knew why.