Robert Spiller The Witch of Agnesi Review

Overall Rating

The Witch of Agnesi
Robert Spiller
Medallion, Aug 2006, $9.99
ISBN: 1932815724

In Colorado, East Plains middle school teacher Bonnie Pinkwater works with the intelligentsia, but for the first time in a decade, they failed to finish in the top three at the Knowledge Bowl competition. Just after their crushing loss, the team's thirteen years old star Peyton Newlin vanishes. Everyone presumes that the teen ran away than have to face his abusive martinet of a father Colonel Ralph. Peyton's parents blame the defeat and their son's cowardly reaction squarely on Bonnie.

The next morning someone murders brilliant student Stephanie Templeton. Feeling already a bit culpable but not sure why, Bonnie with the help of science teacher Armen Callahan, who is falling in love with her, begin investigating the disappearance and the homicide, which they believe is linked by a scholarship competition, but how is unclear. Other students die including Peyton while Bonnie and Armen seek the truth leaning towards violent student bully Jesse Poole though a coven of witches remain a prime suspect.

THE WITCH OF AGNESI is a terrific teenage amateur sleuth starring a likable pairing trying to uncover who is eliminating the geniuses one at a time. The story line is fast-paced yet contains a strong cast though clearly Bonnie is the star. The mystery is cleverly devised and filled with twists and red herrings as Robert Spiller keeps his audience alert at all times as he shrewdly spills clues with multiple possibilities. Young adult readers will enjoy this wonderful middle school mystery

Harriet Klausner