The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn (School & Library Binding)

As an adult it is not too difficult to figure out the mystery, but it's still a fun story. As a child it was quite exciting and I'm sure that children today will love it as well. Unlike most Bellairs novels, which are usually scary stories of wizards, monsters, and curses, this is a more straightforward mystery centered around the hunt for a hidden treasure, and as such it would be appropriate for children who might be scared by some of Bellairs' other books.

To get away from his money-obsessed mother, Anthony Monday accepts a job working with his friend Miss Eells at the library. But when he's dusting, he accidently uncovers clues to the seemingly hidden treasure of late millionaire Alpheus Winterborn. Though Miss Eells doesn't think the clues are anything but a joke, she helps Anthony hunt for the treasure. But Hugo Philpotts, the sinister nephew of old Winterborn, is also searching for the treasure.

At about this time, Anthony's father suffers a heart attack that temporarily makes him unable to wor. Terrified that his family is going to run out of money, Anthony becomes obsessed with finding Winterborn's treasure. And when Philpotts threatens his father's business, Anthony finds that he has only a few days to find the treasure...

Even if this isn't a horror book, it's a pretty good mystery. Bellairs did a good job with staples like hidden treasure, clues in a poem, the sinister relative and so on. There's that distinct, slightly unreal flavor of a child's daydream in his books, like this is the imagined adventure of a boy on a summer day. And even though there are no monstrous spiders or cackling sorcerers, the discoveries near the end make up for that. Action fans will especially enjoy a tense scene on a rainy rooftop near the finale.

Anthony Monday is a little darker in some ways than Bellairs' more popular heroes (Johnny Dixon and Lewis Barnavelt), but he's very much in the same mold. Nice, quiet, unassuming, extremely loyal and normally very honest. Miss Eells, a ladylike librarion who can curse like a sailor (don't worry, parents, Bellairs never makes it clear just what she says), makes a good foil as the voice of experience and reason. And Philpotts becomes a little more ridiculous as the book goes on, but is an expert manipulator and very realistic.

I read this book expecting some thrills and chills, but didn't get many "chills." Despite that, one of Bellairs' few straight mysteries is good Gothic fun.