The Westing Game

The Westing Game
By Ellen Raskin
Reviewed by Katherine

I read the book The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. This was an amazing book that my brother recommended that I should read. I recommend this book to anyone who likes murder mysteries and suspenseful stories. I love reading those kinds of books, so, naturally, I liked this book even before I started it.

Sam Westing, the founder of Westingtown (in Wisconsin) and owner of Westing Paper Products Corporation, left his mansion to his sixteen heirs in his will, which was read after he was murdered. The heirs were Madame Hoo, Jake Wexler, Turtle Wexler, Flora Baumbach, Chris Theodorakis, Denton Deere, Sandy McSouthers, J.J. Ford, Grace Wexler, James Hoo, Crow, Otis Amber, Theo Theodorakis, Doug Hoo, Angela Wexler, and Sydelle Pulaski. All were chosen to play “The Westing Game”. The sixteen heirs were split into teams of two and given a set of clues and $10,000. The clues supposedly led to Sam Westing’s murderer. The clues were not clear; they seemed like random words just drawn out of a hat. The clues weren’t the only mysterious thing going on: four explosions occurred, Theo was playing a game of chess with an unknown opponent. The object of the Westing Game was to find the murderer without getting killed yourself. Who was setting off the bombs? Who was the mysterious chess opponent? And, most importantly, who killed Sam Westing?

This was one of the best books I have ever read because it was full of depth with plot twists that made me rethink everything that I thought I knew, like who set off the bombs and who everyone really was. This book really keeps you on the edge of your seat. It also was very funny, and a really hard book to put down.