The Shadow of the World-Famous Nine by Ben Guterson

What worked:

The setting is unique, and some readers might think it’s limited. The story takes place in one building, a nineteen-floor hotel called The Nine. It contains every kind of store or business needed for a puzzling plot. Zandar is staying with his grandmother, Zina, the owner of the hotel, and he, along with his new friend Natasha, solved the mystery of a missing sandstone plate in the previous book. They live on the nineteenth floor, with guests, employees, and merchants making up the cast of characters. The hotel’s long history includes drama that still affects events today. The husband-and-wife owners of The Nine a century ago were on opposing sides concerning the evil Darkbloom. Vladimir has left coded, secret messages for the characters to decipher.

The malevolent spirit named Darkbloom is determined to destroy The Nine. A mystery unfolds when Zander finds a hidden message that may stop Darkbloom. Readers will become suspicious of a man in a purple suit, especially when Zander sees him next to a disappearing stall selling fezzes. Curiously, Zander is the only character able to see the spirit, but his mind and willpower are strong enough to withstand its influence. Other characters become possessed and behave strangely, and Natasha is almost killed while performing in one of The Nine’s restaurants. The characters learn that Zander and Natasha are being targeted. Darkbloom’s manipulation activates a destructive spell that won’t take full effect until seven days have passed. This deadline adds a countdown clock to build suspense as the days pass.

The plot provides plenty of opportunities for creative thinking that puzzle and mystery lovers will enjoy. Zander discovers a message in a Kaminsky box that says to find the last letter. This cryptic message is an ongoing focus of the plot. Zander also enjoys reading hotel magazines created by Vladimir and solving different types of puzzles and codes. Readers will be able to try their hands at them, and thankfully, the book provides solutions and explanations too. Zander finally realizes that solving these magazine puzzles provides clues to help solve the mysteries of how to stop Darkbloom and how to reverse the spell destroying The Nine.

What didn’t work as well:

There are a lot of characters with uncommon names to remember in the nineteen-story hotel. Most books create mental maps of settings that are flat and horizontal, while the setting in this book goes up and down, vertically. This small difference makes readers change their thinking when creating mental images. It’s not hard, just different.

The final verdict

I haven’t read the first book, but it’s easy to enjoy this one independently. The whole plot is mystery and problem solving, with some supernatural thrown in. Zander leads the deep thinkers, and his bravery helps resolve the problem of Darkbloom. I recommend you try this book for yourself.