One of the most clever, fun books I have read this year. Lorna Seilstad takes a period of history and weaves a delightful story around the setting. The setting (Lake Manawa, Iowa) actually becomes one of the characters as the story progresses and I had so much fun visualizing the area around the lake. Marguerite Westing is a fantastic heroine - she is full of vim and vigor and won't conform to anyone's expectations, including the man who wants to marry her. Though her mother is pushing for the marriage, she is relying on her dad to let her marry for love not money... right? There are mysteries surrounding happenings at the lake, where everyone who's anyone is camping for the summer. It's hard for me to imagine camping as a sign of the "in crowd", but okay... I loved the history surrounding the lake as explained in the back of the book and I adored this story.