Rereading: WHERE THERE’S A WILL… by M. E. Atkinson

Illustrated by Wendy Marchant

Atkinson’s final novel for young readers is connected to the previous one, “Horseshoes and Handlebars,” by three characters: sisters Guin and Margaret and young boy Michael, here with his older brother Digby. Otherwise it’s quite different.

The children have been invited to stay at a large country home, Weylands, with Guin and Margaret’s mother and an elderly housekeeper, Mrs. Adamson. Guin and Margaret’s father is recuperating from an illness he caught in India in a nearby hospital, but is able to get out to join them for the upcoming Christmas holidays.

As the group learns more about the house, it turns out it was owned by an elderly woman who died, but no will could be found, so her property went to the nearest relative in Australia. This left her companion and caretaker without a job or any money from the estate, which she had been expecting. The group makes it their project to find the missing will, which they think must have been hidden somewhere in the house. All kinds of adventures follow.

Not a bad story, but far from the author’s best work, which I feel was in her earliest few books. Still, worth a read and recommended.

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