4.5 stars.

What a clever book! This is a really fun middle grade with a lot of great character play. A closed room style mystery with a complex clue system that is really well-written. There are small moments that do definitely date the book, but overall it was just a really fun read. I'm sad that I didn't read this as a middle schooler, but it was still a great time as an adult. I can certainly see this being a reread in the future.