The Westing Game May Be A Murder Mystery—But It's Also A Ghost Story

October 23, 2020 10:05 PM

Ellen Raskin's classic (and funny!) whodunit is one of the most adored (if, somehow, under-the-radar) children's novels of all time. But in The Westing Game May Be A Murder Mystery—But It's Also A Ghost Story, CrimeReads, an offshoot of Literary Hub, pegs The Westing Game as a ghost story, and sees Raskin's earlier novels as ghostly siblings of Raskin's best-known work.

"[A]ll these stories are cockamamie tales of riddles and clues, all distracting from a big existential question. All these stories are about death. They’re about what to do when someone we love leaves us, about the new relationships we make in the wake of another loss, about the stories that loved ones will tell about us when we’re gone. They’re all ghost stories, in a way."

Last month, HBO Max announced plans to adapt The Westing Game as a series.

posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese (15 comments total)

I was worried there were spoilers in the article so I didn’t read the whole thing, but it reminded me how much I loved Ellen raskin’s books but it has been so long since I read them, I now have a whole new set of books for isolated reading. My sixth grade class used the Westing Game in « Reading » class and it was awesome and famous in the lower grades. Everyone looked forward to being in sixth grade because that was when you got to read the Westing Game!
posted by Tandem Affinity at 10:23 PM on October 23, 2020 [8 favorites]

Oh, this was beautiful and accurate. Ghost story, indeed.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:33 PM on October 23, 2020

Lovely piece. I think I most love The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) for it's sad ghostliness. Her picture books are also delightful and tend toward ensembles, like Westing. I fear a TV adaption.
posted by latkes at 11:45 PM on October 23, 2020 [4 favorites]

As Rutigliano suggests, I've never heard of the book at all, probably was slightly too old to have encountered it when it was published.

But now I want to read all of her books.

Thanks!
posted by allthinky at 5:43 AM on October 24, 2020

I fear a TV adaption.

There's already been a movie of it in 1997, which was at one point entitled Get A Clue, which should tell you everything you need to know about the film and should reassure you that the worst case scenario has already happened.
posted by dannyboybell at 5:50 AM on October 24, 2020 [8 favorites]

I misread this as "The Wrestling Game May Be A Murder Mystery--But It's Also A Ghost Story", and now I really want that. :(
posted by xedrik at 7:50 AM on October 24, 2020

This article links to another terrific piece about the book that describes the ideological problems of the book: [spoiler I guess?]

ultimately and ahistorically, Raskin makes the capitalist villain into a hero.
posted by latkes at 6:02 PM on October 24, 2020 [3 favorites]

This was a fun essay, but it didn’t do anything toward making the argument that TWG is a ghost story. Then again I’m a huge fan of Raskin’s and spent the whole essay waiting for her to mention her book Ghost in a 4-Room Apartment.

The Westin Game was my favorite book for most of my life, and it’s still in my top five, but The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) is fantastic as well, and a very different sort of book.

I’m excited to hear about the series (though I’ve seen the movie and it sucks beyond measure) - but if there’s any way someone can get Neil Patrick Harris on board, I’d be over the moon.
posted by Mchelly at 7:23 PM on October 24, 2020

Wow, I've never heard of this book. Thanks for sharing this WrongKC!
posted by storybored at 10:17 AM on October 25, 2020

love love LOVED The Westing Game (my school in Racine also assigned it; don't remember which grade) but had no idea she'd written others

immediately ordered copies of Figgs & Phantoms, Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel), & The Tattooed Potato & Other Clues, which all arrived today

so thank you for this thread!
posted by taquito sunrise at 4:17 PM on October 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

I liked this essay and its framework of metaphorical hauntings. I haven't reread the book in a while, but I've previously appreciated the space the story makes for considering the greater legacy of a life--of the connections we make with each other and those we try to negate--in addition to the clever puzzle plot dealing with the financial legacy.
posted by mixedmetaphors at 5:42 PM on October 25, 2020

The Westing Game (I think I picked it up at a Scholastic book fair) was one of those life-changing books for me, and I was in my late 20s before I met anybody else who'd read it.
posted by penduluum at 8:28 AM on October 26, 2020

These articles (the one linked in the post, the one latkes mentions, and the Jia Tolentino New Yorker piece mentioned in the post's article) are wonderful and The Westing Game is wholly worthy of such deep dives.

I love this book dearly and have for years. I read it to my wife a couple years ago and was startled by how weepy I got (and even she got) at the end. The "American Dream" happy endings for pretty much ALL the characters are so moving, even to hardened cynics.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:03 AM on October 26, 2020 [3 favorites]

(except now I'm remembering that right near the end there's a line that says "In fact, everything was fine, just fine" and now I'm freaked out)
posted by dlugoczaj at 10:12 AM on October 26, 2020

I loved The Westing Game as a kid, truly one of the greats. I'm not sure if I've read any of Ellen Raskin's other books, but now I know what to add to my shortlist!
posted by Standard Orange at 8:13 PM on October 27, 2020