Book review: The Letter, the Witch, and the RingI was so enchanted by my re-read of [
The House with a Clock in its Walls] that I picked up the next book I had in the Lewis Barnavelt collection, which was the third (and final of the Bellairs books). It begins slowly, but it does get going, right around the discovery of the missing ring. I believe it suffers a bit from not being set in New Zebedee; there is less absurdity, and fewer of the little whimsical and morbidly humorous touches that iced the cake that was [
House]. Rose Rita is fun, though, as Lewis’ hubristic polar opposite who worries about being too athletic and not girly enough–and how her and Lewis’ relationship will change as they grow older. Still deliciously spooky at times, and with a brisk pace that will keep a reader going to the denoument.
An entertaining and suspenseful read for any Bellairs fan, particularly any girls longing for a female protagonist. Though Richard Egielski’s little black dog is disturbing, his illustrations on the whole add significantly less to the atmosphere than did Gorey’s.
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