The Westing Game is a novel by Ellen Raskin. In this novel Sam Westing is the owner of a large estate and paper products company. He disappeared several years ago and when he finally returns, he is murdered. He chooses sixteen heirs who just moved into the apartment building, Sunset Towers, across from his mansion.
In his will, Sam Westing planned a game which decides his heir and the winner of the $200,000. The sixteen heirs are put into pairs and given clues to try to find the answer that will win them the $200,000. Each team is given $10,000 for playing. Most teams try to guess at the name of the murderer of Sam Westing. One team tries to win as much money from the stock market using the money they were given at the beginning of the game. Another believes that Sam Westing is using the game to get revenge on one of the heirs. This team is trying to find out who Sam Westing is after in order to protect them. As the time passes, the teams come up with their answers from the clues and the handwritten copy of the will. All the while strange things have been going on such as bombs have been going off in Sunset Towers and some of the heir’s possessions have gone missing. Even under all these strange conditions some of the characters were able to form close bonds and become life long friends. The heirs are not only interested in figuring out their clues but other teams clues as well for the will says, “It is not what you have, but what you don’t have that counts.”
When the meeting finally arrives the teams give their answer, but no one guessed correctly. The teams are frantically trying to guess the murderer because the will says that the police are coming. All of the sudden Sandy McSouthers has a heart attack and dies and Bertha Crow is blamed for killing Sam Westing. The rest of the heirs are trying to figure out what just happened through a court. Once all the clues are lined up Turtle Wextler, later known as T.R. Wextler, is able to come up with the answer, win the $200,000, and become Sam Westing’s heir.
I really enjoyed The Westing Game because I really enjoy mystery books. This novel is very interesting and fun to read because it kept me guessing who the murderer of Sam Westing was. The entire time I read the book I was trying to figure out the mystery for myself and come up with the answer to the will.
Even though many questions were answered at the end of The Westing Game, I still have some questions about the novel. Why did Sam Westing have so many secret identities? Why did he choose so many potential heirs and why did he choose the ones he did? What happened the first night when Sam Westing returned?
The Westing Game is a fascinating novel bound to keep its readers in suspense as they unravel the mysteries of this great novel. I would really suggest reading this book to anyone that enjoys solving mysteries.
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Ellen Raskin has written several excellent novels including The Westing Game. As Becca said, this book really does keep readers up to their eyeballs in suspense while trying to solve the mystery. The reader truly feels that he is a team playing the game along with the other characters in the novel. Although the novel can get confusing at some parts due to the fact that there are a lot of characters, it is still a great novel. Becca had some great questions about the novel. I believe that Sam Westing choose the potential heirs that he did because of their diversity in age, ethnicity, and other characteristics.
ReplyDeleteThe Westing Game is my favorite mystery novel, and the only book that we had to read in middle school that I truly enjoyed. Even after reading the novel several times, I always find a clue that I had missed, and I enjoy the novel again with that small piece of evidence. Now with nearly three years of examining the novel on and off, I think I am about to put all the pieces together. If a novel can keep you interested for three years, then it has to be a very good novel. There truly is no other novel that compares to The Westing Game. I recommend it to anyone who likes diving deep into stories to see how the pieces work.
ReplyDelete-Joey Neff
The first time I was introduced to this book was when I was in the seventh grade. A friend of mine was reading The Westing Game on the bus ride home from school. I asked him about the novel, which he had to read for his English class. He claimed that it was an exciting mystery novel. With his endorsement, I considered reading the book to find out what it was about, but I never got around to reading the novel. Having read your post, I have gotten a renewed interest in the book. I find it interesting how you described how you were also guessing the identity of the murderer. I believe that the novel will be a good mystery. I believe that I would enjoy the challenge of seeing if I could be attuned enough to the details of the clues to solve the puzzle correctly.
ReplyDeleteI definitely enjoyed reading The Westing Game for its perplexing storyline. Keeping up with all the characters, clues, and incidents was a bit of a chore, but the satisfaction of unraveling the mystery made the winding elements worth the work. It has been several years since I’ve read the book, and this review makes me think that it may be time for a reread. I found the end unexpected yet satisfying, since all the pieces fit together logically but in a way that may elude the suspicions of readers. Some of the questions Becca had I have myself, further supporting the idea that I should dust off my copy. I agree with her that this book is a must for mystery lovers.
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