Review: See No Evil

See No Evil
Jamila Gavin
2009; Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 978-0-374-36333-8 (hardcover)

Summary: Nettie's life is not that different from a fairy-tale princess's. She lives in a giant house in London, her every whim satisfied. There's servants and country houses and flowers flown in from all over the world. Yet all Nettie cares about is what happened to Miss Kovachev, her tutor that mysteriously disappeared. To find out what happened, Nettie will have to learn not only about her great-aunt and the boy who haunts the house . . . she'll have to learn the truth about her father.

An atmospheric, intelligent novel, See No Evil combines the suspense of a Gothic thriller with modern-day current events. Nettie is slow to realize the true nature of her life and opportunities, but the reader receives hints from sources such as Miss Kovachev's diary and Benny, a servant's son who is the "ghost" of the house. As the novel progresses, Nettie becomes more mature, better equiped to face the eventual aftermath of her father's business collapse. Sustained by her love of dance, her family, and her friends, Nettie will be able to stand on her own two feet. Recommend this novel along with the Shadow Children series and the Kiki Strike novels.