WINTERBORNE HOME FOR MAYHEM AND MYSTERY

With Evert in jail, life at Winterborne House feels safe to the parentless children and Gabriel, their informal guardian-cum-superhero; then social worker Gladys Pitts makes a surprise visit.

Unmoved by Sadie’s inventions or Colin’s improvisations, Ms. Pitts is unimpressed. With Smithers and Izzy away, housekeeping is haphazard, and Violet’s outgrown her clothes. School isn’t happening either. Ms. Pitts leaves, promising to return. Later, April spots Gabriel, in Sentinel attire, leaving the hidden chamber where generations of crime-fighting Winterbornes have guarded the Sentinel’s identity, following him to a costume party packed with Sentinel-attired attendees. After April accidentally, and spectacularly, discloses their presence, Gabriel, furious, returns the children to Winterborne House, where the lights are out and an attack or search appears underway by someone in Sentinel garb. Combat ensues between Gabriel and the Fake Sentinel. Wounded, Gabriel disappears. Then Ms. Pitts returns. During the children’s search for Gabriel and flights from the mysterious adults that dominate the narrative, April ponders the meaning of family, concluding that their sibling bond trumps biological ties to relatives who abandoned, neglected, or abused them. Gabriel—orphaned by tragedy—is the cherished heart of their found family. Clouding this message, the hectic plot largely turns on desperate searches for and by long-lost birth relatives whose motives vary. Characters default to White.

Fans of cliffhanger escapes, captures, recaptures, and surprise revelations are well served.