Mikey Hartford IV is set to receive his inheritance on his 30th birthday in a few months. But then his father informs him of a new condition to receiving the money: he has to spend the months until his birthday doing something that’ll make a difference (rather than just galivanting around and spending money indiscriminately like he’s been doing). So, he finds himself being shipped off to Camp Lore with his 12-year-old aunt (yes, you read that right). The camp is a rustic affair in upstate NY, and its mission is to give rich trust fund kids a more humble summer camp experience. As he’s leading his little group of pre-teens as Special Activities Coordinator, they stumble upon a decade-old murder that’s never been solved, and suddenly their “special activity” is to investigate what happened while trying not to become the camp’s next victim.
This was a fun little mystery! The fish-out-of-water trope is always fun, and I thought Mikey’s introduction and acclimation to this rundown camp were portrayed very well. It was humorous and heartfelt. Of course, he found things to like about the camp and began to see the emptiness in the way he was living before this experience. I enjoyed his journey. Especially him growing closer to his aunt Annabelle. My heart went out to her. At age 12, she hadn’t had a normal childhood thanks to her unusual family dynamic (namely, the 50+ year age gap between her parents and the fact that the guy she’s pretending is her uncle is actually her 30-year-old nephew). But I enjoyed the way she and Mikey bonded over the course of this story. It was very sweet.
The mystery itself was fun too. Full of lots of twists and turns, and the fact that it was a 30-year-old rich guy who is very much out of his element paired up with a ragtag group of preteens, was a very amusing combination. I did figure out the culprit before it was revealed, and I’m not sure if that’s something I should be proud of (because I usually don’t figure these things out) or if it was just very obvious, but it was still fun!
There was even a touch of romance between Mikey and his roommate, Jackson. It was very much secondary to the main plot (although it does become more relevant to the case later on), but it was sweet, and I was glad Mikey found a partner who was actually good for him while he was away. Because, as you’ll see, the people he hung around with before going to the camp were quite toxic.
Anyway, I had fun reading this book, and I think it’ll be a good book to cozy up with this summer!
The Book Boyfriend Addict 