The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
This was recommended to me (by Josh Denslow - read Magic Can't Save Us!) after I reviewed the Winston Breen series, which involves figuring out puzzles to solve a larger mystery.
I liked the layers of mystery to this book: who was the “wrong” person, who was Barney Northrup really, who was the murderer, then the other mysteries that came up throughout the story.
The storytelling style definitely seems dated, but in a good way. It made me think of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, which is one of my favorite children’s mysteries.
It was a little difficult for me to keep all the characters and backstories straight, so I sometimes had to flip back and forth to feel like I was keeping up and could try to solve the mystery along with the heirs. I think the flash forwards at the end were pretty cool, showing how things turned out for everyone involved.
The best part is that my son is currently reading it in school so we can talk about it and I can test my own knowledge of the book with his quizzes, ha!