The Carrefour Curse, a darkly comic supernatural mystery by Dianne K. Salerni (Eleanor, Alice, and the Roosevelt Ghosts), begins with "a quiet but disgusting bit of magic."
Garnet Carrefour's mother, Emerald, has been estranged from her family since before Garnet was born. The now 12-year-old knows she and her mother have magic in their veins--they hear and speak to stones to coax out the magic within. When Garnet begins vomiting frogs, though, mother and daughter must return to the family home, Crossroad House, for help. There they find an eclectic group of relatives, each with their own magical gifts and talents, living together and waiting on the impending death of current head of the family Jasper, Emerald's feared grandfather. As Garnet gets to know her relatives, she learns about the root of their family's magic and the curse that brings "the bane of pestilence and plague" to Carrefours in the days before a family leader dies. Soon, the house itself seems to be using Carrefour magic to reveal family secrets to Garnet, causing her to wonder if she could find a way to stop the curse.
Inspired by the TV show Dark Shadows, The Carrefour Curse is an inventive take on the supernatural that skillfully blends drama, humor, magic and mystery. Salerni's large cast of characters is delightful and each family member is enough of a rounded individual that readers should easily keep track of them all. The puzzle, spook factor and complex family dynamics make this a perfect book for upper middle-grade readers and fans of The Addams Family. --Kyla Paterno, freelance reviewer