by L.M. Falcone
Kids Can Press, 2003
ISBN: 1-55337-377-4
The book's title might cause young readers, or their parents, to expect some of the gothicism of old-fashioned supernatural thrillers. In fact, fantasy or ghost stories were often told at Christmas in Victorian times. Falcone alludes to many of the conventions of those stories, but The Mysterious Mummer is resolutely contemporary. The tale is convincingly narrated by young Joey McDermet, a fast-talking boy whose love of television and junk food would endear him to many a like reader.
The book starts briskly, with Joey being sent to small-town Newfoundland to spend the Christmas holidays with his Aunt Corinne. Not only does his aunt not own a television, but she is mourning the drowning death of her husband, Uncle Stephen, less than a year ago. Incidentally, Corinne and Stephen were wed on the day after Christmas, a day known as St. Stephen's Day. Joey isn't looking forward to spending time with his aunt. Still, nothing can prepare him for what he finds in Newfoundland.
Uncle Stephen's tragic death sets up the backstory and the beginning of a romantic ghost tale. Upon Joey's arrival on the east coast, Harry, a friend of Aunt Corinne, warns Joey that the weather is unusually severe. He also hints darkly that stranger things might happen yet.
Aunt Corinne, once warm and friendly, has become haggard and withdrawn. Her house, which perches on the edge of a cliff, is filthy, and the kitchen cupboards are bare. She takes unexplained walks in the dead of night, and is snarly to Joey when he expresses his concern. Falcone deftly portrays Joey's confusion and dismay at his aunt's change: "I turned and ran back up the hill, tears streaming down my face. I hadn't done anything wrong! Why was she so mad at me?" (40) Falcone has an ear for the way children talk. Joey sounds like a kid you might really know--idiomatic, making jokes and pop culture references, while rarely mentioning his absent father.
Moreover, Joey finds an eerie shrine in Aunt Corinne's room, with an 'Incantation for the Dead.' His fears that his aunt is mad with grief give way to suspicions that she is simply just mad. Determined to discover the truth behind her odd behaviour, Joey follows Aunt Corinne to the lighthouse one night, and spies a group of the townsfolk holding a séance. It goes smoothly until the channeler relays a message in an evil voice, 'Beware the shadow of death! The shadow of death comes!'" (71)
