A Haunted Mystery, Book Four - The Black Heart Crypt

Chris Grabenstein's last foray into the world of Zack Jennings and his haunted mysteries is definitely the best in the series.  The Black Heart Crypt is everything a young adult supernatural mystery should be.  It takes everything that has come before, builds on it story-wise and character-wise, and crafts a fast-moving, page-turning mystery that reveals more about Zack's family and leaves readers feeling utterly satisfied by the end of the tale.

This fourth and final Haunted Mystery finds Zack facing a whole new slew of ghosts, probably the deadliest and most vile villains to date.  It's Halloween, and as everyone knows, the veil between the living and the dead is at its weakest on All Hallow's Eve.  So to be safe, Zack and his friends, Malik and Azalea, plan to attend the festivities in downtown Main Street, figuring Zack will be safest among crowds of living people.

Of course, nothing ever goes quite as planned...

First, Zack's adventure into the local cemetery awakens some long-dead ghosts who are hungry for revenge...

Second, a local young woman who fancies herself a witch falls into an evil trap set by the ghosts to lure one of their descendants to the cemetery...

Third, Zack's three great aunts come to town to help him cope with his newfound "gift" of seeing and communicating with ghosts...

Fourth, Zack's friend, Malik, unwittingly solves a 3-D puzzle that actually breaks the curse that was holding those thirteen ghosts in their crypt in the cemetery...

And that's just the beginning!  This doesn't even include the appearances by his real mother's sister, his grandfather's ghost, a number of the ghosts from the previous three mysteries popping in to say hi, and of course, the very unexpected visit by Zack's deceased mother - you know, the one who hated him and basically blamed him for killing her?  Well, she's back, and Zack fears she may be coming back to seek her own revenge.  You'd think it was enough that the Ickleby clan of ghosts seeking revenge on the Jennings generations for what his three great aunts did to him years ago was enough - but now his mother, too?

All of this, plus Jack the Lantern is back from the dead to wreak havoc on the Connecticut community.  Just how in the world can Zack, his friends, his great aunts, and his step-mom (not to mention Zipper, his dog) put an end to all of these ghouls and save the day?  Well, Grabenstein manages to wrap everything up nicely in the end, although there it is certainly open-ended so if he ever gets the gumption to tell more stories about Zack and his haunting mysteries, the opportunity is there.

Personally, I think there are plenty more stories to tell...it's just a matter of getting Grabenstein to write them!

RATING:  10 big black ravens out of 10 for providing some much needed Jennings family history before ending this magnificent series.