The Dark Stairs

by Betsy Byars

Book Overview

Mystery is in Herculeah Jones's blood. How could it not be, with a father on the police force and a mother who's a private eye? So when Herculeah notices a man hanging around the "Dead Oaks" mansion, she can't resist doing some investigating of her own. Legend has it the old estate was the site of a murder, and now it looks like there's something even more nefarious going on. Can Herculeah crack the case before the mystery man closes in on her?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0142405922
• ISBN13: 9780142405925
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.0" x 7.0"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Dark Stairs-Too Spooky!

The Dark Stairs is a great book that that is kind of spooky.It's about a girl named Herculeah whose parents are divorced but both work with different sorts of crimes.Her mother is what Herculeah focuses on most because there is one case that she calls the moloch. She calls the person Moloch because her mom got her name from a movie where Hercules had to fight a moloch. Herculeah finds out how the Molochs family acted and how they died by taking pieces of history and glueing them together. There some big long heartbeats at the end,not only for Herculeah but for me too! You'll love this book if you read it and I reccomend this book to anyone that can understand it.

Great book! Good characters! Full of suspense and mystery!

The Dark Stairs is a great book for people who love suspense,mysteries and fright. I've read this book four times and it and itgets better every time. The story is a about a teenage girl who's parents both hold law inforcing invetigation occupations. The fun starts when the mystery of the mysterious Dead Oaks, an estate that has been deserted for years, is investigated by Herculeah and her friend Meat. The plot contains lots of 'who, what, where, when, how and why.' To read this book you become one of the characters and that's the best part about reading The Dark Stairs!

Will Meat and Herculeah solve the mystery today?

I think The Dark Stairs is a great book because it is the first mystery that caught my attention. I would give this book 5 stars. I like when you don't know what Herculeah will do or if Meat will get in trouble. I think this book is a good book for fourth and fifth graders. Read this book.

Where is the Dark Stairs?

I liked the book The Dark Stairs because I like long mysteries and this one was kind of unsolvable. The book was a little bit scary. I also liked it because I want to be a detective. In the book I especially liked the part when Meat and Herculeah went to the library and saw a picture of the "man in black" in the newspaper. That man is the Moloch. You should read the book because you would like it. It feels like you're solving the mystery.

good suspense book for 3rd and 4th graders

This was a good book. It had lots of surprise experiences. You have to read it slowly to understand all the details. This book is about a young girl who likes to solve mysteries, and how her and her friend try to solve an old mystery murder in their town.