ALA Booklist

After their father takes a new job as head gardener at England's Minerva Hall, Jim and his sister, Sal, find themselves in the perfect setting for a ghost story. After all, a stately home, a garden maze, and a ruined chapel are bound to harbor a few ghosts. Then Jim discovers that Minerva children throughout the years have died in freakish accidents, and, assisted by a mysterious child named Einstein, he witnesses reenactments of their deaths. The creep factor is compounded by the malevolent Lord Minerva, who oversees his estate from a wheelchair, recording everything with a multitude of hidden cameras. Eventually, Jim discovers the story behind the deaths and Einstein's true identity. Lord Minerva's motivation for committing a horrible crime is never fully explained. Still, readers of spooky tales will enjoy this well-paced novel that delivers all the elements of a classic ghost story with a modern twist.

Horn Book

After his widowed father takes the head gardener job at Minerva Hall, Jim discovers the mansion is haunted by the ghosts of six children doomed by a family curse. Can Jim and his autistic friend Einstein prevent the next disaster? Jim's narrative voice is alternately too young and too old. Though some revelations feel forced, the plot is nevertheless chilling.

Kirkus Reviews

A supernatural mystery that should please tween fans of Coraline (2002) and The Last Apprentice (2005, etc.). Jim's father has just taken a job as Head Gardener of Minerva Hall, a crumbling English manor. Jim is forbidden to roam the grounds but is compelled to root around by spectral voices that continually whisper to him, "Find the Seventh!" Through ghostly visitations and local-history pamphlets, Jim determines that a Minerva ancestor disturbed an ancient pagan site, resulting in the untimely demise of one Minerva child in each generation on the longest day of the year. Now those ghost children are asking for his help. As the summer solstice looms, can he protect the autistic son of the current Lord Minerva—the seventh possible victim of the curse? Though many of Jim's discoveries are awfully convenient, horror fans will be too be busy piecing together the fragments of the pagan prophecy to notice or care. Younger readers may be disturbed by the all-too-real details of the children's deaths, but all in all, this is a fairly age-appropriate scary read just in time for Halloween. (Horror. 11-14)

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9 "Find the Seventh." That whispered phrase haunts Jim in this eerie mystery of death, ghosts, family secrets, and ancient rites and prophecy. Jim has moved with his father and sister Sal to Minerva Hall, a vast estate of lush gardens with more than 100 statues. It is occupied by grumpy Lord Louis Minerva III, a disagreeable man who restricts areas of the Hall and grounds and closely monitors them with closed-circuit televisions. Curious about his new home, where his father has taken a position as Head Gardener, Jim begins to explore. As he does, he meets a mysterious boy he calls Einstein, who speaks to him in riddles. The ghostly whispers and encounters with Einstein send Jim on a quest to discover the estate's secrets. He finds an old schoolroom, and listed on the board are the names of the Minerva children, each followed by "deceased." At the bottom it reads, "Follow the Statues." And as Jim uncovers clues, he is haunted by the ghosts of the children and sees the details of their deaths, and he knows that he must pursue the trail to prevent some further tragedy. Morton-Shaw skillfully weaves ancient lore into a gripping mystery. The fine plotting keeps readers turning the pages as suspense builds to the surprising end. Genre fans will likely enjoy this hunt. Jennifer D. Montgomery, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green

Voice of Youth Advocates

When Jim, Sal, and their father move into chilly old Minerva Hall, Jim instantly is repelled by its unpleasant owner, Lord Minerva, and by the terrifying feeling that ghostly children are just out of sight. The death of Jim's mother has completely devastated his father, who badly needs the job as head gardener for the large estate. Frightened and isolated, Jim begins to see visions of six children's freak deaths and follows the clues that their spirits leave for him. They lead him to discoveries about a nearby village and the long-dead children who restlessly haunt Minerva Hall. Jim finds only one "friend," Einstein, the strange, autistic son of Lord Minerva, truant from boarding school, who hides in the grounds. Lord Minerva becomes ever-more threatening as Jim pries into long-concealed Minerva secrets. One is an ancient curse that tells of seven who must die, and Jim is filled with foreboding for Einstein, surely in grave danger. As torrential rain falls, the village is threatened by a devastating flood, and the swirling waters nearly overwhelm Jim. In the end, he realizes that Einstein is already dead, murdered by his father. The curse is fulfilled, and now Jim must draw on superhuman power to avert further tragedy. Intricately plotted, suspenseful, and eerie, Morton-Shaw's new novel is bound to attract readers. This thriller is quite complex but ultimately satisfying, as Lord Minerva dies in prison, and Jim's family and the dead children finally find peace.-Rayna Patton.