Thoughts before reading:
Definitely never read this one before.
The basics:
A new client, Mrs. Cornell, calls the BSC and Dawn gets the job, sitting for her two kids. Later during that same meeting, another new client calls, Mrs. Keats. Kristy takes the job sitting for her three kids. The weird part of this situation is that both women give the same address.
It turns out that the two women are in fact sisters, both staying at their late father's estate (the Livingston estate). They have split the place in half, and don't want their kids playing together. Kristy's charges are Eliza, 9, Hallie, 7, and Jeremy, 5. Dawn's are Katherine, 9, and Tilly, 6. It quickly becomes clear to both girls that the kids barely even know their cousins, and don't remember them at all.
Richard's talking to the lawyer helping with the Livingston estate, Ms. Iorio, when Dawn leaves her babysitting job. From her they learn that the two sisters, Justine and Sally, have never gotten along. Their father was a difficult man, and they left home as soon as they could. Their younger sister, Amy, stayed at home with him though. They also had a younger brother who died. Apparently Mr. L actually enjoyed his daughters' feud, and even wanted to egg it on after his death. Therefore, he stipulated in his will that the "smartest" daughter would inherit his fortune, as determined by a puzzle he created. It leads to an object in the house when correctly solved. Each sister got one clue at the will reading. If they teamed up and shared clues, they could solve the puzzle much more easily together, but they refuse to. Ms. Iorio suggests to Dawn that she act as an "undercover babysitter" and keep an eye out for any clues. Dawn's suspicious of her (rightly so... who gossips like this about their clients??).
Ms. Iorio also talks to the sisters again, and softens them up a little, because the next time they call the BSC they request two sitters for all 5 kids together. Dawn's also specifically requested to be one of their regular sitters. She agrees to both, and the kids, although nervous to meet, ultimately get along fine. Dawn also meets Amy, the youngest sister, who tells her that her clue is, "the first is always the most important". Her and the kids also help Amy search the attic for any idea what the object might be, but they come up with nothing. One of the kids also tells Dawn that Mrs. Keats's clue is "The signature tells all".
While playing treasure hunt with the kids during a job, Dawn and Abby find a check signed by Arthur Livingston dated two months ago: but he died over a year ago. Combined with all the creaking Dawn's started hearing in the house, she starts to wonder if he's actually still alive.
After overhearing Amy arguing with the family butler, who looks oddly young for his job, Dawn convinces the kids of the importance of the family working together. They in turn convince their moms. Everyone finally shares their clues; the final one is, "I didn't do it, I was--".
Dawn has a dream about all the portraits of Mr. L that are around the estate, and finally puts together the answer. She tells the sisters about it, and together they find the correct painting. Just as they do, everyone hears a sneeze coming from inside the wall. One of the bookcases swings open, revealing John, the butler. He announces that he's really Patrick, the younger brother who supposedly died. Apparently he left home at 17, and their dad told everyone he died in a mountain climbing accident. The older two sisters didn't recognize him when he came back around because he was just a kid when they left home for college. The siblings decide to split the estate four ways.
While all this has been going on, Dawn's been trying to cram her time as full as she can before going back to California, but she keeps messing up and double booking. Then her mom proposes a mother-daughter day, and she has zero time in her schedule to do it, even though she wants to. After forgetting about her plans with Mary Anne several times, Dawn plans a special Friends Day, and a separate Family Day. She has a party with the BSC charges, then with her SMS and BSC friends. For Family Day, she spends extra time with Mary Anne. They're invited to the Livingston estate one last time to swim, and everyone thanks Dawn for helping them find their true inheritance... each other.
Timeline:
It's August.
Misc. thoughts:
*Ms. Iorio was beyond unprofessional, even for the standards set by the BSC-verse.
*It's painfully obvious from the first clue that the object is one of the portraits of Arthur Livingston. They're mentioned constantly during this book.
*Dawn suddenly has non-BSC friends, which she never has before, like Erica Blumberg. Not sure when we're supposed to believe all this happened...
*Kristy's on her family Hawaii trip towards the end of this book. She misses the final BSC meeting with Dawn because she's gone already, but on her way back from Hawaii her family is going to spend a night at Dawn's house in California. (Is their house really big enough??)
*Dolphins are Dawn's favorite animal.
*Ghostwritten by Ellen Miles.
*This is Dawn's last book ever. I didn't realize that until I was reading it already, but it became clear due to how big a deal is made over her leaving. There's a real finality in here that the other books, even Farewell Dawn, didn't have. The last 20% of the book is spent on all her goodbyes and the various parties.
*It seemed really weird to me that Dawn picked a day Richard and Sharon both had to work for Family Day.
Books mentioned:
None
My rating:
3 stars, mostly for all the Final Dawn Stuff. This book did it better than either of her farewell books did, and it actually made me feel emotional. The mystery, however, was just as ridiculous as my summary makes it sound. It also didn't even fill much of the space in this book. This seemed WAY more about Dawn coming to terms with saying goodbye to Stoneybrook, accepting her new life in California, and acknowledging what she's giving up to stay there.
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