Deep and Dark and Dangerous is a novel by Mary Downing Hahn. She adds many key elements that make this a great story.  If you love mystery with a bit of horror, then you will love this book.  Once you start reading you can’t stop.  This is a thrilling ghost story that when you find out the truth, it will give you chills.
This book is about a girl named Ali finding a mysterious photo in her attic with her mom and Aunt Dulcie on it, and another girl who got cut off. Whenever she asks her mom about it, she would always change the subject. She was about to give up on this little mystery until her Aunt Dulcie offered her to babysit her daughter, Emma, at Gull Cottage, where the picture was taken. She accepts the offer and heads with her Aunt Dulcie and cousin to the cottage. When they arrive they meet this girl named Sissy. Emma is desperate for a friend so she accepts Sissy as her best friend even though she is very mean and rude to Ali and would sometimes take advantage of Emma. Ali then found out that there was a little girl murdered by the lake at their cottage, and that girl who died was the girl who was cut off from the picture. She then puts all these little puzzle pieces together and finally solves the mystery. What happens when revenge and jealousy take over someone? What are the consequences for lying your whole life? Who is Sissy really? All these questions might not make sense right now, but as you read the book, this is all you’re thinking about.
In this novel, Mary Downing Hahn uses a lot of descriptive words to set the mood.  She also uses many types of figurative language to make the boring parts more interesting.  There are also many parts of the book that make it suspenseful.  When Ali tries to solve the mystery during her summer break at Gull Cottage with her Aunt Dulcie and Emma, she doesn’t realize it, but the answer to her mystery was right under her nose.  These key elements really make the story more interesting.  The author also made this story a little scary with the events she put in.  The setting she put makes it scary because it makes you think that the cottage they are staying at is haunted.  The cottage is located near a lake where a little girl has died and sometimes there are strange messages that make the story even more scary because they don’t know where it came from and the message seems threatening.
I believed that the book was amazing. The plot of the story was great and it makes you keep on reading chapter after chapter.  However, when I first read this story, I thought that the beginning went a little too fast.  I didn’t really understand what was going on until I reread it and read the story a second time. Also, for me, it was predictable who the girl that was killed was.  It’s probably because I watch a lot of crime shows, but besides that, the rest of the book was amazing.  There were many scenes that made the tone and mood even more suspenseful.  The writing was definitely moving and powerful.  The story also has great character development.  Where some characters were becoming nicer to others while others became meaner.
To end what I am thinking, this book was one of a kind.  It also shows that what comes around goes around and the consequences of lying.  This book had a great suspenseful/mystery tone that makes you want to keep on reading.