Mystery of Mingus Mountain by Jan White

Set amidst the menacing and spectacular mountains around the old mining town of Jerome, Arizona, The Mystery of Mingus Mountain features Vicky and her new stepbrothers. They hardly know each other but have been sent to stay in the old haunted house of their great grandmother. Someone, or something, is trying to frighten the old lady into leaving. The teens solve the mystery of intruders in the night, discover mysterious tunnels and dark secrets, and finally outwit a crime syndicate whose members will stop at nothing to get rid of them for the sake of the gold ore in the copper mine.

Through their experiences they bond as a family and learn more about themselves. The characters are well-rounded and the story is a page-turner.

Jerome is a historic mining town in Arizona, which in its heyday was notorious as being ‘the wickedest town in the West”. The author's family had a summer home there for vacations. Jan White says: “When we bought an old house in the ghost town of Jerome, they had no library, though I eventually talked the town into opening one. In the early years, after I put my children to bed at night I had nothing to read. I’d written plays and stories and started books many times, but never finished one. I thought Jerome, high on the side of Mingus Mountain would be the perfect place for a mystery for young people.”