Virginia Hamilton. The mystery of Casa Tetra. Greenwillow Books, 1987. 217pp In concluding her series of stories about the Small family, Virginia Hamilton perfectly completes the original plot in The Mystery of Drear House. The dark secrets of the book slowly begin to reveal themselves and end with a surprising friendship. The book is again set in the house of Dies Eddington Drear, in a current year. The surrounding property and the underground tunnels in the premises play an important role in defining the plot and the reason for the characters' bizarre actions. The main character of the book was Thomas Small; he is a boy of about 12 years old. He is shy and shy but is very mature for his age. He sees things as they should be and often gives too much due to his kind-hearted nature. Thomas' best friend is Pesty Darrow, a girl his age who lives on the property next door to theirs. The Darrows are a feuding family and believe there is gold buried in the Smalls' land. They feel that it should belong to them and do many risky stunts to try to find it. Mrs. Darrow is Pesty's mother and the key to many secrets of the house and tunnels that were once part of the Underground Railroad. Due to his mental illness, he is unable to speak and remember things clearly. Thomas' father knows the location of the gold and, being the good man that he is, makes sure the Darrows find it. He did this so that they could live next to each other without feuds. I believe Hamilton was trying to show that stubborn people with different ideas can overcome each other's differences. It shows how kindness and letting someone know you care and the ability to let go of the past can unite even the worst enemies. The book itself was excellent; I thought it explained and answered a lot of questions and concluded the story sufficiently. I almost wish it wasn't, the mysteries of the house were quite interesting especially because of the relevance to the Underground Railroad and the real story behind it, which it incorporated into the plot.