The Mystery of Adventure Island - a Ruby Lorraine Radford mystery

I honestly cannot recall where I picked this book up, but I do remember I bought it because of the attractive cover art (and yes, before you say it, I have ALWAYS been one who judges a book by its cover!).  Of course, the fact that Ruby Lorraine Radford wrote the book was just an added plus!  I have read several of Radford's books published in the line of Whitman Mystery Stories, and I enjoyed each of them - Nancy Craig, Peggy Parker, and Patty O'Neal.  Thus, with a title like this one, a striking cover such as this, and a story written by Radford, how could it be anything but good?

 

The Mystery of Adventure Island has a copyright date of 1928 by the Penn Publishing Company; however, the copy of the book I have was published by the David McKay Company.  No publication date is given, so I cannot say when this book was published - the dust jacket, though, does have a listing of Radford's books on the back, listing only four titles:  The Mystery of Myrtle Grove, The Mystery of Pelican Cove; The Mystery of Adventure Island; and The Mystery of the Bradley Pearls.  From what I found on Jennifer White's website (Books of Ruby Lorraine Radford), Bradley Pearls was copyright 1930, Myrtle Grove was 1933, and Pelican Cove was 1934.  Thus, going by those dates, I can assume that the book I have is a 1934 printing or later.  Regardless, it still contains the original story and illustrations.

 

The story centers on soon-to-be fifteen-year old Joyce Barnard, who has been sent to Rosemonde Island to spend the summer with Bruce McHenry and his wife (affectionately referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Mac).  Her father died when she was only a year old, and her mother has a difficult time returning to the island, due to the memories it brings back.  The McHenrys have maintained the family home during those years, and they have remained loyal to Mr. Barnard's wife and daughter.  But there are secrets on the island, and before you know it, Joyce begins to uncover one hidden truth after another that lead her and her newfound friend, Donald Elliott, to finding a uniquely hidden hermitage with an odd man living therein, as well as an old shipwreck that they cannot wait to explore.  But there are those who would love to know about that hermit and the shipwreck, and Joyce and Donald must work hard to keep both a secret.

 

At 298 pages of story, the book is a bit longer than many of the children's mystery stories of that time, but the plot never lags.  The pacing is such that the reader will keep turning page after page to see what happens next, and Radford makes good use of storms, swampy bogs, and treacherous sand dunes to keep Joyce and Donald from achieving their goals too quickly.  And there are plenty of characters with quirky dispositions to leave the reader wondering who can be trusted, who is telling the truth, and who has ulterior motives for what they do.  Mr. Mac is cranky and disappears for hours on end, driving his wife crazy; Frances Stafford is a whiny little thing and a sneaky tattle-tale; Edwin Stafford is a conniving thief who is crazy to find a supposed treasure on the island; and that odd hermit seems nice enough, with his little sea-life experiments, but Joyce cannot shake the feeling he is hiding something important.  Those who have been reading mysteries for any length of time will be able to figure this one out fairly early on, but it's the ride of getting there with Joyce and Donald that is all the fun!

 

Now, I would be remiss if I did not mention that this book was written in the 1920s, and one must remember that society had different opinions of people in that day than we do now.  As such, there are some references in the book (the "n" word) that appear numerous times, said casually and in some instances by the black characters themselves.  Thus, when reading the book, it is important to read the story in the context of the time period it was written and not try to force it into today's societal standards. 

The book features a beautiful frontispiece by Katharine McCollum, depicting the scene where Donald takes Joyce to see the old shipwreck that he discovered.  McCollum also painted the gorgeous cover, featuring Joyce and Donald along the coast during a storm, when Joyce gets her first taste of how exciting it can be to experience a storm on the island.  It appears she also provided illustrations for other children's books, including The Mystery of Sun Dial Court by Martha (Josephine Chase) Wickes.  From what I could find online, McCollum was not only an illustrator, but also an author, teacher, and, of all things, a puppet and marionette maker!  Clearly, the woman was talented in many areas!

 

One last comment - there are a couple of lines in the book that made me immediately think of other series books.  When Joyce and Donald first come across the hermit's abode, Joyce refers to it as a "hermitage," which made me think of the Dana Girls' book, The Secret at the Hermitage.   And the hermitage in this book definitely had some secrets!  Later, when Mr. Mac is coerced into talking about Joyce's father and his boyhood, Mr. Mac mentions a boat captain who encouraged her father and his friends to search for a supposed buried treasure - "Seems he got some papers about it from an old Chinese junk" (p. 140).  This, of course, brought to mind the Hardy Boys book, The Mystery of the Chinese Junk.  Obviously, this book was written many years before the Dana Girls or the Hardy Boys books, but it brought a smile to my face to see similar plot devices.

 

I enjoyed the stories and the characters, and it definitely piques my curiosity about her other mystery stories (which I am going to have to track down now!).

 

RATING:  9 baby jellyfish in a jar out of 10 for a great story filled with mystery, treasure hunting, and a few more surprises along the way!