Dana Girls Mystery Stories No. 3 - In the Shadow of the Tower

Book three of the Dana Girls Mystery Stories is author Leslie McFarlane's third entry into this girls' series from the 1930s, and I can see from this book how McFarlane was struggling with his writing of this series.  In the first two books, the stories flowed fairly well, and there was plenty of excitement and fun to move the story along; however, this book had considerably more unnecessary exposition that was not readily seen in the first two.  Perhaps he was simply more comfortable writing stories about boys, or maybe he simply could not settle into a groove with the Dana Girls; whatever the reason, this third book falls a bit short from the first two, with too many mysteries and too many convenient coincidences.

 

In the Shadow of the Tower continues the time line of the Danas, with this story being set in December (after the first book was September and the second was November).  The story center around a young girl who the Danas not only befriend but offer to help after accidentally causing her to lose a very important letter that also contained a thousand dollar bill (yes, you read that right!).  I have to admit, I was rather surprised to think that this girl, still in her teens, would be carrying around a thousand dollar bill in the early 1930s!  In today's money, that bill would be worth nearly $24,000!  Can you imagine carrying that amount of money with you everywhere you went?  But, that's exactly what Josephine "Josy" Sykes was doing when the Dana Girls happened upon her in the woods near Mohawk Lake.  Now, it is up to Jean and Louise to find that letter and the missing money and restore them to their rightful owner.

 

The story has some very odd elements to it.  First, when the Danas first see Josy, because of her deformity, "a hump that distorted [her] back, giving [her] a grotesque and dwarfed appearance" (p. 3), and the tattered clothes she is wearing, they mistake her for a boy.  They quickly learn Josy is a girl who ran away from the Home for Crippled Children at Bonny Lake (p. 13).  She ran away because at the same time she received the letter from her uncle with the money in it, the cash proceeds from a charity to benefit the Home was also stolen, and Josy was afraid she would be accused.  The sisters agree to help her, of course, but they find it will not be easy, because upon their arrival at Starhurst, Lettie Briggs and Ina Mason are the first to see Josy and immediately make fun of her, causing her to run off.

 

Throughout the entire book, there is an emphasis on Josy's hunchback and deformed nature, causing people to shun her, make fun of her, be shocked at her appearance, and fear her.  In fact, one of the characters in the book - Mammy Cleo, a cook - describes her as a "supernatural creature" that is "twisted and deformed" (p. 56).  McFarlane goes on to write how "the colored folk in the vicinity ... built up monstrous and weird legend" about Josy and her appearance (p. 71).  All of these descriptions and reactions would lead the reader to believe that Josy is horridly disfigured and frightening to look at, and so, I thought it admirable that the Danas overlooked her physical appearance and offered her their friendship and their aid in finding the missing money.  But then, at the end of the book, once the girls have successfully solved all the mysteries (and there are plenty of them in this book!), we suddenly learn that Josy's deformity is not so bad after all - "[w]ith the help of the Dana girls she had done some shopping ... New dresses had been chosen so that her deformity was scarcely noticeable. Happiness and good fortune had erased the pitiful lines from her face, and her natural attractiveness had been given a chance to assert itself" (p. 205).  Utterly amazing what a beautiful dress can do for a girl - transform her from a grotesque girl with a distorted back to a naturally attractive girl whose deformity was barely noticed!  (I realize there is a high level of sarcasm there, but such a transformation defies all ability to believe - and we cannot blame McFarlane for this one, as the change was specifically dictated in the outline from Edna Stratemeyer Squier.

 

Another strange thing about this book is the mystery surrounding the stolen money at the children's home. The Danas assure Josy they will find a way to clear her name and solve that mystery, and more than once, a nurse taking care of Constance Melbourne (an artist who lives next to Bessie Marsh, the Danas' cousin with whom they visit during the Christmas holidays), tells Jean and Louise she believes a Mrs. Rita Rye, a Trustee for the home, is the guilty party.  At no time during the entire book do the Dana girls actually visit the Home for Crippled Children at Bonny Lake, but suddenly, in the very last chapter on the next to the last page, the Danas announce that Josy has been cleared and the "real thief has confessed" (p. 216).  The thief did, indeed, turn out to be Rita Rye, who admitted to taking the money to pay overdue bills (p. 216).  For something that played such an important factor in Josy running away, one would have thought it would have made for a good mystery for the girls to solve; instead, it merely becomes an afterthought, mentioned only in passing at the very end to tie up that loose end.

 

Yet another mystery in this book centers around a stolen piece of art, painted by Ms. Melbourne.  A scam artist by the name of Claude Fayle, steals the portrait and passes it off as his own at an art show in the city of Majestic.  As it just so happens, Mrs. Crandall has plans to take the girls of Starhurst to that very art show.  And, by pure coincidence, Mrs. Crandall has invited Mr. Fayle to the school to discuss his art, unaware that the Dana girls have already met him and know he is a thief and a fraud.  This part of the mystery actually plays up nicely, as the sisters have a difficult time meeting Mr. Fayle and accusing him of his theft, and it ultimately becomes a climactic revelation made at the art show itself, just as Mr. Fayle is about to be awarded a medal for the portrait.  Of all the mysteries in this story, this one was probably the one I most enjoyed reading. 

One thing I do want to make note of is that this book features the internal illustration upon which the end pages for these early Dana Girls books was based.  The illustration by Ferdinand Warren inserted between pages 66 and 67 of the story features Jean and Louise finding a note from Josy left under their door at their cousin's house (see illustration to the left here).  It depicts Jean kneeling down to pick up and read the strange note, while Louise stands behind, looking over her shoulder.  The same scene was redrawn (whether by Warren or not is a good question) and expanded upon for the double-spread end pages (see above).  The end pages go beyond the door shown in the illustration and give way to a chair, a painting on the wall, and a grandfather clock standing beside them.   We also get a better view of Louise in the end pages, as she is closer to the wall, so that we can see her full face rather than a hidden profile as in the internal illustration.  

Last, but certainly not least, I must point out McFarlane's habit of inserting the name of the book into his mysteries.  In the first two books, the titles were casually inserted into dialogue at the very end of the story.  In this book, however, McFarlane really outdid himself - he managed to work the title into the story not once, not twice, but a total of NINE TIMES!  And this does not even count the title to Chapter XVI ("The Shadow Beneath the Tower").  

        p. 56 - in the snow "in the shadow of the tower"

        p. 86 - transpiring "in the very shadow of the tower"

        p. 93 - I wonder if she is down there "in the shadow of the tower"

        p. 93 - there was no one "in the shadow of the tower"

        p. 140 - "in the shadow of the tower" Josy was restored

        p. 143 - girls were standing "in the shadow of the tower"

        p. 214 - "shadows" fell across ... "beneath the shadow of the tower"

        p. 214 - down "in the shadow of the Tower" she saw movement

        p. 214 - I just saw them "in the shadow of the tower" 

I almost had to wonder if perhaps this phrase should not become a drinking game (although, if it did, I think most readers would become quite drunk before they finished the book!).  

Of these first three books in the Dana Girls' series, I have to admit, this was my least favorite.  There was too much going on, a couple of the mysteries were solved as mere afterthoughts in the last three pages of the book, and the miraculous manner in which Josy went from grotesque to attractive by just donning a beautiful dress was too much for me. Plus, I miss the practical jokes / pranks that the Danas and Lettie pull on one another.  This particular book only had one attempt at a joke, and the sisters easily defeated it.  We will have to wait and see what McFarlane's final Dana Girls book has in store when we read the next book in this series!

 

RATING:  7 radio dramas set on the Florida coast out of 10 for at least trying something different with this mystery - a handicapped child, a village of superstitious folk, a sleazy con artist, a missing relative, and a thousand dollar bill!