Snoops, Inc. # 4 - The Vanishing Treasure

This series has been a fun little series of easy reads, with some perfectly plotted mysteries that are aptly suited for the young reader age group at which the books are aimed.  Yes, the stories are short (after all, they are intended for fourth graders - although, honestly, I could have easily read these in third grade, and probably second as well), and there are plenty of fantastic illustrations in each chapter drawn by the extremely talented Mariano Epelbaum; but, quite frankly, if you want a twenty or thirty minute escape from the pressures of real life, these are the perfect go-to books!

 

The Vanishing Treasure is the fourth book in the series, which features the twin crime solving siblings, Hayden and Jaden Williams, with their two best friends, Keisha Turner and Carlos Diaz.  Together, these four are Snoops, Inc. - four junior detectives who are ready, willing, and able to help when needed.  As the tag line reads:  "No case too small ... we solve them all!" As with the previous books, the first chapter opens with the conclusion of a case - in this instance, the Snoops have set a trap to capture a bicycle thief, and their coordinated stake-out results in trapping the culprit when she attempts to steal Jaden's shiny red bike, which was used as bait.  With that case behind them, Hayden is free to focus on her upcoming challenge - the annual Math-tastic Regional Tournament!  About the only mystery there is the identity of Hayden's online friend, with whom she has been chatting about the tournament for weeks.  The two plan to meet for the first time at the tournament, and Hayden could not be more excited!

 

Of course, a real mystery gets in the way when the two Math-tastic trophies - one for the winning team and one for the highest-achieving individual - are both stolen from a locked case in the school lobby.  Hayden calls in the rest of her Snoops team, and they are on the case.  Hayden is concerned that the thief could turn out to be her online friend, who she believes to be Anya, a new contender in the math tournament.  All clues do seem to point to her, but Hayden does not want to believe it.  The culrpit could also be Warren Garvey, the student from Hayden's own school who was disqualified by their teacher for cheating on an exam - and boy, is he angry about not being able to participate!  Can the school win without him?  There's also Newt Loggins, a quiet young boy that does not seem to fit in.  As the saying goes, you can never really tell about the quiet ones!  A crumpled up practice test, some saw dust on the floor around the trophy case, a mask that looks like one of the suspects, and a witness's description of a person fleeing the scene all lead the Snoops to only one conclusion - the wrong one!

 

Author Brandon Terrell creates a fun surprise near the end when he reveals not only the real thief, but also the reason for the theft and the true identity of Hayden's online friend.  It all leads them into the school basement, where they get trapped in the boiler room just minutes before Hayden is supposed to be back on stage for the final math competition.  It's a race against time to get Hayden back in the competition and stop the trophy thief before he pulls off one final steal!

 

Enjoyed Terrell's side-story about Jaden's attempts to learn how to perform magic tricks.  Sure, he may have been bumbling around in the beginning, but those tricks turn out to be very important when the kids are locked in the boiler room - a well-placed subplot that seemed to have no importance whatsoever actually worked right into the main mystery quite nicely.  Kudos to Terrell!

 

Another winning read - as I say every time, it's a shame this series didn't last.

 

RATING:  8 grape suckers out of 10 for a calculatingly good mystery featuring a few surprising twists and turns! 

The Brownie Scouts at Snow Valley - Book One of the Brownie Scout Books

This is one of the few series by Mildred A. Wirt (Benson) that I have not yet read, so when a friend suggested I read it, I took her up on it!  I had heard of the Brownie Scout series before, as well as her companion series (Girl Scouts and Dan Carter, Cub Scout), and while I have all of them, I've only ever read one of them (The Girl Scouts at Mystery Mansion).  These series are aimed at a younger audience than her regular mystery series, more along the level of The Bobbsey Twins readers.  As many people are undoubtedly aware, Wirt (Benson) was the original ghostwriter for the Nancy Drew books back in the 1930s, and she went on to write quite a large number of series books over the course of more than two decades, many under her own name.  Surprisingly, she wrote a number of books for young readers (such as some of the Honey Bunch books, as well as the Dot and Dash series, in addition to those listed above).  This particular series was first published in 1949, with the first two books coming out that year, and the remaining four book coming out one a year through 1953.  So, with a little bit of curiosity and wonder as to whether these series would be as enjoyable as her mysteries for older children, I picked up the first book and gave it a read.

 

The Brownie Scouts at Snow Valley introduces readers to six young girls who make up the Brownie Scout troop of a small town named Rosedale, set in somewhere USA (the exact location of the Scouts' hometown is left rather vague, which I suppose was a purposeful way of keeping the author's stories from being limited by geographical area).  The girls include:  Connie Williams, Jane Tuttle, Rosemary Fritche, Eileen Webber, Belinda Matthews, and "Sunny" Davidson.  Of these six girls, Connie is the one who takes center stage through most of the story, with Jane, Rosemary, and Sunny coming in as supporting characters.  Other than passing mentions, we see very little of Eileen and Belinda (who are pretty much just background window dressing used to fill-out the six-girl troop).  However, there is another major character in the story, Veve McGuire.  Veve is not a Brownie Scout; however, she is a friend of the girls, but she is frustrated with her friends for spending more time with their Brownie activities than playing with her.  Rounding out the main cast is Miss Jean Gordon, "the fourth grade teacher at Rosedale School, [who] had organized the Brownies..." (p. 2).

 

This seems like a good place to stop for a moment and discuss the Brownie Scouts for a moment.  Before picking up this book, I knew nothing about "Brownie Scouts," other than the fact that they are precursors to the Girl Scouts.  Wirt does not specifically identify the age of any of the girls, but some online research reveals that Brownie Scouts are usually anywhere from ages 7 or 8 up to 12 years old (at which point, I suppose, they are old enough to join the Girl Scouts).  Since Wirt does reference Miss Gordon as being a fourth grade teacher, one can assume the six girls are likely around 9 or 10 years old (since this book takes place around Christmas time, most likely the girls are still 9 years old).  According to online sources, the Brownie Scouts do have "promises" and "laws" the same as Girl Scouts, which set forth their standards for the members.  In this book, Wirt has them singing, "We're the Brownies, here's our aim: Lend a hand and play the game!" (p. 3).  This is the actual Brownie opening song, but in the story, Wirt has the girls sing this just before their meeting breaks up and the girls leave to go home.  Later in the book, Wirt has Miss Gordon recite to the girls the "Brownie story" as originally told by Juliana Horatia Ewing (pp. 128-33).  While there are some slight variations (Wirt's version has a little girl named Mary and her brother Tommy; in Ewing's original story, Tommy is the lead character, and his brother's name is Johnnie - there is no girl), the overall story elements are the same, with the charm, "Twist me, and turn me, and show me the Elf; I looked in the water, and saw--" (p. 131), being exactly the same as recited in Ewing's tale.  To read the actual story, you can find it here:  The Brownies and Other Tales.

 

Now, with regard to the story itself, the book features two very minor mysteries - one involves someone stealing trees from the property near the Gordons' home in Snow Valley where the girls go for the Christmas holidays, and the other involves a missing locket that Grandmother Gordon claims was stolen by a poor woman who used to be her housekeeper and cook.  These mysteries do not actually come into play until nearly half-way through the book, when the girls are taken to Snow Valley by their troop leader, whose grandparents have opened up their home to the girls.  The first half of the book is merely the adventures (or in poor Veve's case, MISadventures!) of the girls as they get ready for their Christmas break and enjoy what little snow the small town has.  Veve lucks out and is able to join the girls on their trip when Belinda falls ill at the last moment.  The poor girl seems to be a trouble magnet, as she spills water on a fellow train traveler, then that same man steps on her jacks when she accidentally loses them in the aisle; later, at a train stop, she forgets her purse in the depot diner and nearly misses the train!  Connie continually defends her friend, even when some of the other girls grow weary of Veve's mishaps.  Once the girls arrive in Snow Valley, though, the focus shifts to the mysteries.

 

The Stone family live in a nearby cabin and are very poor, so the girls come up with the idea to pool their money to buy the Stone children a brand new sled for Christmas and provide the family with some food for the holiday.  This is when they learn from Grandmother Gordon that Mrs. Stone used to be the Gordon's housekeeper, and Grandmother believes she stole a precious locket.  The Brownies are determined to find the missing locket and exonerate Mrs. Stone.  At the same time, a neighboring property that is filled with a plethora of pine trees, is the subject of numerous thefts, as someone is chopping down trees and sneaking them off the property.  Poor Mr. Stone is blamed, since he is out of work and has been seen walking down the street with an ax in his hand; but when Connie points out they saw another man from town with an ax, the accuser backs down.  Ultimately, both mysteries are solved - the girls have no hand in the resolution of the stolen tree mystery; however, Connie is the one to uncover the whereabouts of the locket, requiring Grandmother Gordon to apologize for her suspicions of Mrs. Stone and re-hire her as the Gordons' housekeeper. As one might expect, it is a very happy conclusion, as all mysteries are solved, the girls' families arrive in Snow Valley on Christmas Eve night despite a horrible snow storm, and the Stone family is included in the Christmas celebration.

 

There is an interesting bit of information in the story about snowflakes, as Miss Gordon gives the girls some facts about various types of snowflakes, how they are formed, and why they are white (pp. 67-69).  She tells them how the hexagonal shape is "fairly common," while three-sided snowflakes are "considered rare" (p. 68).  I had never heard of three-sided snowflakes before, so even I learned something new from this book.  Some quick research reveals that three-sided flakes form due to special aerodynamic  - when a crystal tips in the air, causing two sides to grow faster than the others, creating the triangular shape.  Thus, like so many of the Stratemeyer series books, one can learn new information even from a non-Stratemeyer series such as this!

 

One thing I found rather amusing was that Wirt included a recipe for brownies in the book!  While preparing goodies for the upcoming Christmas holiday, Miss Gordon allows several of the girls (Veve, Connie, and Rosemary) to assist her.  At the bottom of page 155, Wirt includes all of the ingredients one would need to make a batch of brownies (which, oddly enough, Miss Gordon indicates are a type of cookies!).  I have to wonder how many children who read this book back when it originally was published asked their mothers to allow them to make brownies based on this recipe?! 

 

The book has a dedication at the beginning to "MRS. ELEANOR T. GIBSON, Executive Director of the Toledo Girl Scouts, in appreciation of her helpfulness and cooperation."  This would explain the accuracy of the Brownie Scout information, songs, and stories within the book.

 

As a final observation, at the conclusion of the story, Wirt references a trip the girls will take in the summer to a camp, making specific reference to the next book in the series, "The Brownie Scouts in the Circus" (p. 198).  What is unique, though, is that right after this reference, Wirt adds:

And for boys, also interested in cam life and the out-of-doors, there is a book called: "Dan Carter, Cub Scout."  (pp. 198-99).

I can't say that I can recall ever reading a series book that offers up an ad for another series by the same author like this!

 

The art, for both the cover and the interior frontis piece, was provided by Marguerite Gayer (her signature appears on the art and illustration).  What is strange is that I cannot really find anything about the artist online.  The only thing I could find was an illustrated page that Gayer had obviously done for another book, which features a little boy and a dog enjoying a picnic outside.  Thus, it is clear Gayer illustrated other children's books, outside of her work on the Brownie Scouts series, so it is surprising there is next to no information to find about her online.  I have put some feelers out there, so we will see what we can turn up on Ms. Gayer!

 

I'll readily admit that I did enjoy the story.  It was an easy read, and the characters and situations were fun.  Wirt has a way with making her characters come to life, so that you get drawn into their adventures and mishaps without even realizing it!  I'm looking forward to reading the remaining five books in this series. 

RATING:  9 lost luggage bags out of 10 for a fun-filled romp with some cute new characters as they experience plenty of misadventures in the snow! 

Victoria Winters - the 2nd Paperback Library Gothic Novel based on ABC-TV's suspense drama (Dark Shadows)

I am having a thrilling time re-reading these Dark Shadows novels from the late '60s (which continued into the early '70s, well past the end of the television show).  It has been so many years since I originally read them, it is like I am reading them again for the first time.  And the author, W.E.D. Ross (writing under his most popular pseudonym, Marilyn Ross) does a pretty decent job with the characterization, capturing some of the nuances the actors instilled in the characters on TV.  I especially like the fact that these early books, like the early episodes of the TV show, focused on Victoria Winters, as she was by far my favorite character from the show.  Thankfully, Ross manages to instill her a bit more strength and awareness than she was given by the writers on the daytime soap.  It breathes a little more life into her, and definitely makes me love the character all the more!

 

Victoria Winters is the second book in the series, and the story picks up some months after the events in the first book (which depicted Victoria's arrival, her meeting the Collins' clan, her romance with Ernest Collins, and the terrifying events that led to Ernest leaving for an indefinite period of time).  Now, as summer has arrived, Carolyn and David are gone on a vacation, leaving Victoria behind to act as a personal assistant to Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.  The Collins' attorney, Will Grant, is still around (still trying to woo Victoria), and we meet his sister, Nora, with whom Victoria has developed a close friendship.  Burke Devlin makes a few quick appearances in this novel, and Matthew Morgan is his usual grumpy self.  Roger Collins continues to be the ultimate spoiled playboy.  The new characters who are introduced in this book are Paul Caine, a visiting artist who takes an instant liking to Victoria, as well as Henry Francis and his two daughters - the gorgeous Rachel Francis (who becomes entangled with Roger) and the invalid Dorothy (who is recovering from major brain surgery and is confined to a wheelchair in a near catatonic state).  It turns out Henry was an old classmate of Elizabeth's back in the day, so she welcomes the man and his daughters into her home unlike she would anyone else.  And now, with all the characters in place, the mystery unfolds...

 

 One might recall in the first book, it turned out Ernest's first wife did not really die as everyone believed, but was being kept secreted away in the dark halls of Collins House, as she had gone mad. It was revealed that she had murdered a woman Ernest had later fallen in love with - Stella Hastings, and she would have killed Victoria as well, if fate had not intervened.  Well, it seems that story was not quite over, as Victoria begins to see the face and ghostly apparition of a woman who she eventually finds out is none other than Stella Hastings!  Did the woman not die, as everyone thought?  Or was her spirit haunting the house where she had been killed?  As Victoria tries to figure this mystery out, she must also fend off a would-be killer, someone who is following in the footsteps of the silk-scarf strangler who Henry Francis tells her killed several woman back in Pennsylvania.  Did the killer follow the Francis family to Collinsport, stalking Henry's daughter?  Is Victoria simply another in a long-line of victims?  Or is there something much more sinister going on in the Collins' great house?  

 

We spend a bit more time outside of Collinwood (or Collins House, as Ross repeatedly refers to it) in this book.  Victoria and Nora head into Collinsport on several occasions, frequenting the Blue Whale, as well as Will Grant's office and the general store and post office.  Victoria and Nora also spend some time on the beach - after all, it is summer.  These interludes are nice reminders that there is an entire world within the Dark Shadows mythos, and the characters are not limited to the great house. It is also nice to see that Burke Devlin continues to make his brief appearances.  This book has a first printing date of March 1967, and by that point in the television show, viewers were treated to the final revelations regarding the mystery surrounding Mr. Devlin and his animosity towards Roger Collins.  Fans were also in the middle of the story where BIll Malloy is murdered and the phoenix, Laura Collins (David's mother and Roger's ex-wife!) shows up to claim her son.  While there are passing references in the books to Roger's ex-wife, there are no details given, and from what I can recall, the books never actually address who she is or her supernatural essence.

 

Ross once again gives strong hints at the supernatural, with the ghostly appearances of Stella Hastings, but as with your standard Gothic tale from this period, the haunting is explained away with real-world circumstances (in this instance, a look-alike who is mistaken for Stella).  Each of the continuing characters (Elizabeth, Roger, Will) are still exhibiting odd quirks and mood shifts that hint at secrets being withheld from poor Victoria, leading one to understand that Ross was likely hedging his bets, keeping their actions mysterious, yet not direct, so that if anything major was revealed on the television show, he could incorporate it into his stories.  I do like that he keeps Victoria true to form, in that she is not a Nancy Drew-type mystery solver, but rather, someone who seems to fall into these situations and is forced to go along for the ride until they resolve themselves.  I laughed at one line in the book, where Victoria was overwhelmed, and she realizes "[s]he had reached the stage where things when on around her and she simply sat in a kind of daze and allowed them to happen" (p. 100).  Many fans would say that is a pretty accurate description of how Victoria was always written on the TV show.  Thankfully, Ross does give her a bit more fortitude, so that even as she is forced into these situations, she has the mental acuity to reason things out.

 

As with the first book, this novel featured two different covers.  The first, which appeared on the early printings, was a painted cover (above), showing Victoria, in her overcoat, running away from Collins House.  This scene is taken from early promotional photos for the show, which shows Alexandra Moltke in that same position (also above).  For later printings, Paperback Library reprinted the book using a still photo from the television show, once again with Alexandra Moltke as Victoria and Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins.  As Barnabas did not make his first appearance on the show until April 18, 1967, a month after this book was initially released, and considering his character does not appear in the story at all, I find is somewhat misleading that the later printings used such a photo.  No doubt, Paperback was simply cashing in on Barnabas' popularity (since, by the time these books were reprinted, Barnabas had gained his success on the show, and the books were featuring Barnabas as their principal character).  Still, there were plenty of images of Victoria with other characters that do appear in the stories, which the publisher could have used.  Unless, of course, it was a mandate from Dan Curtis Productions, in which case, they would not have had much of a choice in the matter.

 

 This second book definitely takes the story of Victoria Winters further away from the direction she was written in the television show, and as such, it makes for some great reading.  These are new and unique stories, a "parallel time" of sorts, and it is a shame Ross was forced to write Victoria Winters out when she left the show.  This forum would have been the perfect place to reveal Victoria's true parentage, the one mystery that never got solved on any version of the television show (although, for the 1990's remake, that question was answered in Innovation Comics' Dark Shadows' comic book series, which picked up where the TV show ended and ultimately revealed Victoria really was Elizabeth's daughter...)

 

Only 30 books left to read in the ongoing saga of the Collins family!

 

RATING:  10 tiny silver earrings shaped like a leaf out of 10 for great Gothic suspense and ghoulish ghostly scares, with some well-written misdirects to keep the twist ending (somewhat) a surprise!

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories # 141 - The Wild Cat Crime

"Nancy faces a dangerous threat when danger is uncaged!'  (cover blurb)

 

"A hunt for missing cougar cubs leads Nancy into a sinister trap!" (back cover blurb)

 

It is interesting that Simon & Schuster would publish two Nancy Drew books back-to-back where Nancy and her best friends, Bess and George, are holding down jobs of sorts.  Since the series inception back in 1930, Nancy and/or her friends having an actual job, or even an internship, has been seen only on rare occasions; here were are, though, at the beginning of 1998, and Nancy and her friends can be found working - volunteering for an after-school program in the previous book (140 - The Door-to-Door Deception), and now interning at a local television station (Nancy and George) and at a zoo (Bess) for this book.  Although both volunteering and interning are jobs that normally come without any salary (it's not like Nancy needs money!), it is rather unique to find the girls doing something other than simply solving mysteries in their leisure time.

 

The Wild Cat Crime, published in February 1998, lets readers know from the very first page of the story that Nancy and George are interning at Channel 9 news (p. 1).  I believe this is the first reference we have ever seen of an actual television station, and it is further identified as "WRVH-TV" on the next page (p. 2).  The mystery, however, has little to do with their work at the television station; instead, the mystery comes from Bess's own summer internship at the River Heights Zoo - an endangered cougar successfully gave birth to four baby cubs, and shortly after one cub is thought to be missing (but is thankfully found having somehow gotten beyond the door into the habitat area), all four cubs disappear!  When Bess's boss, Sally, finds out Nancy is a detective, she asks her to look into the matter and find the cubs quickly, as they were still newborns who needed to be fed on a strict schedule or they could be irreparably harmed!  Needless, to say, Nancy is on the case.

 

What gives this story a bit of a twist - or should I say WHO gives this story a bit of a twist - is the investigative news reporter for whom Nancy and George work, one Christy Kelley.  Christy is not the easiest woman to work for, and Nancy and George have spent most of their internship doing menial jobs, barely saying one word to the girls since they started.  When Nancy shares the news of the cubs' birth with Christy, thinking it might make a good story, Christy takes it out of Nancy's hands, deciding it is best to do it with just her camera and sound men.  George believes Christy is jealous of Nancy, as she was hired because of her fame as a detective.  "Christy seems pretty ambitious," George tells her.  "She might be worried you do a better job investigating stories" (p. 4).  Thus, from the get-go, the reader knows that Christy Kelley is going to be a foil during the investigation.  One might say she is the "Brenda Carlton" character in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series (Brenda, for those who do not know, was a recurring character in the Nancy Drew Files series, which ended in 1997, and she was a reporter who was constantly causing problems for Nancy during her investigations).

 

The ghostwriter for this book definitely throw Nancy into one dangerous situation after another.  She and George face off against a deadly Cobra snake;  Nancy and Bess are on a monorail that derails right next to a hyena pen; Nancy is held by knife point by a store owner who mistakes her for the kidnapper; and Nancy is pushed into a cougar habitat with a deadly male cougar ready to attack!  Whoever stole the four cougar cubs is definitely not playing games!  There are suspects galore: Christy (who is said, more than one, bears a striking resemblance to Nancy) seems a little too determined to find those missing cubs before Nancy; Hawk, the cameraman, goes a little overboard in his defense against locking up animals in cages; Joey, the sound man, is evasive and acts very suspicious every time Nancy questions him about the day of the kidnapping; Eduardo Vallejo, the cat trainer who knows more about the cougars than anyone; Randy Thompson, the assistant vet, whose position gives him easy access to the cougars at any time (and he would know how to sedate the mother to nab the cubs!); and even Sally Nelson, the main zoo vet and the woman for whom Bess works.  While Sally seems to be the most unlikely suspect, we all know that in a good mystery, anyone can be the culprit!

 

While the story is very fast paced, due to the limited page count (149 pages with the not-so-small font), the mystery actually develops nicely, and the clues are somewhat subtle, so as not to be glaringly obvious to the reader.  It make for a pretty good read.  One of the things that did annoy me was the number of times George and Bess referred to Nancy as either "Drew" or "Nan."  I realize by the time this book was published in the late '90s, using nicknames, such as a last name or a shortened version of a first name, was a long-established thing, the Nancy Drew series has always, for the most part, given Nancy Drew a level of respect by having everyone refer to her by her proper name.  Calling her by a nickname may modernize the story somewhat, but I think it also takes away from the strength that her name gives the character.  I mean, even the director of the zoo, when he meets her, asks, ""Are you, by any chance, the Nancy Drew - the detective?" (p. 46).  This is a prime example of where the name really matters!

 

(On a side note, the author does manage to throw in a Sherlock Holmes reference, when Nancy first notices the monorail track, which lead "to a quaint, old-fashioned-looking train platform and station.  It looks like a station where Sherlock Homes might catch a train, Nancy thought" [p. 8].  Nice to see one great detective make mention of another!)

 

The gorgeous cover art is provided by Ernie Norcia, who, as fans of the digests know, provided the art for a large majority of these half-white covers.  The scene captures the climatic moment near the end of the mystery, when Nancy is pushed into the cougar habitat and must find a way to escape before a deadly male cougar makes a meal out of her!  Not so sure the outfit Nancy is wearing matches the clothing she had on in the story, but that black dress does work perfectly with the dark, night scene pained by Norcia, and her expression captures her realization of just how much danger she is in!

 

I would go so far to say that this is one of the better digests, as it provides a well-plotted mystery with characters who are not just cookie-cutter stereotypes.  I'd recommend this one.

 

RATING:  9 missing B-rolls of film out of 10 for a really wild mystery set in one of the most unlikely of places (let's face it - how many crimes really happen in a zoo?) - and Nancy had to match wits with a criminal who seemed to always be one step ahead of her! 

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #29 - You'll Die, Darling

After an eight-book break, author Martin Grove (a/k/a Marjorie J. Grove) returns to this series with his sixth murder mystery featuring gossip columnist-turned-sleuth Maxine Reynolds.  But this book marks more than just the return of Grove and his spunky columnist.  This is the first book to feature the completely revamped cover format!  Gone are the full cover painted scenes, and in their place, the publisher instead placed the cover art within the glass portion of a large magnifying glass, which lay diagonally across a colored box, with a white outline surrounding it all.  In the top right-hand corner, the number of the book in the series now appears in white against a different colored background.  Thus, the cover illustration has considerably less space within which to display a clue to the mystery, and there is now a much less chance of catching any artist signature that might give a clue to the identity of the cover artist.  I'm not sure why they chose to go in this direction, unless it was simply to set the series apart from all the other mystery novels on the shelves at the time and give it a distinctive look that would set it apart from the rest.

 

You'll Die, Darling has Maxine Reynolds hunting for the killer of a country-western singer who was preparing the change direction with her career by leaving behind her former singing partners and entering the rock-n-roll realm. Max may have been the last person to see the singer alive, as Cindy Chester went missing just as she was about to head to San Francisco to put on a show that would start her new direction.  But the story does not open with her murder; rather, it opens with her kidnapping, as her agent, Kevin Belvedere, calls Max to see if Cindy said anything to her during the interview that would explain her failure to appear in San Francisco for her scheduled concert.  A ransom demand, a scramble to get together the money, and a police stake out to capture the kidnapper lead to even more questions when the man who ultimately picks up the cash is only an intermediary - and the post office box number to where he is to mail the money does not exist!

 

Grove gives readers a twisting tale of murder, mystery, jealousy, bitterness, and revenge as Max digs deeper into the kidnapping, only to discover the songstress dead in her garage from apparent suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.  The police inspector is satisfied, but Max is not.  The only clues she has are a few strands of blond hair in the dead woman's fist, as well as a specially made key that has the logo scraped off.  With those two things to get her started, Max sets out to question everyone involved - from the dead woman's manager, to her two former singing partners, to the singer's abusive boyfriend, to one of the former partner's drug-dealing boyfriend.  One or more them wanted  Cindy Chester dead, but the questions remain - who and why?

 

The identity of the killer is not exactly obvious, but it is not too difficult to spot.  Only a couple of the interior illustrations hold clues to the killer; the rest have to be gleaned from the story itself.  And since we are on the topic of those internal illustrations, Sanford Hoffman is once again the one providing the framed drawings in this book.  However, despite how much I normally enjoy his framed illustrations, the ones in this book seem a bit off.  For example, the first illustration (on page 65 - see below), the middle-man who is arrested for picking up the package filled with money - if you look carefully, you will see that his left hand has two thumbs!  The second picture, on page 78, shows one of Cindy's two singing partners holding a round object in her hand; however, there is nothing in the story that indicates she is holding anything, and the circular object in the illustration is no plain there is no telling what it actually is.  In the third illustration on page 113, Cindy's manager is drawn holding a drink in his right hand - but the hand itself is oddly elongated, way longer than any human hand could possibly be.  The fourth and fifth illustrations are normal, but the last one, on page 173, shows three men who show up at Max's door uninvited, and the one in front is clearly holding up a gun in his right hand; yet, in the story, the man has no gun, and there is not even any mention of a gun anywhere in that scene!  Definitely not Hoffman's finest work in the series, that's for sure!

 

The cover art, limited as it is, has no identification as to the artist.  The scene nearly describes the moment when Max comes across Cindy Chester's dead body in the car in her garage, except in the story, she slides into the seat next to the singer, she is not standing outside the car looking down at her.  The artist does manage to sneak in the strands of blond hair in Cindy's hand, which I'm assuming is meant to be the clue on the covers, as promised in the cover blurb.  What is a little weird is it appears the car in which she is sitting had two gear shifts.  Perhaps one is meant to be an emergency brake, although I will admit, I've never seen any car that has an emergency brake so far behind the gear shift as the one in this painted cover.

 

While this particular story is not Grove's best work in the series, it is still a fairly good read.  As expected the obvious suspect is not the culprit (and in fact, that particular person winds up dead themselves!), and the real culprit is not really a big surprise.  I do like, though, that Grove always has his sleuth talk through all of the clues that led her to figure out whodunnit, so that the reader knows exactly what they should have seen (if they didn't) while reading the story.  Plus, Grove's books are always fun because of Pamela Tooth, better known as "Toothy."  Her quick wit and sarcasm make the whole thing worth it!

 

Sadly, there is only one more Grove mystery left in this series (book 39), so I can't wait to see what Maxine Reynolds' final case has in store for us!

 

RATING:  7 apartment complex pools filled with green water out of 10 for attempting to mislead the reader (and poor Max) and hide the real killer's identity for as long as possible!

Time Police - Volume 2: Trapped!

 I had to literally force myself to read this book all the way through to the end.  The first volume in this series (Time Police Vol. 1 - Vanished) was not the best of books, and the fact that this type of book is far from my normal read did not help matters.  I knew nothing about the author, Warren Norwood, when I picked up these two books at a book swap, but his bio in the book indicates he grew up reading Tom Swift books - thus, as a series-book collector myself, I thought this might mean the story would be enjoyable.  Well, sadly, the first book was overly convoluted, highly repetitive, and not that interesting at all, despite its time-travel premise.  Since I had the second book on my shelf, I figured I might as well read it and get it out of the way, so I could move on to much better things.

 

Trapped! (with the explanation point, mind you) takes place a year or so after the events in the first book.  Jackson Dubchek had walked away from the whole time-travel business, not wanting to be involved in whatever it is the Time Police are doing and having no interest in aiding the Mnemosynes in their quest to preserve what they believed to be the real history of the world.  As can be expected, all of that time manipulation brings Jackson back into the thick of things, as his brother's wife has somehow disappeared, and no one remembers her at all - it's like she never existed!  Jackson's own memories of Ann are slowly fading, and with his brother going out of his mind with grief, Jackson knows he must do something.  As such, he winds up with the Mnemosynes again, and before they agree to help him, he must do some things for him, which includes going back in time to the 1940s to determine if the whispers about a second World War and the atrocities committed by the German people are true stories or just fairy tales created by someone's imagination.

 

This time around, there is no real characterization at all (except for the addition of Suzanne Brelmer's mother, who has apparently become addicted to pain drugs in order to relief the horrific pain she endures on a daily basis - a pain that neither her daughter, nor her husband - a high official in the ranks of the Time Police, who also happens to be Suzanne's superior!).  The story just jumps from one point in time to another, with only a flimsy plot thread holding them all together - Jackson's search for some clue about what happened to his sister-in-law, all while trying to evade the soldiers from the Time Police who want to capture him, or even worse:  kill him.  I will say, though, I do like that we get more of the costumer from the Time Police in this one - an unusual ally of Jackson and Suzanne. Paress Linnet is probably the shining star of this book, for me anyway, and I would absolutely love to have seen more of her.  Sadly, she is only used as a plot device, to whisk Jackson to safety when he is nearly captured by the Time Police, and later, providing Jackson and Suzanne with the necessary clothing and money for them to use when they travel back in time.

 

The time loop connected to Wheeling, West Virginia and a certain junk yard owned by two stereotypical redneck hillbillies rears its ugly ahead again in this book, not just once, but twice.  Poor Jackson finds himself thrown into that same location he was thrown into in the last book, only this time, instead of facing down the two rednecks at gunpoint, he inadvertently winds up in the back of their pick up truck and takes an unexpected trip to a local watering hole, where he faces a Time Police officer in the bathroom and steals a car in order to find his way back to the junk yard so he can charge up his machine and get the heck out of dodge!  These side trips feel unnecessary and more like padding to lengthen the story out - there is no real point to them at all.

 

Jackson's trip to the concentration camps of Nazi Germany and Suzanne's trip to Woodstock in the hopes of finding drugs that can help her mother cope with the pain she is living with could have been built up much more than what they were - neither trip seems to have any lasting impact on the characters (other than introducing another time traveler who throws a wrench into Jackson and Suzanne's "will they or won't they?" relationship).  Again, some missed chances here to really flesh out the characters and let the readers see how these trips are impacting their lives.  Instead, they just jump from one time to another, with no time for reflection or even a chance to breathe.

 

This book ends on a cliffhanger, leaving poor Jackson stranded in the past with no time machine to take him home or anywhere else.  A third book was published, so I'm assuming Norwood figured out some way to rescue his character from being stranded (which, coincidentally enough, is the title to the third book); but, I will never know, as I have no intention of picking up the third book.  A fourth book was solicited, but it was never actually published, from what I could find. This series, for me, is lacking in any clear direction, and seems like nothing more than an opportunity for the author to throw his characters around in time in the hopes the readers will love all the back and forth.  The cover, once again with art provided by the Youll brothers, is less appealing than the first book.  The scene is something that does not even appear in the book, and the visual for the time machine is not at all what is described in the story.  Whether that is the publisher's fault for not providing the artist with clear parameters, or if it was simply the artist painting his own artistic vision for what he (they?) thought the future should look like - who knows...

 

This book was published in January 1989, just two months after the first one.  I would not recommend these books, even to those who like time-travel or general sci-fi adventure stories, unless you like stories that are overly convoluted, repetitious, and lacking in any in-depth characterization - in that case, these books are for you.

 

RATING:  5 Roman daggers of timeless design out of 10 for at least attempting to write a tale of time paradoxes and the dangers of messing with time. 

Lucifer Cove, Book 3 - The Devil's Virgin (Virginia Coffman's Thrilling Occult Gothic Series)

"Diane Deeth visited the Cove in innocence ... and was trapped in eternal evil." (cover blurb)

 

The occult Gothic series authored by Virginia Coffman continues in this third installment of the series.  The book was originally published in 1971, with this second edition printed in 1973.  I can't help but repeat how much I love these stylized covers, with the unique logo and the consistent cover art, each depicting a young woman standing in front of the tudor-style spa building. The occult aspects are definitely there in this book, but thankfully they are toned back a bit from the previous story.  Instead, we are treated to more of the continuing saga of the Deeth family - and although Christine Deeth, the protagonist from the first book, is not the continuing main character in the series, she does appear in each book (thus far), and her presence definitely has an impact on the characters involved in the stories.

 

The Devil's Virgin brings Christine Deeth's first born - her daughter, Diane - to Lucifer Cove. Diane is definitely a child of the '70s - a rebel, whose mindset is that the system must be bucked, and the new up-and-coming generation of young adults are the ones to do it.  That being said, she comes to the Cove to see her mother, concerned that her mother has not left and wondering if she really is happy there.  But what she finds is nothing at all what she expects!  It begins on a dark night, as she waits for a bus to take her to the Cove.  A mysterious stranger is watching her, and when she boards the bus, he boards right behind her.  The bus does not stop at the Cove itself, but it does have a stop on the lonely canyon road, not far from the hidden lane that leads to the Cove.  When she gets off, so does the stranger. She lets him head off first, and she is shocked to discover he is heading in the same direction she is.  Luckily, a gorgeously handsome man with dark hair and dark eyes pulls up in his fancy car and offers her a ride.  Once again, Marc Meridon is in the right place at the right time to save a damsel in distress...

 

Coffman gives readers a deeper feel for Lucifer Cove in this book, as Diane makes the keen observation that the Cove is set up to tempt even the most innocent of souls, as everything in sight is a temptation - from the gold plated silverware to the aphrodisiac being pumped in through the air vents.  While Diane is by no means the "innocent" girl that the cover says she is, she does manage to keep herself from giving into the temptations that surround her.  And the mysterious stranger, who turns out to be Bill Janocek, the brother of Nadine (you remember her, don't you?  the devil priestess who presides over the satanic rituals that take place in the Greek cathedral just up the side of the mountain that borders Lucifer Cove...), seems pretty much immune to any of the temptations.  In fact, he has an ulterior motive for coming to Lucifer Cove, other than just to see his sister, and that focus is what helps him see people and things for what they truly are.  That ulterior motive, of course, is something that does not sit well at all with Marc Meridon.

 

And speaking of Marc (should we call him by his real name yet?  Coffman hasn't revealed it at this point, but let's face it - by now, every reader knows exactly who he is!), Diane become instantly infatuated with the man, and she cannot figure out why her mother tries so hard to keep her from associating with the man.  As Diane develops a friendship with Bill Janocek and learns his true purpose for being there (after he rescues her from almost becoming the next victim of a group of murderers who are staying at the Cove to avoid going to jail), she finds herself becoming more and more curious about what is really going on at the Cove.  If her mother is so unhappy, as she seems to by, why does she stay?  Why does the Cove allow known murderers to stay at the spa, instead of turning them over to the police?  Do people really believe in the satanic nonsense spouted by Bill's sister?  And what is up with that annoying cat that seems to pop up at the most inopportune times - Kinkajou?  

 

It all comes to a head when Nadine is injured (conveniently after Diane tells Marc that Nadine was plotting with Christine to keep Diane and Marc apart!) and Diane agrees to take over as "priestess" for that night's ceremony, so that Bill can fulfill his purpose in coming to Lucifer Cove and Diane can see some real justice done.  But their secret plot is revealed, and Diane ends up in very real danger as a killer takes her off, ready to end her life for nearly betraying him and his friends!  (An interesting side note here - as Diane and Bill are finalizing their plans, a woman named only as "Miss Benedict" arrives with her suitcases to check in to the spa; it is only a very brief mention, where she has a short encounter with Nadine's Irish boyfriend, O'Flannery [p. 203] - but it is clearly a set up for the next book, where Miss Benedict is the main character.) 

 

Once again, this book was published in three different editions, each with their own cover art.  My copy of the book, with the light blue sky and the blond woman glancing back over her shoulder at the tudor-style spa that is the centerpiece of Lucifer Cove. The artist for this edition is not identified (as with the first and second books in this format), and once again, the main character is incorrectly portrayed.  In the book, Diane is described as having dark hair, yet the cover shows Diane with flowing blonde hair.  Not sure if all the covers were painted at the same time, and the publisher simply did not bother to properly match them with the books, or if the artist was not given any details about the actual characters in the book to know how to properly represent them on the cover.  The art is gorgeous, there is no denying that; I just wish they had gotten the details right!  The cover art for the Pinnacle Books edition (shown above) correctly shows Diane with her dark hair - just not sure if the man behind her is supposed to represent Marc Maridon or Bill Janocek.  Either way, this cover is a slight bit creepier, with the midnight black sky and the spa further back in the scene.

 

The third edition of the book, published by Lancer, is somewhat similar to the later Lancer "Easy Eye" edition that I have.  The light blue sky, the blond haired beauty (rather than dark-haired), and the tudor-style building; however, in this instance, the spa is depicted as desolate and somewhat dilapidated, with a thin fog rolling in front of it.  And the ghostly image of Marc Meridon looking down over the spa building seems to intimate the control he has over his "domain" at Lucifer Cove, that he is always watching, and you cannot escape him.  I would be hesitant to say which of the three book covers offers the most "Gothic" version - the edition I own is obviously my favorite, but the Pinnacle Books cover is definitely darker, even if Diane does not really seem frightened at all.  This original Lancer edition comes across too stilted to me, although this rendition of Marc is probably the most powerful and frightening to date.

 

It is definitely clear with this book that the Lucifer Cove saga is the ongoing story of Marc Meridon and Christine Deeth - all of the other women who take center stage in the books that have come after that first story are mere supporting characters that give the reader a greater insight into Lucifer Cove itself and more hints at just who Marc Meridon is ... although I am still waiting to find out what his endgame with Christine Deeth really is.  I hope Coffman resolves that by the end of the sixth book and does not leave the reader hanging!  These books are not strong in the Gothic elements, but definitely fall more into the occult category.  It was the 1970s, though, so every publisher wanted to cash in on the Gothic craze, and thus, Lucifer Cove became Virginia Coffman's "Thrilling Occult Gothic Series" (at least they had the decency to put occult before Gothic!).

 

RATING:  8 miniature spy cameras out of 10 for proving that some people are above even the strongest of temptations - no matter how enticing and beautiful that temptation may be!