A Ted Wilford Mystery, no. 7 - The Stolen Plans Mystery

Time to take another trip into the small-town world of Ted Wilford and his best friend, Nelson Morgan.  I've never seen these books out in the wild, nor have I actually ever seen any of the original editions on eBay (although, to be quite honest, I haven't really searched too hard for them on eBay, ABE, or any of the other online used book sellers).  So, I am glad that Wildside Press has been reprinting the series - I just wish they reprinted the entire run, and not just select titles (more on that later...).

The Stolen Plans Mystery is the seventh book in the series, and as with the Judy Bolton series by Margaret Sutton, the main character in this series - Ted Wilford - and his friends age as the series progresses.  When I started reading the first book, Ted and Nelson were still in high school, and Ted worked for his school newspaper.  Now, in this seventh book, Ted and Nelson are returning home after their first semester in college, and although they are looking forward to the Christmas break and spending time with their respective families for the holidays, Ted can't help but hope there is some work for him at the Town Crier (the Forestdale newspaper).  And, of course, there is, as his somewhat newspaper nemesis, Carl Allison, is out of the office for the week, and Mr. Dobson (the editor for the paper) was hoping Ted would be willing to take over his regular work load.  This, of course, is what causes Ted to stumble onto his latest mystery.

 

Author Norvin Pallas provides his readers with a rather complicated mystery involving a brand-spanking new computer named "Lulu" (remember, this was 1959 when the book was first published!); the sudden resignation of the new circulation manager, Mr. Sawyer; the numerous toys and other items reported missing from the various stories involved in the newspaper's promotional contest for the holiday; and the jolly old man playing Santa, who seems to be more than what he first appears!  To be quite honest, it is a bit of a stretch to try and figure out how any of these things are connected; however, as the mystery plays out, and as Ted and Nelson investigate first the stolen items, and then begin surveillance on Mr. Sawyer's home, it begins to all come together.  And while there are not too many dangerous situations in this one, other than Ted getting locked in a freezing meat locker (from which he has a very ingenious way of escaping), the mystery itself is very engaging, and I found myself reading faster and faster.  Even though I had figured out many aspects of the mystery, it was still fun to follow along with Ted and Nelson, and their friend Cliff, as they worked out all of the clues and eventually helped reveal what was really going on!

I admit to being rather fascinated by the whole computer aspect of the story.  "Lulu" is a huge contraption in the back of the editor's office, and it works by being fed information so that it can calculate results at a faster rate of speed than if done by hand.  In the story, it is being used to sort through all of the contest submissions from the citizens of Forestdale, who are competing in a holiday contest set up by the newspaper (and which, to a small degree, plays a part of the mystery, since items are stolen from each of the businesses in downtown that are participating in the contest) and determine the winner of the contest.  By today's standards, this "computer" is very VERY old school - but in 1959, this was probably something very unique and new, and to a lot of people who read this book at the time, it was almost science-fiction in nature.

Sadly, this book appeared to be the last book reprinted (with the exception of The Baseball Mystery) - however, a look at Amazon.com just now reveals that Wildside has issued a number of other books in the series, including the next several books, up through book 14, in paperback!  So, now I can purchase those and continue reading the series in order without missing a beat!  Good news, indeed.

RATING:  7 coins stuck into a light socket out of 10 for making a complicated mystery not quite so complicated for its readers to enjoy!