The Third Enchantment Lake Mystery - The Silver Box

Okay, time to take one last trip into the world of Enchantment Lake and follow young Francesca (Francie) Frye (a/k/a "French Fry" or "little Frenchie") as she tries to discover just what happened to her mother, who was presumed dead.  In the first book of this series, Francie helps her aunts solve the mystery of who is forcing people around the lake to sell their properties.  In the second book, Francie must help clear her brother's name of a murder that he did not commit.  And along the way, Francie not only rebuilds her relationship with her brother, which was strained for many years, but she also gains bits and pieces of knowledge that strengthens her belief that her mother is not really dead, but out there somewhere.  But, if she's not dead, then why hasn't she come home?  And just what does that mysterious little box that keeps popping up have to do with it?  Well, in this final book of the trilogy, all these secrets come to light!

The Silver Box opens as Francie and her friends are ready to return to return home and get back to their classes and finish school.  But Francie can't shake the feeling that the silver box she found holds more than a clue to what happened to her mother and where she is now.  And, so, right off the bat, author Margi Preus takes Francie and her friend Raven (along with the readers) on a tramp through the snow-covered woods, where the two girls find a ramshackle cabin that brings back some flashes of memories for Francie.  Of course, we don't stay there long, because it's back to school for Francie, Raven, and Jay.  The mystery of Francie's mother, though, follows her to Walpurgis, and Francie soon finds herself in a whole world of trouble and danger - particularly after she sneaks away from a school field trip, gets into a car with a complete stranger, and ends up at the greenhouse of a very eccentric man who claims to know the answers about Francie's missing mother - but he will only share them if she provides him with the contents of that silver box - a box that Francie has only recently figured out how to open (and which was disappointingly empty).

Then the plant man winds up dead.  And the silver box goes missing.  And Francie is sent by her grandfather to go live with her aunts in Arizona. And a mysterious woman at a nursing home provides some cryptic stories about the past.  And Theo gets kidnapped.  And Francie sets out to play a deadly game of sleight of hand that could get both her and Theo killed!  There's definitely not a moment's respite within this story, as Francie finds herself in danger in pretty much each and every chapter, hiding in closets, running across ice, snowshoeing through the forest, and getting chased by snowmobiles.

The ultimate revelations regarding the silver box and what it contains, as well as why its contents are so important that people are willing to kill for it, is a bit anticlimactic.  Honestly, I was expecting something a bit more exciting or complicated; but, I guess sometimes, it is the simple things in life that can cause a lot of problems.  Of course, I must say that Preus provides several surprises with regard to the woman in the nursing home, the ramshackle cottage, and the secret stash that everyone seems so desperate to get their hands on that made me smile.  A purely genius way to making sure the criminals not only never got their hands on the goods, but also to prevent the big corporations from achieving their goal at the cost of the Northwoods that surround Enchantment Lake.  And Preus does manage to get in a couple of Nancy Drew references (after all - when the book advertises itself as a "modern Nancy Drew," you've got to count on the fact that everyone's favorite sleuth will be referenced somehow in the story).

The only part of the story that I felt did not get resolved was the triangle (of sorts) with Francie, Sandy, and Nels.  From the past two books, it has been obvious that Sandy likes Francie, but Francie likes Nels, and Nels likes Francie.  And while Preus briefly touches on both Sandy and Nels in the book, there is no real conclusion or resolution to that story (and who knows?  maybe that means Preus will bring back the characters for another trilogy, which will give this particular story a chance to grow!).  But otherwise, Francie finally finds out what happened to her mother, what the big secret is inside the box, what secrets her brother and grandfather have been keeping from her, and the memories of her childhood that have always seemed just outside her grasp.  So, readers are left with a satisfying conclusion to the Enchantment Lake mysteries, with the wish that it wasn't the end...

RATING:  10 duck nests out of 10 for enchanting readers with a world of mystery, danger, and adventure that makes for an amazingly satisfying read!

The Complete Velda, Girl Detective (True Crime Comics) - Volume 3

Well, it is finally time to sit down and take one last trip into the wacky world of Velda Bellinghausen, that pulp-favorite female P.I. from back in the day ... oh, wait, no.  That's not right.  Velda, Girl Detective never existed back in the day!  She's simply the creation of Ron Miller (with an assist from Walter Mucilage) as a way to honor, as well as parody, the old pulp-style comics and detective stories from yester-year.  And they do such an amazingly great job at it, one might pick this up and very well think it is reprinting stories from back in the '50s.  Until you actually start reading the stories...and looking at the ads... and then you realize this is all one big hoax meant to thrill and titillate comic readers with some fun (and I do mean FUN) stories about a girl detective who will do just about ANYTHING to solve a crime!

 

Velda, Girl Detective Volume 3 finishes up this collection of "could-have-been" comics, featuring issues 6, 7, and 8 of  the series that never was.  And it even goes so far as to play up on the Seduction of the Innocent fiasco back in the '50s when Dr. Frederick Wertham set about to expose the atrocities of comic books back in the day in the hopes of making them more wholesome for children to read, giving a bit of exposition about the final issue of this faux series, claiming the final issue (no. 8) was cancelled when proof sheets of the initial story for that issue were "leaked to the press."  Of course, the issue is presented here, and when you get a gander at that opening (and only!) story for that issue, you'll probably think that Wertham would have had a heart attack had this been a real comic back in the day!  I'm not going to spoil it by telling you what it is, but I will say it is a hilarious little jaunt into the countryside where Velda is able to enjoy nature while solving a crime!

We are treated to more ridiculously fun stories in this final collection, from Velda helping her Uncle Einar uncover a counterfeiter (using a pitchfork as a slingshot while completely naked - you've gotta see it to believe it!) to fighting a crooked D.A. for the life of an innocent man (where health food and yoga really do save the day!) to foiling the plans of Russian spies (a day at the beach, indeed!) to finding the culprit who has been stealing jewels and other sundry items from the guests at a nudist camp (and yes, poor Velda must do what she has to in order to blend in!), along with a few other silly tales.  As usual, the stories are short, over-the-top, and completely crazy - but they are the perfect parody of the pulp tales from decades long gone.

And just to perpetuate the idea that these were real comics back in the day, we get a Velda crossword puzzle, Velda paper dolls with outfits and accessories, along with a several page ad for a Velda board game, right along with faux ads for novelty toys, magic gimmicks, toy soldiers (of the Crimean War!), weight gain, toy guns, fun books for boys and girls, and so much more!  Miller provides introductions to each "issue," sharing with readers some background on the issue, as well as photos of the "real" Velda Bellinghausen on which the comic is supposed to be based.  And, as with the prior collections, included are the back-up stories of "Neolithica, Girl of the Pleistocene" and "Hawkshaw the Hawk, the World's Greatest Bird Detective."  These are definitely presented more for humor than anything else, and as a bonus, Miller "reprints" the first and only issue of Neolithica, Girl of the Pleistocene comic that was ever (not!) published. For those who love her short stories in each issue of Velda, then you're bound to love her expended six-page story in her own book!!  (Sigh - if only any of this had actually been real - I would work overtime to go back and try to find the real issues!)

The quip on the back of this collection pretty much describes these books perfectly:  "Velda: Girl Detective is an affectionate parody of the crime comics that proliferated during the 1950s. Inspired by a character in his novel and short stories about a burlesque queen turned private eye.  Ron Miller emulates the style of the most lurid of those classic comics...down to the letter columns and ads."  If you love comics and you love the old pulp stories, and if you like strong female leads and you like good, old-fashioned fun, the Velda, Girl Detective is DEFINITELY a book you need to pick up!  You won't be disappointed!

RATING:  10 raccoon skin hats without the tail out of 10 for keeping comics fun, for poking fun at the past, and for providing the comic world with another strong female character who deserved many, MANY more stories than these!

The Prescient Wisdom of Nancy Drew

The word "prescient" is defined at www.dictionary.com as "having knowledge of things or events before they exist or happen; having foresight."  Thus, the title of this book leads one to assume that the book will be about the uncanny ability of that famous teen girl detective to anticipate things and figure things out before they actually are revealed.  I mean, after all, the name "Nancy Drew" in the title of the book is the sole reason I bought the book.  As an avid collector of Nancy Drew (among other children's mystery series), if her name pops up in a title of a book, I'm pretty apt to buy it.  This was no exception.  But I will honestly say, nothing - and I do mean NOTHING - could have possibly prepared me for the story I was going to read!

The Prescient Wisdom of Nancy Drew is probably - no, is DEFINITELY - the oddest, weirdest, strangest, most unusual book I have ever read.  In fact, all of those words combined really do not do this book justice.  Now, don't get me wrong.  Just because this book is so ... unique, shall I say ... it does not make it a bad book.  Far from it.  If you can get past the opening chapters, which are rather dense and leave the reader with a bit of uncertainty as to the direction of the book, then you will find yourself in for one heck of a wild ride!  This book has everything from aliens to talking dogs to invisible coyotes to giant boys to glowing orbs of light to all-powerful stones ... well, you get the idea.  And to think, it all starts with a little dog being sent up inside a rocket from Russia....

Set in the final months of 1957, the story opens in Russia where a young dog by the name of Laika is getting ready to be launched into space on a rocket by the name of Sputnik II.  The scientist who has been working with the dog, one Sergei Berezin, had recently come to have his daughter in his custody after the young girl's mother died and she had nowhere else to go.  Unsure what to do with her, he allowed her to stay in his apartment home, and for a brief while, she was able to share the apartment with Laika.  But her father warned her not to become attached.  So, when he took the dog away so it could be sent up into space, to orbit around the Earth, his daughter, Kisa, found herself missing the dog.  But that's okay, because she has found a stone down by the river that talks to her.  Now, you may be asking yourself at this point - what in the world does this have to do with Nancy Drew???  Well, be warned - the author, Rhyscary Wade, specifically indicates in the synopsis on the back of the book that you won't find out until the very end where Nancy Drew comes into the story!  And he's not kidding!

Well, some unexpected events transpire that lead Sergei, Kisa, and her school teacher, Pytor Glinka, to be kidnapped, reunited, and taken - well, let's just say they get taken.  Meanwhile, half a world away, in an airport in the United States, a family waits for the plane that will take them on the first leg of their journey to London.  Lars Angstrom is a university profession with a penchant for getting himself into trouble with his female students.  By now, his wife has become used to their suddenly being forced to move away when he gets fired from one university after another.  His three daughters - Stormy, Bubbles, and Molly (self-given nicknames, not their real names, by the way) - just go with the flow.  Bubbles is oblivious to her rather suddenly enlarged endowments; Molly is rough and tough, but she is learning as she gets older how to use her feminine wiles; and Stormy - well, Stormy is frustrated that she looks younger than her two sisters, even though she is the oldest!  What none of them realize is that one of the other passengers is on a very deadly mission to assassinate Lars!  Nor that the doctor on board, who looks way too young to be a doctor, has seen things that no human should ever see.  Nor that another passenger was sent on the plane to watch out for something.  Nor that Lars has a very special stone in his pocket that has the same wonderful properties as Kisa's stone...

So, what do you think happens when the plane, mid-flight, is suddenly surrounded by orbs of light that circle the plane, attach to the plane, fly in front of and behind the plane?  And worse, what happens when passengers start to disappear?  Or, at least, they seem to ... because Molly and Bubbles can still see everyone, but no one can see them, and apparently, the passengers and crew can't seem to see each other.  And where in the world did Stormy and the doctor go?  And how in the world is this flight connected to the Russian scientist, his little daughter, and the dog that presumably died in Sputnik II?  So many questions!  Yet, Wade does indeed answer them, although not necessarily in the expected or usual way!  The story will startle you, surprise you, and have you laughing out loud - and before the end, you will find yourself caring for the characters, even if you don't want to.  There are some deaths in the book, some changes in relationships, some new beginnings, some endings, and a fun-filled romp through *******land (yeah, you didn't really think I was going to spoil THAT one, did you?).  All I can really say about this book is - expect the unexpected!!!

Now, if you are thinking that there is absolutely no mention of Nancy Drew until that very last page, let me set your mind at rest.  Wade isn't that cruel.  There are three references within the story itself:

"Though genial, bright, and friendly, at heart Bubbles was a serious pensive girl who always had her nose in a book, even if that book was the latest in a series of young adult mysteries.  Nancy Drew had had her way with all the Angstrom girls, and Bubbles was no exception" (p. 68).

"Seven years of Nancy Drew had taught her loads about interrogation" (p. 106).

"Then, though he knew it was ridiculous, he looked under the seat, where he found Nancy Drew's Clue of the Velvet Mask, but nothing in the way of blonde teenagers" (p. 139).

While these three quotes may not seem much in and of themselves, trust me - they make perfect sense in the context of the story.  And as for that ending?  Well, Wade certainly was telling the truth, as the last line of the book is the entire reason for the title.  But don't cheat and ruin it for yourself - making your way through the story is the whole fun of it all!

I didn't really know what to think when I bought the book (as I bought it simply because it had Nancy Drew in the title), and my head is still spinning somewhat from everything I read - but I would certainly recommend it for some great, out-of-this-world kind of fun you won't read anywhere else.  (Although, this book is apparently book 6 of Wade's UFO Sex Comedy series of books, so perhaps if you read some of the other books, you might find more of this kind of fun - who knows?)

RATING:  10 wild goose chases out of 10 for being the most unusual, unique, crazy, out-of-this-world book that I have ever and probably will ever read in my life!

Penny Parker Mystery Stories No. 2 - The Vanishing Houseboat

The second Penny Parker mystery was published the same year as the first, 1939.  This was the same year that Grosset & Dunlap published the sixteenth Nancy Drew mystery, The Clue of the Tapping Heels.  But that's not all!  Author Mildred Wirt was quite the prolific little writer, as she had a total of eleven children's mysteries published that year, including two Kay Tracey books, one Dana Girls, one Honey Bunch, one Dot and Dash, the last Penny Nichols book, the only Connie Carl book, and two of her own mystery stories for girls!  You've got to give the woman credit for being able to churn out basically one book a month!  It was interesting to note the number of similarities in the stories of the first Penny Parker book with Tapping Heels, and so as I picked up the second book in the series, my mind automatically started looking for further similarities in this mystery - and Millie did not disappoint!

The Vanishing Houseboat is the second Penny Parker Mystery Story and features a rather interesting plot involving a boarding house in a nearby town where people are disappearing in a particular room!  Penny becomes involved with the mystery when she helps a friend, Laura Blair, get a job at the boarding house.  She and Louise are immediately turned off by the husband and wife who run the boarding house, but Laura is determined to stay, as she needs the work.  At the same time, Penny befriends a homeless man known as Mud-Cat Joe and his family, who are living in an abandoned barn because their houseboat was stolen.  Penny agrees to help the man find his houseboat so he and his family can have their home back. As Penny digs deeper into the mystery at the boarding house, she soon discovers that the restaurant owner on the one side knows something is going on but will not reveal what it is, and the owner of the dry cleaner on the other side seems to be involved, but Penny can't figure out how.  The mystery is rather complicated, and Penny and Louise find themselves in some very deadly danger before the case is solved!  And, of course, as with any children's mystery it seems, the two seemingly unrelated mysteries (the vanishing houseboat and the disappearing guests at the boarding house) are connected!

 

One of the first things I noticed about this book, once I was finished, is that like in Tapping Heels, the title of the mystery has actually little to do with the main mystery.  In Tapping Heels, the actual tapping has very little, if anything, to do with the mystery, other than Nancy tapping out an S.O.S. to get help when she is being held captive.  In Vanishing Houseboat, the actual houseboat that has vanished plays such a small part of the main mystery involving the boarding house and the people disappearing from the room therein.   And along those lines, it is interesting that Nancy uses her feet to tap out a message for help, Penny also uses her feet to pound on the wall in an effort to obtain help to save her and Louise from the burning building (p. 189).  Other similarities include Penny and Louise nearly being overcome by smoke in a burning building (p. 189), just as Nancy and George were overcome by the strong incense in Tapping Heels. And just as Nancy Drew's father hired a private detective (Stephan Keely) in Tapping Heels, in this book, Penny Parker's father hires a private detective (Gregory Kane, p. 121).  And one certainly can't miss the racial references utilized in the two books - in Tapping Heels, the slurs were against African American individuals, in Vanishing Houseboat, the slurs were targeted at the Chinese laundromat owner next to the boarding house.  But, again, this was the time in which the stories were written, and obviously, we have come a long way since then.

 

A fellow reader pointed out to me that there was another similarity in this book to the Nancy Drew series - when Penny hurriedly drives her car into the barn in order to avoid the storm (p. 11), it is very reminiscent of Nancy Drew hurriedly driving into a barn in The Secret of the Old Clock (p. 30).

Perhaps taking a page from the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, Wirt does make reference several times in this book to the first Penny Parker tale, making mention of the "witch doll" and even talking about Osandra, the alleged medium from the first book.  Also, similar to the first book where Penny helps out an old school friend, Neillie Marble, in this book, she helps out another old school friend, Laura Blair.  Interesting that these friends are both already finished with school, while Penny and Louise are still students.

An interesting observation I made while reading The Vanishing Houseboat is that Penny Parker lives in Riverview (a derivative of River Heights, perhaps?), and the nearby town where the boarding house is located is White Falls (similar to Oak Falls from the Dana Girls?).  Certainly makes one wonder if Wirt had Nancy Drew and the Dana Girls on her mind when writing these stories, with such similar names for the towns.

Probably one of the most interesting things I found in this book was Mud-Cat Joe and his family.  I was not aware that in the 1930s people actually lived on houseboats, particularly when they had a family like Joe did.  But a bit of research online revealed that there is actually a long-forgotten history of families in America who lived in homemade shanty boats, which was "a reasonable and cost-free solution for displaced people in rural areas and workers in urban areas."  American River People It seems in the 1930s, a number of jobless and displaced people took to the water to live and look for work, just like Mud-Cat Joe in this book.  Thus, it stands to reason that Wirt was either familiar with, or had read about, some of these river people and decided to integrate them into her book.

Something I found quite surprising in this book are the rather cruel insults Wirt has Penny throw out without a second thought.  While talking with her housekeeper, Penny remarks that she does not want to put any weight, as "Fat girls simply get nowhere these days" (p. 73).  On that same page, when the housekeeper tells Penny that an Albert Layman telephone, asking if she would play tennis with him, Penny rather curtly responds, "He'll have to find some other girl ... All has pimples" (p. 73).

"Can he help that?" Mrs. Weems inquired mildly."

"Yes, he could wash his neck now and then.  Al is a very light-headed youth, too," Penny added airily.  "I like young men with purpose"  (p. 74)

Just like Witch Doll, The Vanishing Houseboat was re-published in 1958 with some minor revisions to the text (amounts of money, etc.) and with entirely new cover art.  In my opinion, the revised cover art is much more childish and less mysterious than the 1939 cover art.  There's something about that original design and black-and-white drawings of those original covers that creates an ominous mood for the book, which the revised, more colorful covers fail to capture.  Plus, Penny and Louise appear way too young in the revised covers, almost as if they were not even in high school yet!

I can honestly say that I am really enjoying this series thus far, and I'm only two books in.  Others have told me that the series gets better as it progresses, so since I've enjoyed the first two, I can only imagine how much more I'm going to enjoy those I have yet to read!

RATING:  10 creepy old paintings with moving eyes out of 10 for crafting an intriguing mystery that keeps Penny (and readers!) guessing how it was done!

Surfside Girls, Graphic Novel No. 2 - The Mystery at the Old Rancho

It's been a while since I read the first Surfside Girls graphic novel by Kim Dwinell, but I can still recall the main characters (Samantha Taylor and Jade Lee) and the danger and adventure they experienced in solving The Secret of Danger Point.  Dwinell did an amazing job of introducing the characters, the locale, and the mysterious goings-on around Danger Point.  And, oh yeah - did I mention the ghosts?  It seems Danger Point has their fair share, and after making contact with ghosts in the first book, it's only to be expected that Sam and Jade will find themselves helping out yet another ghost in this second book.

The Mystery at the Old Rancho is set during the Annual Surfside Surf Competition.  Sam is one of the junior lifeguards.  Jade, meanwhile, is preparing for a 5k run.  But when the two meet up or a picnic with their ghost-friends, Sam catches sight of the young ghost boy to whom she has taken quite a liking chatting up a fellow ghost - who happens to be female!  Sam and Jade soon discover that Maria has a mystery of her own - she dies over 100 years ago, yet she is certain that she saw her father, who disappeared and was believed to have died when she was just a little girl.  But if Maria died more than a century ago, how could her father be here now?

Dwinell sets up a pretty good mystery for Sam and Jade to solve, all the while dealing with the new developments in their personal lives.  Maria's family used to own the the rancho house out on the hill just beyond town.  Sam and Jade visited the house on a field trip back in the fourth grade, so they are familiar with it, since it is now a museum.  The girls convince Maria to go with them to the house and help them investigate - and sure enough, they discover a hidden desk drawer, a secret journal, a room behind a wall, and so much more!  There's also a trip to Mission San Simon, where the girls get help from the most unexpected source.  The clues continue to be uncovered, until ultimately the girls not only solve the mystery of what happened to Maria's father all those years ago, but they make a fantastic connection to the present that turns out to benefit more than just Maria!

And while all of this adventure and mystery is going on, Sam must deal with her feelings for the ghost, Robert, who she is afraid is more interested in Maria than her!  And Jade is surprised to meet a young man competing in the surf competition who takes a quick liking to her as well.  

Dwinell knows how to write a very down-to-earth mystery (albeit with ghosts) that does not depend on technology to solve the case, while making her characters very real and very relatable.  At the same time, the story and art are not so simple as to appeal to both older and young readers alike.  And Dwinell has a superb way to utilizing wordless panels to perfectly portray the excitement and determination of the two young sleuths in her story (check out pages 119, 135, and 183 to see exactly what I mean).

Sadly, though, while I see that there is "A Surfside Girls' Guide to Surfing" that was published in December 2021, I don't see any indication that there will be a third Surfside Girls mystery coming our way.  Which is a real shame, as I could easily see this being a successful series for young readers that combines the comics with the prose to create a unique reading experience for the reader.  Maybe with a little luck, Dwinell will be inspired with some more mysteries, and the future will see Sam and Jade return to solve a third, fourth, and maybe even a fifth mystery!

RATING:  9 lucky singlets out of 10 for not taking the easy way out and keeping the technology and ghost-aid to a minimum in solving the mystery!

Friday Barnes, Danger Ahead

Book six in the Friday Barnes series is just as wacky as the first five books and just as enjoyable to read! This young female sleuth who could give Sheldon Cooper a run for his money when it comes to smarts and personality knows how to logically look at every situation, weed out the distractions, ignore the emotions, and dive straight into the heart of the matter to solve any mystery put before her.  But with this book, author R. A. Spratt places our beloved little crime-solver into some whole new situations that will truly test her mettle!

Danger Ahead does what every book before it has done - it picks up exactly where the previous book ended. Ian Wainscott has just discovered that his father has somehow regained his wealth and status and is whisking his son away to the Cayman Islands for a father/son vacation!  Friday and her faithful sidekick, Melanie Pelly, are there to see Ian off, and when the sleek, new, black car pulls up, Ian gets in and away he goes!  But this is Friday Barnes' world, remember, so everything is not necessarily as it seems.  Mrs. Wainscott soon shows up with Friday's Uncle Bernie, who just so happens to have just gotten married to Ian's mother (huh?), and she grows frantic that her (ex) husband has taken her son out of the country without her permission.  Only, he didn't take him.  They soon discover when Mr. Wainscott calls the school that someone has abducted Ian in order to extort money from the Wainscott family!  The police are their usual useless selves, so it's up to Friday and Melanie to rescue their friend before the trail runs cold.

And to think, all of that happens just within the first six chapters!  So, what, you may ask, is the rest of the book about?  So glad you asked!  Well, it seems the Headmaster at Highcrest Academy is sending the students off to camp to learn survival skills (but more accurately, to simply get them out of his hair for a while!).  Camp Courage is a four-week camp for students to sharpen their wilderness survival skills, and while Friday Barnes may not be much for outdoor / physical activity, she determines to go into the month-long adventure with the expectation that she will broaden her social skills.  Only, it's too bad that Camp Courage isn't about surviving in the wilderness - it's about surviving the mad woman who owns the camp and her punishment-like tasks that force the students to dig latrines, peel potatoes, clean buildings, and a sundry of other non-survival jobs.  But there's something off about the camp.  There's a ghost that haunts the river, and Geraldine warns the students to stay away from the river at night if they know what's good for them!  So, divided into four teams, with camp counselors who act more like lazy teenagers who only want to nap all day, the students find themselves competing not only for the level of cabins they will sleep in each night, but also for their food and other necessities to last the four week.  It's like that TV show, Survivor, only organized by a crazy woman for troubled pre-teens!

Friday certainly has her share of mysteries to solve along the way (if you've read any of the previous books, you'll recall that she solved a number of smaller mysteries while also trying to solve that one big mystery throughout the book).  She uncovers the identity of who mercilessly cut Mirabella's hair while she was napping on the bus ride to the camp.  She finds out who has been eating Jessica's secret stash of cereal that she snuck into the camp.  She discovers what happened to her team's houseboat (which served as their cabin for the month).  And she ultimately finds out the truth behind the so-called ghost and the real reason the counselor are always so tired and so disinterested in helping the students with anything other than keeping out of their way.  It's four weeks of camp like no other (heck, it would probably be easier to survive at Camp Crystal Lake than at Camp Courage! Get it? "Friday"? Camp Crystal Lake? Oh, never mind...), but Friday and her fellow classmates make it out the other side and arrive back at school just in time to find two special guests waiting for Friday - and just wait until you read what these two have to tell her!

There's plenty of fun, plenty of quick-wit, and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments as Friday stops kidnappers, navigates her growing feelings for Ian, and manages to uncover a plot to capture and sell minks for their fur.  A great read that is well worth the time and money!

RATING:  10 exploding ping-pong balls out of 10 for keeping the mysteries coming, filled with light-hearted fun!

Phantoms & Felonies - a Haunted Mansion Mystery (#2)

It absolutely sucks when you find a new series that you enjoy, with a writer that you find has created some engaging characters and a world full of great mysteries, and then have that rug pulled right out from under you after only two or three books when you discover that - oh, guess what?!  The series is over, the publisher and/or the writer has decided not to do any more books in the series.  It has happened to me more time than I care to admit.  The Change of Fortune series by Jesica Estevao ended after only two books.  The Lilly Long series by Penny Richards ended after only three books.  The Devlin Quick series by LInda Fairstein ended after only three books.  And the list goes on and on.... And now, here I have yet another wonderful series to add to this list - the Haunted Mansion Mystery series by Lucy Ness.  I came into the game a little late, picking up both the first and second book in this series after the second book was published.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, and so as time came around and I picked up the second one to read, I did a search to see when the next one was coming out.  Only ... there is no "next" book for this series.  (sigh)

But that did not dampen my enjoyment of this second trip into the world of Avery Morgan and the Portage Path Women's Club.  Phantoms & Felonies finds Avery getting ready for the murder mystery party that the women's club is hosting, and resident ghost Clementine Bow (or "Clemmie" as she likes to be called) is eager to help Avery get the former speakeasy in the basement ready for the event.  A local theater troupe is going to be staging the interactive play, in which the guests at the club will have the opportunity to solve the murder that is going to take place.  But, as fate would have it, a real murder is on the menu for the evening as the local banker, Bob Hanover, who is playing the lead role in the play, turns up dead in the speakeasy - and Avery's aunt, Rosemary Walsh, is found standing over the body, a bloody knife in her hand!  Boy, does Avery have her work cut out for her!

Ness cooks up quite the little murder mystery with this one.  It turns out there were any number of people who were actually out of the dining room when the murder took place and could very well have gone down into the basement and done the deed.  The banker's wife, who was fearful that her husband was cheating on her ... the banker's ex-wife who never liked the fact he left her for his secretary ... the playwright who believes the banker stole his play and intended to sell it as his own ... the local landscaper whose was put out of business when the banker refused to give him a much-needed loan ... then there's the overly nervous waitress who takes the heat off of Aunt Rosemary when she confesses to the crime!  But Avery as well as the police do not think she did it.  Which begs the question - who really killed Bob Hanover?

The story is filled with suspects, clues, and secrets galore, and poor Avery has to make sense of them.  Clemmie tries to help, but she's in danger herself of being exposed, because Aunt Rosemary is almost certain she can feel a presence in the Portage Path Women's Club, and she is determined to ferret it out, even if that means calling in reinforcements to hold a seance.  The only problem is, when you start messing with the other side, you just never know what ... or in this case, who! ... you manage to reach.  This book definitely ups the ante when it comes to ghosts and the other side, as Avery does everything she can to keep Clemmie's presence a secret, as well as her own ability to see and speak with spirits.  All of this, plus solving a murder, definitely keeps our amateur sleuth busy.  

It's truly a shame that Ness is not continuing the series.  I would love to see more Haunted Mansion Mysteries.  Avery Morgan is a fun character, and her interactions with the self-absorbed playwright, Fabian LaGrande, are priceless!  (And let's face it, she picked the right surname for the character!)  Who knows, maybe if I'm lucky, Ness will shop the series around and find another publisher that will pick up on the series.  In the meantime, I would definitely recommend this and the previous book for anyone who enjoyed a good murder mystery with some ghosts thrown in the mix.

RATING:  9 pale aqua beads spotted with gold out of 10 for mystery, ghosts, and fun all rolled into one!