Whitman Mystery Stories - Quiz Kids and the Crazy Question Mystery

The more Whitman mysteries I read, the more I discover just how enjoyable these books are.  I can't believe I spent so many years thinking these books were of "inferior" quality to the Stratemeyer and other similar series books, simply because they were published by Whitman (a company I always thought published rushed, sub-par product simply to try and compete with the big boys).  While they may have only published a few ongoing series, and those in very short runs of five books or less usually, many of their one-off mysteries are actually just as good as, if not better than, some of the series books from Grosset & Dunlap, Cupples & Leon, A.L. Burt, and many other big name publishers of the time.  And because of how much I have enjoyed the Whitman books I've read to date, I have found myself on the hunt for more and more of these books!

Quiz Kids and the Crazy Question Mystery sounds like an off-beat title, but the book is apparently based on a show of the same name ("Quiz Kids") that began as a radio show in 1940 and eventually graduated to television in 1949.  Since this book was published in 1946, it stands to reason that it is based on the radio version.  And just like the radio/televised version, the show in the book features five children, all age 15 and under (since once they reached the age of 16, they were no longer eligible), who showed exceptional intelligence.  The book uses Joe Kelly as the host for the show, who was the actual host on the radio show.  All other characters in the book are fictional.

 

The book is written by Carl W. Smith, of whom I know absolutely nothing about.  A search online shows that he wrote a couple of other Whitman titles, Red Ryder and the Secret of the Lucky Mine and The Lone Wolf and the Hidden Empire.   There are a number of internal illustrations by Isobel Read, which are actually nicely rendered.  I can't find much about Ms. Read at all, but it appears this book may be the only book she illustrated for Whitman's mystery books.  Regardless, the team does put together a rather good mystery!

The main three characters are Gene Markham, Frank Bennet, and Alice Lanier, who are described in the book as "the older Quiz Kids" - Gene is shown in the first internal illustration as being 15 (meaning he would soon reach the age limit), while Frank and Alice are described as not having far to go (even though that first illustration shows Alice is only 12 years of age; Frank's age is never established).  The other two Quiz Kids, Billy Read and Frances Lipton, are named, but they do not actually have any part of the story.  Now, I realize back in the day, the mystery stories for children featured protagonists who often had unlimited freedom to come and go as they please, but I do have to question the fact that in this story, Alice is only 12 years old, yet she travels with Gene and Frank around Chicago with unlimited freedom and absolutely no supervision whatsoever, well into the late hours of the night.  That does come across as just a tad too unrealistic to ground the story in any realm of believability.

But, suspending all disbelief, the story was actually a really well-plotted mystery.  The chain of events begins with a stranger call that interrupts the Quiz Kids show and poses an unusual question to those listening to the show:  "When is too late if forever is late?"  The kids and the producers of the show are unaware of the interruption, as it is an off-site transmitter where the signal is interrupted and the question asked.  As everyone scrambles to figure out what happened, Gene and Frank walk Alice home - only, along the way, they come across a scene at a downtown building where a big robbery took place.  The next morning, they learn that a large diamond - the Raj Kashgar diamond - was stolen just after it was cut by a diamond cutter brought in from another country for that purpose!  And, coincidentally enough, the robbery took place just moments after the strange ghost-voice cut in to the Quiz Kids show with the crazy question.  Before you know it, Gene, Frank, and Alice (an homage, perhaps, to Joe, Frank, and Nancy before those three ever teamed-up!) are investigating the ghostly voice and the stolen diamond right alongside newspaper reporter Alan "Jiggs" Butler.  They even get deputized as junior detectives to be able to shadow the real police detective, Sergeant Jack Callahan, as well as conduct questioning and investigations on their own.

The story progresses nicely as the three junior detectives discuss what they know and try to put the pieces together to determine (a) whether the ghostly interruption of their show is truly connected to the stolen diamond, (b) who made the ghost-call, and (c) who stole the diamond.  They actually follow pretty methodical means to following-up on clues they uncover, utilizing the library, as well as their own exceptional knowledge of architecture, castles, and other matters, along with their skills of observation.  I will say, one of the best parts of this book is when the three kids make their way to the outskirts of town and sneak into the Grimm Castle, an abandoned castle that was built by one Arnold Grimm, a Canadian gold-miner, to mirror a castle from Scotland.  The castle has secret tunnels, hidden hallways, bats, ghosts, and pretty much everything you would expect from a Gothic-esque place said to be haunted.  There are a number of chapters devoted to the kids' adventure in the castle, and it does read like a spooky, Gothic novel with the dark tunnels, the unexplained sounds, the unexpected appearances of the bat and the "ghost," and the unknown captive being held against his will.  But it is through the experiences at the castle that the kids are able to put together the final clues they need to unravel this strange mystery and reveal the crooks and the whole elaborate scheme to steal the diamond worth nearly $1 million!  (NOTE - the endpages for this book provide a map of the castle, showing the various rooms and secret tunnels and hidden passages for the first level - and it spoils a portion of the book by referencing the room "where the old man was.")

There are some interesting historical tidbits in this book.  Alice comments about the fact that it is illegal to own gold (p. 18), which would have been true in 1946 when this book was published.  From 1933 through 1974, it was illegal for an individual person to own gold, pursuant to Executive Order 6102 issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which made gold ownership illegal, punishable by up to ten years in prison and a fine of twice the amount of what the gold was worth.  I honestly was not aware of this until I researched the matter after reading Alice's remark in this book!

Additionally, while I was aware there were various kinds of diamonds out there, I did not realize that diamonds came in so many different colors, and that the value of the diamond depended not only on it size and perfection, but also on its color.  Frank explains to his friends the differences in colors and prices (p. 23).  Diamonds can come in pink, red, purple, blue, orange, green, yellow, black, brown, chameleon, and argyle!  The rarity apparently depends on the color, as black, brown and yellow diamonds are seen much more frequently than green or blue diamonds.  And since the diamond in this book is described as an Oriental green diamond, then the worth (nearly $1 million in 1946!) could very well be accurate.

Now, for one tidbit I found to be a bit off - on page 102, Frank says that someone must own the castle, despite its abandoned status, and speculates it is likely to be the heirs of the original builder, Arnold Grimm, or his wife.  But this contradicts what the kids read just 20 pages earlier in the book (p. 83), where the book on local architecture they find in the library states:

...The Grimm Castle stood vacant for several years, and was then purchased by an eccentric attorney for a price that was probably less than the ornate main gate had cost Arnold Grimm.  The castle was drafty and difficult to heat, and a succession of three or four owners did not retain it long...

Having just read about the ownership of the castle earlier that day (in their time), it doesn't make sense that Frank would guess that the castle must be owned by heirs of the original owner.  Or, perhaps, Frank has such an IQ that his head is full of more information than he can possibly retain, so he simply forgot what he read about the ownership of the castle!

Overall, this was a truly great read, and I'm disappointed they never published any more adventures of these three Quiz Kids.  They make a great team, with some natural banter among them and a great supporting cast (even if we do never meet their parents!).  That would probably have to be my one major complaint about the Whitman mystery books - they create some great characters and offer some wonderful mysteries, but we never get to see the characters again after their one (or in rare occasions, two) appearance.

RATING:  10 small pieces of Dorchester sandstone out of 10 for a fantastic mystery with enjoyable characters and plenty of great Gothic suspense thrown in for good measure!