Since, in recent months, the book club I'm a part of has been reading Mildred Wirt's Penny Parker series, as well as the Nancy Drew books written by Wirt during that same time period, I thought I'd pick up some of Wirt's other books published under her own name just to see how they compare. Wirt wrote a number of series using her own name as the author, including the Mildred A. Wirt Mystery Stories, the Trailer Stories for Girls, the Brownie Scouts series, the Girl Scout Series, the Dan Carter, Cub Scout series, and the Ruth Darrow flying series - these, in addition to writing under pseudonyms for the Kay Tracy, Nancy Drew, Dana Girls, Dot and Dash, Honey Bunch, Penny Nichols, Ruth Fielding, Doris Force, and other series. The woman was amazingly prolific children's series author, all the while caring for a family and managing a career of her own. So, combing through the books I have, I settled on one of her "Mystery Stories" to read.
The Wooden Shoe Mystery, published in 1938, does not strike one as an overly exciting mystery. I mean, let's face it - what could be mysterious about an old, wooden shoe? Well, Wirt proves her writing skills by showing just how intriguing of a mystery a wooden shoe can create! The protagonists are Patty Rose Saunders (the curious one) and her best friend, Gladys Baker (the more pragmatic one). What starts off as a simple treasure-hunting party with some school friends turns into a mystery when Patty and Gladys happen to witness two men deep in the woods getting ready to bury a mysterious box. Their approach startles the men, who take off with the box in-hand, leaving Patty to wonder just what was really going on after she finds a small notebook on the ground where the men were digging. And when her younger brother happens to mention two shady men who brought their car to the garage where he works, Patty grows even more suspicious! She takes another look at that notebook and finds inside a list of three names. But what in the world does this have to do with a wooden shoe?
Well, Wirt doesn't leave the reader hanging for long. Gladys and her family are heading over to Pelma for a Dutch festival, and Gladys invites Patty to join them. Pelma is described as an isolated village where the townsfolk, mostly descended from Dutch immigrants, have maintained their heritage and host a festival once a year for outsiders, dressing up in their native costumes and having dances and dinners and contests for the visitors to enjoy. Patty is excited to go, but when the Bakers and their guest arrive, they discover there is no room at the inn! At the same time, Patty and Gladys happen to hear a cry for help, and they manage to prevent a pickpocket from getting away with his prize. By aiding a young local girl, they make quick friends and are invited to stay with her family (while Mr. and Mrs. Baker were put up at a neighbor's house). Young Katrina provides Patty and Gladys with an inside look at the Hollanders' life, even sharing a family secret - their savings is kept in an old wooden shoe that is hidden on a shelf up inside the fireplace.
As with any series book of this day, there are coincidences galore - from Katrina's father being one of the names on the list, to Patty happening across a newspaper headline that shows one of the other names on that list, to Patty and her brother stopping to eat at a restaurant where the owner just happens to have a wooden shoe she is using as a planter, to Patty's father oddly knowing a lawyer who makes a hobby out of deciphering codes. But without all of those perfectly placed coincidences, Patty would never be able to solve the message that was inscribed on the bottom of the two wooden shoes (I mean, let's face it - no one really thought for one second that if there was one shoe, there wouldn't be another?).
While the story does not have the dangerous chapter cliffhangers for which many series books are famous for, and it does not really feature any Gothic or other spooky elements, it does actually have a wonderfully plotted mystery that slowly builds in suspense as Patty gets closer and closer to the truth. And, or course, there is a person (or in this case, a family) in need that Patty is desperately trying to help - and in this instance, it quite literally is a last-minute save that uncovers the family heirloom that provides Katrina and her family with the fortune they need to save their home and livelihood!
Interestingly enough, the solution to this story bears a striking resemblance to the solution for The Secret in the Old Attic, the twenty-first Nancy Drew book, which was published six years after this book - and, coincidentally enough (as if we can't get enough coincidences in these books!), it was ghostwritten by Mildred Wirt! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! In both books, the heirlooms that the families are looking for are hidden behind wallpaper. Honestly, I am realizing more and more that a number of children's series books feature the same plot elements, re-used and re-tooled in future stories, perhaps with the thought by the author and publishers that the children reading the stories would never notice. I doubt they ever thought adult readers would be collecting and enjoying the stories to the extent that they would pick up on these similarities.
Overall, this book is a great example of Wirt's writing, and if this is any indication, then her Mystery Stories for Girls series are well worth the read!
RATING: 10 charred pages of newspaper headlines out of 10 for turning a simple object into the subject of a well-written, enjoyable mystery!
It's been decades since I last read this one - and you've intrigued me enough to make me want to do so yet again - THANK YOU!
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