The Penny Nichols Series - #4 - Penny Nichols and the Knob Hill Mystery

And now we come to the fourth and final book in the Penny Nichols series.  The third book made no reference to this one at the end, perhaps because the publisher (Goldsmith) was not sure whether the series would sell well enough to warrant a fourth book.  Regardless, it took three years before this fourth book was published in 1939, and sadly, it was the last book to feature Mildred Wirt (Benson)'s fearless sleuth.  As Goldsmith was not one of the bigger publishers of children's mysteries (unlike Grosset & Dunlap or Cupples & Leon, who published a myriad of different series for boys and girls), perhaps they simply did not have the marketing tools or distribution that the bigger companies did, and so their books did not make it on as many shelves.  Plus, the fact that all four books feature the same cover could have confused young readers (as well as their parents) into believing they already had the book, since there was no different in the cover other than the title (which was not prominently featured, but rather in small letters just below Penny Nichols' name).  Whatever the reason, this final book ended the mystery-solving career of Penny Nichols.

Penny Nichols and the Knob Hill Mystery has Penny joining her father on yet another vacation.  This time, Mr. Nichols has rented a small place on Knob Hill, where he intends to enjoy some peace and quiet with no work, no mysteries, and no one to bother him!  Penny is not overly excited about the trip, but she knows her father needs the time away, so she willingly joins him.  Little do they know another mystery with plenty of adventure waits for them on the supposedly peaceful Knob Hill!

SIDE-NOTE - I find the title to this book amusing, as I once lived in an apartment complex called "Knob Hill" in Winter Park, Florida some years ago (not long after I first moved out on my own).  So, when I saw the title to this book, I automatically make that connection, even though I realize this book is not set anywhere near Florida, and it's doubtful Wirt would have known about the apartment complex, as it likely did not exit back in the late '30s!  There are, however, a couple of Knob Hill mountains in the United States - one near Kern County, California and one in Sweet Grass County, Montana.  Whether Wirt visited or knew about either one of those remains a mystery!

Meanwhile, back to the book.  The mystery begins when Penny and her father offer to give a ride to a man whose car had driven into a ditch.  Walter Crocker is not a happy man, and while he accepts the offer of a ride, it is clear he is upset with his uncle, Herman Crocker, who he believes has been stealing his inheritance from him.  When they arrive at the sleepy little village of Kendon, located at the foot of Knob Hill (p. 25), Mr. Crocker takes off without a word!  Well, as it turns out, the cottage Mr. Nichols rented for the stay happens to be owned by none other than Herman Crocker.  Mr. Nichols warns Penny to stay out of it, because they are there for a vacation, but Penny can't help herself.  She knows something is amiss, particularly when Walter Crocker disappears without a trace, and she finds his car hidden away in Herman Crocker's garage.  Then there is Mrs. Masterbrook, who the Nichols hire to cook and clean for them while they are staying at the cottage - Penny catches her snooping in her father's room and is left to wonder what the woman's true intentions are.  And there is also the stranger who shows up at the cottage looking for Herman Crocker - he says his name is Michael Haymond, but Penny believes there is more to his story.  Mr. Nichols hires him as a handyman to fix up the cottage, and he tells Penny not to create mysteries where there are none.  One would think that after solving three mysteries that even the police couldn't solve, Penny's father would have more faith in his daughter's intuition.

This mystery is a tad bit darker than the previous three, as it also concerns a young boy who is the grandson of Herman Crocker.  Penny tries to befriend the boy, but Mr. Crocker makes it clear she is to stay away from him and never talk to him.  Penny discovers the boy is being held captive in the house, not allowed to go to school, and quite possibly malnourished.  When Mr. Nichols is convinced to look into some local robberies, a toy lantern discovered at the scene of one of the crimes provides a vital clue that links the robberies Mr. Nichols is investigating to the multiple mysteries Penny is trying to solve.  Once again, as with the Mystery of the Lost Key, Wirt weaves into the story a long-lost relative, a stolen inheritance, and a family revelation.  

The one disappointing thing about this story is that there is no true resolution to what happened to Herman Crocker's grandson, Perry - one would think that he would have been placed with the relative that is revealed in the story, but Wirt makes no discussion whatsoever of that.  Instead, the reader is left without any clue as to what happened to poor Perry after his grandfather is arrested for stealing the money intended for his deceased sister's son.  It's not like Wirt to leave a plot thread hanging, but perhaps with everything else going on in the story, this part fell by the wayside.

Nevertheless, the final Penny Nichols story ends on a rather amusing note, as Mr. Nichols informs his daughter that after everything that took place in Kendon, they are leaving.  When Penny asks where they are going, Mr. Nichols replies, "I don't know ... but it will be to some nice quite place where I can have a vacation." (p. 250)  What neither Mr. Nichols nor Penny (nor, for that matter, readers!) knew was that the vacation was to be a permanent one!

 

One last thing to mention - while all four books in this series were published by Goldsmith, the books that I have are not all the same - books 1 and 3 are the standard size, in the same dimensions (height and width) as a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books; however, books 2 and 4 are slightly larger in height, about a half-inch taller.  Not sure if the taller editions are later printings, earlier printings, or if the series was simply published that way - were all four published in the standard size AND the taller size, or were only certain books published in the taller size?  As someone who prefers a uniform series, it is a bit disconcerting to have two of the four books taller than the other two!

RATING:  9 broken down wood-burning stoves out of 10 for ending this series with a well-written mystery, even if a bit darker than the previous ones

The Penny Nichols Series - #3 - Penny Nichols and the Black Imp

And now we come to Mildred Wirt (Benson)"s third Penny Nichols story, published in 1936 alongside the first two books.  It seems back in the day, "three" was the magic number for what was commonly referred to as "breeder" sets - any time a publisher wanted to try out a new series, it would publish the first three books simultaneously.  So many series, including Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, started in this manner, and while some managed to go on for quite a while, others seemed to barely make it past those first three books.  Sadly, Penny Nichols is one of those unsuccessful series.  There were only four books in this series (although some may argue there are five, if you include the single story Connie Carl book, which some have said was originally intended to be a fifth Penny Nichols books - whether that is true or not, I have no idea), and the fourth book was not published until three years after these first three.  It's a shame really, as these first three books, at least, offered some truly great mysteries, and, Wirt's writing prowess was definitely apparent in these stories.

Penny Nichols and the Black Imp was previewed in the previous book as "Penny Nicholas and the Secret of the Black Imp."  Interesting that the title was changed for publication, yet the text was not corrected in the previous book prior to it being published.  Perhaps Goldsmith simply did not want to spend the money required to change the text of that page.  In any event, the Black Imp of the story turns out to be a small, clay statue created by Amy Coulter, an aspiring artist.  Penny and her best friend Susan meet Amy at an art show at the Gage Galleries, where artists have an opportunity to win a five thousand dollar award should their piece be selected by the judge's as the winning work of art.  Penny and Susan are positive that Amy's statue will win, so they are shocked when the judge instead chooses a piece that is far inferior to that of Amy's - a decision that does not set well with anyone in attendance!  And that's when the gallery is locked down, because it seems a nearly priceless work of art has been stolen - a Rembrandt painting!

Once again, Wirt creates a complex mystery with plenty of moving parts.  Penny gets into a fender-bender with a none-too-pleasant man on the way to the gallery, who turns out to be the judge of the art competition.  Once there, Penny and Susan pass a rather rude gallery employee on their way into the viewing, unaware he is carting off a stolen painting.  Later, at the party of a social climber in town, Penny discovers the woman has purchased the stolen painting!  That same woman later has a very valuable (and only recently insured) pearl necklace stolen from her.  While trying to figure out what is going on, Penny discovers the art critic, Hanley Cron, who judged the art competition, has crafted his own copy of the Black Imp - but for what purpose?  An empty office space on the fourth floor of a building ... a carefully forged Rembrandt ... a lying social climber ... a wrongfully accused artist ... and a deadly team of counterfeiters all lead Penny on a dangerous adventure that ultimately leads to her being tied up and left in an empty building that is set on fire!

Interestingly enough, Wirt used this same situation in other books - in Penny Parker No. 2, The Vanishing Houseboat, Penny and Louise are trapped in a burning house (1939); then, just for books later in Penny Parker No. 6 - The Secret Pact, Penny is trapped in her father's newspaper office after a villain sets the building on fire (1941).  I suppose Wirt found this type of dangerous situation one that would be exciting for readers and create suspense (much as she did with bad storms, that seem to come up in so many of her books).

A small editing error that I caught can be found in the first chapter.  On the second page of the story, Penny and Susan are rushing to get to the gallery so they are not late.  Page 12 reads:

    "The winning statue is to be unveiled at three o'clock," Penny declared.  "What time is it now, Susan?"

    "Then we'll never make it," Penny groaned, stepping harder on the gasoline pedal.

Somehow, Susan's response to Penny was inadvertently omitted, so we'll never know what time it actually was that Susan told Penny to make her rush to get to the gallery!

Overall, this was another great tale.  The fact that Penny worked hard to assist Amy Coulter hide from the police placed Penny in a very precarious position, since she was aiding and abetting a wanted suspect in the theft of the Rembrandt painting.  (And it's funny that Penny Parker No. 3, Danger at the Drawbridge, also features a painting by a famous artist, only it's Van Gogh in that book, instead of Rembrandt, as in this one - leads one to wonder if perhaps Wirt enjoyed art of that nature...)  Penny rightfully could have been charged with aiding and abetting, harboring a fugitive, and obstructing justice - but I supposed that proving Amy's innocence and catching the real crooks counted in her favor.

As a final note, I did enjoy the ending to this story.  Penny and her father are bantering, and Mr. Nichols acknowledges that he could increase profits by taking his daughter into his firm.  "Nichols and Nichols" he says.  "How does that strike you?"   Penny playfully responds, "I think it would look grand in print ... Let's paint it on the door right now!" (p. 249)  Penny's relationship with her father reads much more natural than that of Nancy Drew and Carson Drew.  I think Wirt managed to make Penny and her father come across as believable and real, and it makes the stories much more enjoyable to read!

RATING:  10 large thermos bottles of coffee out of 10 for another intriguing and engaging mystery that centers around the art world.

The Penny Nichols Series - #2 - Penny Nichols and the Mystery of the Lost Key

The second Penny Nichols mystery offers up a somewhat standard mystery trope, but I have to give Mildred Wirt (Benson) credit - she provides a totally unique story to go with it.  While I read these Penny Nichols books some years ago when I first bought them, I honestly don't remember them being this good.  Also, having never read a Penny Parker book at the time, I did not realize just how much of a precursor Penny Nichols is to Penny Parker.  The similarities are many - hair color, relationship with father, car problems, desire to follow in her father's footsteps, attitude, daring willingness, and so much more - heck, even the first name is the same (Penny is short for "Penelope" in both cases!).  Perhaps the Penny Parker series is more or less what Penny Nichols may have been if her series had been allowed to continue beyond just the four books.

Penny Nichols and the Mystery of the Lost Key is a story about a haunted house.  But it's also a story about a young girl's lost inheritance.  And a story about a lost key that could be the "key" to proving an heir's identity (pun intended).  And a story about a cranky caretaker who seems to be keeping a lot of secrets.  Once again, Wirt (writing this series under the Joan Clark pen name) creates an intricate web of lies, secrets, and mysteries that only the sharpest sleuth could possibly solve - and this time, the sleuth is Penny Nichols!  After stopping a ring of car thieves in her first book, Penny sets out to help a young girl stake a claim for her rightful inheritance after she receives a mysterious letter, which has enclosed therewith a key to the property, Raven Ridge, she is alleged to have inherited.  Penny has her suspicions, however, because she has never heard of the attorney on the letterhead, and a visit to the office address proves no such attorney exists!  So, who sent young Rosanna Winters the letter and key, and more importantly, why?

Well, Penny gets her chance when her father decides they need a vacation - and he elects to go to Mt. Ashland, which is a short drive from Snow Mountain, the very place where Raven Ridge is located (p. 40).  Just what would a children's mystery book be without its ever-present convenient coincidences.  Needless to say, Penny invites Rosanna on the trip so they can check out Raven Ridge and figure out exactly what that letter is about.  The only problem is, Rosanna has lost the letter and the key she received to prove her claim as an heir!  They arrive at Raven Ridge in the middle of a dreadful storm (Wirt definitely loved her storms!), and before long, two more "heirs" show up - a rather rude woman and her entitled daughter, as well as a man who looks awfully similar to the thief that Penny saw steal jewelry at the department store where she first met Rosanna!  Both have letters and keys, just like Rosanna had, and both feel they are the sole heir and owner of Raven Ridge.  The rather curmudgeonly caretaker does not take kindly to any of the unwanted visitors, and he does not believe any of them have a true claim to the property - in fact, he is rather insistent that the owner is not dead, but merely away on a trip.

The mystery is a tangled web, no doubt - the mysterious music coming from the attic ... the disappearing ghost ... the secret panels and hidden passages behind the walls (not to mention the hidden staircase, but we wouldn't want to compare that to a certain mystery of Nancy Drew, now would we?) ... the missing photograph ... the gun found in a suitcase ... the safe hidden behind a painting ... so many strange things, and it's up to Penny to piece together the puzzle and figure out exactly what is going on.  Quite frankly, this is a mystery that is worthy of the queen of crime herself, Agatha Christie!  But, as usual, Penny manages to figure out exactly what happened to Jacob Winters, exact who the real heirs are, and who is the true culprit trying to swindle the others out of their rightful inheritance - and along the way, Penny reunites two family members and provides Rosanna with a new home! All's well that ends well, right?

"If it hadn't been for that kid of yours I'd have gotten away with it," the crook growled [at Mr. Nichols] (p. 241).  A simple statement, but one that brought a smile to my face, as it immediately made me think of all those criminals who were unmasked by the Scooby gang in the cartoons for all those years.

One final observation - on the very last page, just after the last word of the last paragraph, there are two initials:  "M.W."  Obviously, they represent "Mildred Wirt."  I don't recall every seeing any books that had initials like this at the end of the story (or, if I have, I don't recall them now).  Was this Wirt signing off on her final draft of the story, and the printers accidentally included it when they typeset the book?  Since the series is authored under the pseudonym of Joan Clark, was this Wirt's way of attributing her own name to the authorship of the story?  

This was a great follow-up to Wirt's first Penny Nichols' mystery, and I am anxious to see what the next two books hold in store!

RATING:  10 postcards from Africa out of 10 for taunting readers with a haunted house on a dark and stormy night - creating the perfect mood for a superbly written mystery!

The Penny Nichols Series - #1 Penny Nichols Finds a Clue

Having read Mildred Wirt's "Trailer Stories for Girls" in succession, and finding that I rather enjoyed following the adventures of the Gibson children so closely, one after the other, I decided to give my hand (or my eyes, as the case may be) to another of Wirt's four-book series, the "Penny Nichols Series."  This series actually premiered one year prior to the Trailer Stories, with the first three books being published in 1936; however, the fourth book in this series actually post-dates the Trailer Stories, as book four was not published until 1939 (some three years after the initial three).  The series was published under the pseudonym of Joan Clark, and all four books featured the same cover art - Penny driving her roadster, pointing out to her friend Susan a truck traveling far ahead of them in the distance.  The series was published by Goldsmith, who published other books written by Wirt in the '30s.  I had read this series many years ago when I first bought the books off eBay, but it's been so long, I honestly don't remember any of the stories - so re-reading them now is like I'm reading them for the first time!

 

Penny Nichols Finds a Clue is the first in the series, and it introduces readers to Penny, her father, her best friend, and the world in which she lives.  In this world, Penelope Nichols (there's that "Penelope" name again!), better known as Penny to her father and friends, is the fifteen-year old daughter of a private detective, Christopher Nichols, who lives in Belton City.  Like so many sleuths of the day, Penny's mother died when she was young, and as a result, her father dotes on her and gives her pretty much unlimited freedom.  The Nichols have a live-in housekeeper, Mrs. Gallup, who worries about Penny as if she were her own daughter.  Like the "Penny" who came after her, Penny Nichols has a car that gives her problems, she is always running out of her allowance before the next one (thus causing her to be borrowing ahead on future allowances), and she wants to follow in her father's footsteps - except, instead of working in the newspaper business like Penny Parker, Penny Nichols dives into the private detective business!

The mystery centers around a ring of car thieves who manage to steal tires and other assorted items directly from cars parked on the street.  The police are stumped, and an insurance company has hired Mr. Nichols to try and find out who is behind the thefts.  Nichols is pretty certain the Molberg gang is behind it, but he's been unable to catch a break in figuring out how they are doing it and where they are hiding.  He's also quite certain that Molberg himself is not the big boss - someone else is pulling the strings.  Penny is not overly interested until a tire is stolen from her own car, and she and Susan were only away for a short time!  The mystery deepens further when Penny returns home to find a young man hiding away in the room over Nichols' garage!  He tells her his name is Jerry Bellows and convinces her not to turn him over to the police - and Penny wonders if it was a mistake to let him go.

Wirt weaves quite the intricate tale here - there's the mystery surrounding the Bellows boy and who he really is - there's the mystery surrounding the car thieves and how they manage to steal tires from cars without anyone noticing - there's the mystery surrounding the police officer who may very well be on the take from the Molberg gang - and there's the biggest mystery of all: just who is behind all of these nefarious thefts in Belton City?  Honestly, that last question is one of the easiest to figure out (and maybe that's just because I've read so many mysteries at this point, these type of things are pretty easy to spot), and the question of Bellows' identity is not really that difficult either.  The manner in which the thieves are pulling their operation is actually quite creative, and I give Wirt props for not giving in to an easy out for the thieves.  

There is certainly plenty of danger in this book, but that is an aspect I enjoyed.  Penny's life is put in danger because of her father's investigation (as well as her own!), and it was nice to see Mr. Nichols be proactive in placing a man to follow Penny around to ensure her safety (which comes in quite handy when Penny is tricked and kidnapped!).  Penny also proves her bravery when she discovers the place where the criminals are moving their merchandise, and she sneaks in - and rather than trying to stop them on her own, she secrets herself in an office and calls her father for help!  FINALLY!  A mystery that has some intelligent characters that act in rational ways rather than trying to be the hero.  I do have to say, however, that as I was reading this book, particularly as it got closer to the end, I began to see some similarities between this story and the Nancy Drew episode from the '70s television show, "The Mystery of the Diamond Triangle" - in both instances, there are car thieves, the thieves are holed up in an out-of-the-way location, and Penny/Nancy sneak into the hideout in order to put a stop to the thieves' activities!  Only, unlike the TV show, this book ends with a shoot out, as Wirt has no problem with characters using guns in her books (unlike Stratemeyer's series, where guns were a big "no-no").

This first book was a great start to this series, and I can definitely see some resemblances between Penelope Nichols and Penelope Parker, so I am guessing when this series didn't quite make it, Wirt may have simply made some alterations to the character and her name when she began her Penny Parker series for Cupples & Leon.

RATING:  9 discarded scraps of metal out of 10 for an adventurous beginning of yet another young sleuth from the mind of Mildred Wirt Benson!

The Very Final Last Girls - a Darby Pop Publications graphic novel

Connor Monday survived an alien invasion of pod people.  Shawna Little survived a sadistic puzzle master.  Deena Azarian survived a summer camp slasher.  Heather Perez survived a psychic warlock.  And then there's Megan Williams, who survived an attack by a horde of zombies.  Each of these five have one thing in common - they are all survivors.  Each has face a completely different horror, each has had to conquer their fears and insecurities, and each has managed to defeat the evil that was set to kill them.    But instead of just moving on, each of them has been taken to a government facility in an undisclosed location, where one Dr. Black is looking to help them cope with what they have gone through, with the assistance of her head of security, Hal Piers.  But there's only one problem - Megan Williams doesn't give a flying leap about their program, and she doesn't want or need their help - all she wants is to find her little sister, and she'll do whatever it takes to get back to her!

The Very Final Last Girls is a creative tale of what happens to the survivors of some of the most horrific events one could experience after they win their battle against the vicious killers.  Written by Josh Eiserike and with art by Z. Crockett and Andres Barrero, this six-chapter story combines a number of horror genres for a superb story of some very strong girls (and one very strong boy!).  As a horror film fan, I've always loved the whole "Final Girl" idea - from Laurie Strode to Alice Hardy to Sydney Prescott and so many others.  I especially loved the parody take of the trope with the films The Final Girls, which takes an honest look at what it means to be a final girl in a horror film.  Well, this comic delves into that idea as well.  What exactly does it take to be a "final girl" (or boy, as the case may be)?  How in the world do the men and women who survived The Evil Dead, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Hills Have Eyes, and Saw deal with the normal world after facing such unimaginable evil?

Throw in some off-the-books government agency (a la Cabin in the Woods), and you have not only a great horror story, but also a wonderful little mystery.  What exactly is Dr. Black up to?  Who is she, really?  Why won't anyone let Megan see her little sister?  What are the dreams that Megan is having?  And what secrets are the other survivors hiding - secrets that could place all of them in even greater jeopardy than they could imagine?!  And who is that raggedy man with his lips sewn shut and the tattered ears?  By the end of Chapter Three, one of the survivors finds out pretty quickly that the tattered man is not one to be messed with!  With one survivor down, that leaves the remaining four on edge - and Megan more determined than ever to get out of there and find her sister!  This, of course, means - road trip!

The story really picks up the pace by the fifth chapter, as Megan and two other survivors escape the compound and head out to find Megan's sister - but a confrontation with the tattered man leaves Megan wounded, and the survivor they left behind may be the only one who can save her.  By the time they reach the facility where Megan's sister is being held, all the secrets get revealed in a truly spectacular climax - is anyone really who they claimed to be?  One survivor holds a killer secret, while another turns out to be more deadly than any of the killers they all faced.  It's a final battle to beat all final battles,and the question is - how many final girls will truly be the very final last girls?

The art by Crockett and Barrero is pretty spot on for this kind of story.  It's not as refined as say George Perez or Jerry Ordway, but it's so wildly stylistic that you can't enjoy the story.  It's dark, it's moody, and the characters are distinct and perfectly matched with their personas.  The backgrounds stay pretty basic, which is fine, because that keeps the reader focused on the characters, which is what this story is about anyway.  And while we do get short bios for each of the characters (backstories on the events that made them a final girl (or boy)), I would have enjoyed seeing more of those backstories. Of course, what I'd love to see even more is a sequel in which we get some new final girls (because let's face it, there are plenty of final girls out there to pick from!).  Another wonderful thing about this book is each chapter is opened with a homage cover to some of the greatest horror films (and the ones on which the characters and their backstories are clearly based, albeit loosely).  I loved them!

I've never heard of Darby Pop Publishing before, but this book definitely has me interested in checking out some of their other titles - if they are anywhere near as good as this, then they will be worth the purchase!

RATING:  9 face-filled pizza boxes out of 10 for finally giving horror fans an imaginary look at which comes next for all of those final girls we love so much!

Dedication to Murder - the ninth Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

I have been super fortunate to have made (online) friends with author Lauren Elliott, specifically in reference to her "Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery" series.  I follow her Facebook page and have shared all of my blog reviews with her as I have read through her series.  While not necessarily a fan of "cozy" mystery series, I have thoroughly fallen in love with Elliott's Beyond the Page series, as well as Lena Gregory's Bay Island Psychic series.  Both series have strong female sleuths, well-plotted and engaging mysteries, and characters that you can't help but be drawn into their lives.  Recently, I had the good fortune of winning a Facebook page contest, for which I received an ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of Elliott's ninth book, which is not set to hit bookshelves until later this month (April 25th, if I recall correctly).  Elliott not only personalized my ARC, but she also sent along an autographed bookmark for her series, which I treasure now (and will use every time I read one of her books!).  So, since I had this treasure in my hands before the release date, I felt it only right that I open the pages and find out what kind of trouble Addie Greybourne gets herself into this time!

Dedication to Murder is definitely a game-changing book.  And when I say everything changes, I mean it!  Elliott definitely shocked the heck out of me with some of the revelations in this story, and after this one, there is definitely no going back.  Obviously, I'm not going to spoil those big shocks for you, but all I can say is that you better prepare yourselves.  If you have been a fan of this series from the beginning, like me, or even if you are a new reader who is just starting to get into the series, this one will rock you.

Elliott lulls you into a sense of security with the opening chapter, as Addie prepares to walk down the aisle and marry the man she has fallen in love with, Simon.  It's all sunshine and rainbows, and Addie is all aglow as she makes the last minutes plans for Pippi to be cared for while she and Simon are on their honeymoon.  The church is perfect.  The flowers are perfect.  The gown is perfect.  The day is perfect.  Addie's biggest worry is whether she left the price tag on the bottom of her shoes and did anyone see it.  Nothing could possibly go wrong!  Yeah, okay, right - this is a murder mystery series, after all, so what did you expect?  Did you really think the wedding would go off without a hitch?  In pure soap opera fashion, the minute the minister asks if anyone has any objections or knows of any reason why these two should not be married....

Well, from that moment forward, everything you ever thought you knew about some of these characters changes!  BIG TIME!

I so want to talk about those changes, but it would be unfair to those who have not read the book yet to spoil it.  But let's just say that the changes that occur have a major effect on two of the main players in this series, and both changes happen to center around the murders in this book.  Yes, murders, as in two - one in the present and one that is decades old.  And while Addie tries her best to keep her nose out of one of them, she has no choice but to focus her attention on the other - because it happens to be connected with a first printing copy of The Velveteen Rabbit that she finds in her attic.  A first printing that is inscribed to her great-aunt's granddaughter - which makes no sense, because as far as Addie was aware, her great-aunt had no children, which is why she left the house in Greybourne Harbor to her.  This leads Addie on a quest to solve a murder that happened over fifty years ago.

But don't think Elliott leaves her alone with that one mystery to solve.  Oh, no.  Soon enough, Marc comes calling on Addie to help him with the present day mystery - one that actually had its set up in the previous book when Addie was in Pen Hollow - and kudos to Elliott for setting that up (although, in all honesty, I knew some of the things mentioned in the previous book would come back into play, I just didn't realize it would be so soon!).  Just like in this book, it's obvious that there is a set up for a murder in the next book when Addie takes off for .... well, let's just say she's headed out for another great adventure!

I do love the idea of Addie's search for a killer from over half a century ago, and the solution did come as a surprise.  And the fact that the solution to that mystery also leads to the revelation of the killer's identity in the present - well, that was just icing on the cake!  Elliott did a magnificent job of tying the two murders together, all the while dealing with the fallout and drama of what is happening in the personal lives of these characters.  And if you thought this series had more than enough supporting cast, guess again!  Elliot introduces her readers to two new characters who are likely going to be around for a while - a young sixteen year old boy named Mason and Marc and Serena's young cousin, Nikki, who takes on a part-time position at Beyond the Page Books (and just in time, too!).  I look forward to seeing how these character mix things up (and how you know they will eventually be involved one way or another in some future murder mystery!).

This book literally has everything!  Two murders! A wedding!  Two long-hidden paternity revelations! A cover-up! A betrayal!  A rekindled romance! Lies! Secrets!  Basically everything a great soap opera has to attract viewers, this book has in spades!  There's so much I want to say about this story and some the things that take place (like the fact that with one event, it opens the door for something I've been wanting for a while to happen - whether it will or not, I guess we'll have to wait and see - the last book gave a very small hint that there was a possibility, and this book makes that possibility a reality, but we'll see what Elliott has in store).

If there's ever a book in this series to read, this is the one!

RATING:  10 first edition sets of Winnie-the-Pooh books out of 10 for rocking the reader's world with some of the most unexpected events all wrapped around a superbly-plotted murder mystery!

Mildred A. Wirt's Trailer Stories for Girls #4 - The Phantom Trailer

At last we come to the final chapter in the lives of Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie Gibson.  From their first adventure with The Runaway Caravan, to their adventures in The Crimson Cruiser, to their search for the Timbered Treasure, these children have certainly covered a lot of ground and experienced a lot of mystery and danger within those first three books in Mildred A. Wirt (Benson)'s "Trailer Stories for Girls."  It's definitely been a LONG summer for these kids, and it ain't over yet!  In this fourth and final book of the series, Wirt certainly goes out with a bang, as I think this story has to be the best of all of them.

The title of this last book, The Phantom Trailer, tells the reader exactly what this mystery is about - a phantom trailer!  Wirt opens this final tale with the children taking yet another trip out west (unsupervised!), but with one detour - "[t]hey were deviating somewhat from a direct route in order to pass through Michigan where they planned to call upon an old friend, George Tolland, president of the Tolland Trailer Company" (p. 3).  Hearkening back to the first book, in which the children solve a mystery involving secret plans for a new type of braking mechanism for trailer homes that provided aid to Mr. Tolland, such that he exchanged their old trailer for a sleek, new crimson cruiser.  Now, it seems he has asked them to visit, as he has "an interesting matter" to discuss with them (p. 4).

Wirt provides readers with a bit of a build-up before we find out exactly what the mystery is in this book.  First, Mr. Tolland, knowing the Gibsons are headed to Yellowstone Park, offers the children an opportunity to sell trailers for his company along the way, providing them a commission for every sale they make.  They are hesitant at first, but Barbara unwittingly sells one of the company's most expensive trailer homes before they can even leave the show room to a stranger who seems in an unusual hurry to purchaser a trailer (NOTE - obviously this man is going to play into the mystery somehow).  Then, Mr. Tolland informs the children that his sister lives out west at Vermilion Cliffs, which he says "is not far from the park" (p. 38) - and he asks them if he can join them on their trip, as there is a mystery awaiting them all at his sister's home - a mystery involving a phantom trailer!

SIDEBAR - the Vermilion Cliffs are, indeed, real, and they are located in northern Arizona, near the Utah border.  What is NOT real is how close these landmarks are to one another.  In the book, Mr. Tolland says the cliffs are "not far" from the park; in the real world, the Cliffs are in Arizona and Yellowstone is in Wyoming, making them two states apart, an approximately 11 hour drive from one to the other!  I would certainly not call that "not far" by any means!

Back to the story - Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie agree to have Mr. Tolland join them, as he plans to take his own trailer home, with his Chinaman servant, Lee Sing, driving.  The only problem is, Lee Sing is an absolute horrible driver, and that causes multiple issues along the way!  Lee Sing is more or less comic relief for this book, and Wirt portrays him in a very demeaning way throughout the story (again, this book is a product of its time, having been published in 1938, so stereotypes such as this were much more common at the time - check out one of Wirt's "Mystery Stories for Girls" - Through the Moon-Gate Door - to see further examples of her treatment of Chinese men and women).   Before they get too far on their trip, though, they discover the trailer home Barbara sold to the stranger abandoned, crashed in a ditch.  Mr. Tolland regains ownership of the trailer and uses it for the trip.

It takes Wirt more than 100 pages before the Gibsons finally reach the Vermilion Cliffs and meet Mr. Tolland's sister, Penelope "Penny" Tolland.  (And I must stop and make note of the fact that Wirt clearly had an affinity with the name Penelope "Penny" - she uses it here, she used it for her four-book Penny Nichols series, as well as for her seventeen-book Penny Parker series - I'm surprised she did not name her daughter Penelope!)  Before they meet Penny, however, they meet her nephew, Louis Bayne, who is not the friendliest of people, and the Gibsons discern right away that he's not necessarily looking out for his aunt's best interests (more like, he's after her money and property!).  And speaking of that aunt/nephew relationship - how does that work?  Penny Tolland is referred to as "Miss Tolland," meaning she's not married.  She and Mr. Tolland are brother and sister, but Louis Bayne is not Mr. Tolland's son.  So how is she Louis Bayne's aunt?  Louis even mentions that Miss Tolland's only relatives are he "and a cousin who lives in New York" (p. 105).  So, that begs the question - just who are Louis Bayne's parents?

Regardless of that familial mystery, let's get back to the real mystery - that "phantom" trailer that Penny Tolland has seen driving along the cliff - appearing out of nowhere and just as oddly disappearing a few moments later.  No one else has ever seen it, and Louis is convinced his aunt is losing her faculties and is in need of a guardian to handle her affairs.  He even forces her to see a doctor that she is unwilling to see, as she feels fully capable of handling her own affairs.  The Gibsons do not know what to think until one night they see the phantom trailer for themselves!  They don't believe in ghosts, so they realize pretty quickly that some sort of scam is being pulled - the question is, how?  And when Mr. Tolland's new black trailer is found at the bottom of a cliff, the worst is imagined - but if he were dead, then where are his and Lee Sing's bodies?

So many questions and so few answers!  Once again, it is up to the sleuthing skills of Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie to solve the mystery and reveal the truth behind the phantom trailer (and just how that ties into the stranger who purchased and then wrecked that black trailer at the beginning of the book).  The solution is not really all that surprising (it's pretty easy to figure out) - what is surprising is that the local police are so inept that they could not put two and two together to figure out what was really going on.  I guess Louis and his cohort in crime would have gotten away with everything if it hadn't been for those meddling kids!  (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Despite the simplicity of this mystery, I did find this one to be the most enjoyable to read.  Mr. Tolland's kidnapping, Jimmie's ingenious way of calling for help, and the whole phantom trailer scheme were all actually pretty well-written scenes that kept the book fresh and engaging.  I give Wirt credit for coming up with some creative new plot elements for her stories.

One last comment - on pages 176-77, one of the characters makes reference to her brother having had a watch stolen at "a very well known place called the Yellow Lantern, located in San Francisco..."  Well, being curious, I looked up whether such a restaurant existed.  While not in San Francisco, there was a Yellow Lantern restaurant in the 1930s located in Rye, New York.  Interestingly enough, the restaurant was owned by a black man, Robert Griffins, but served only white customers (Yellow Lantern Restaurant).  Makes one wonder if Wirt was familiar with the restaurant, if she had ever heard of it, or if it was simply a name she created with the real restaurant being only a coincidence.

The final pages make no reference to whether the Gibson children had any more adventures after this; instead, it simply ends with Barbara and Ginger exclaiming that they could finally go to Yellowstone Park, having earned the right to see the park on their own (p. 206).  And with that, so concludes the adventures of Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie Gibson and their crimson cruiser travel trailer.  I guess we will never know if Wirt had any more ideas for future stories that never got to see the light of day.  

RATING:  10 black cases of brushes with floor waxing machines out of 10 for ending this series with a unique mystery that was a satisfying read (even if the reader wanted the series to continue!).

***Special thanks to Jennifer White for the use of her scan of the dust jacket cover for this book.

Mildred A. Wirt's Trailer Stories for Girls #3 - TImbered Treasure

The third book in Mildred Wirt (Benson)'s "Trailer Stories for Girls" finds the Gibson children on their own yet again, traveling in their Crimson Cruiser.  A sixteen-year old, a fifteen-year old, and a thirteen-year old traveling across the country in a car with a trailer home attached seems a bit far-fetched in the real world; however, in the fictional world of children's mystery series, it actually makes for some really great stories.  (Although, let's face reality, perhaps readers of the late 1930s found it a bit far-fetched as well, since the series was not popular enough to last beyond just four books.)  For me, though, the stories in each book seem to outshine those in the prior books of this series.  With each book, Wirt gets stronger with her storytelling technique, the plots are more intriguing, and the characterization of the Gibson children is more firmly instilled.  It's a real shame the series did not catch on, as I would have loved to have seen what other ideas Wirt might have come up with for Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie (and also whether the characters would have eventually aged - or, even gone to school for that matter!).

Timbered Treasure takes the children up the Eastern coast of the United States into the New England territories, as Barbara and Ginger are taking young Jimmie to a boys' camp for the summer.  I must say, this must be an awfully long summer for the kids - in the first book, they were not in school and took off to escape a tyrannical aunt who threatened to separate them - they were gone for weeks!  In the second book, they were vacationing with their uncle, who left them on their own in Great Falls where they spent weeks trying to solve the mysteries out there.  Now, here they are making a long trek up the East Coast to take Jimmie to a camp in Maine, where the girls will explore for the weeks that Jimmie is in camp.  In my world, a summer would only last about three months (June, July, and August) - yet the Gibson children seem to have an endless summer with which to travel the countryside in their trailer home!

Nevertheless, as in the previous book, the children meet up with a new mystery in the very first chapter.  While parked in a trailer camp along the route to Maine, the children meet a young man and his sister (Earl King and Virginia "Virgie" King) who are also at the camp.  Right next door to the camp is a loud amusement park, and so Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie decide to check it out; however, before they can even get in, Barbara witnesses a hold-up at the ticket counter!  Before you know it, Earl King is being accused of the crime, but Barbara is fairly certain he was not the man she witnessed, so she quickly comes to his defense.   One would think he would be grateful, but instead, he and his sister take off, Virgie leaving the Gibsons a note thanking them for helping her brother.  The note indicates the brother and sister are heading to New Jersey, but the Gibsons suspect otherwise.

Resuming their journey to summer camp for Jimmie, the Gibsons next encounter a truck driver who runs them off the road!  When they demand he pay for the damage to their trailer, he flat out refuses.  There is something threatening about the man, so the children walk away, grumbling the whole while.  Jimmie eventually reaches camp, and the girls locate a nice place to stay along Long Lake - a quiet property owned by a lumberman, J.M. Steele, which property is cared for a man known as Dan Idol.  Dan is a quirky type, but he helps Barbara and Ginger get their trailer set up next to the lake.  Well, wouldn't you know, but just across the lake from them happens to be the King trailer!  (Yes, yes, what would a children's mystery be without the oh-so-convenient coincidences!)  Barbara and Ginger are both curious why the Kings lied to them about their destination, but they avoid confronting them- they have other mysteries with which to be concerned!  It seems the local area has had some forest fires of late, and the local ranger - "a tall, handsome young man in the uniform of a forest ranger" whose name is "Kentucky Renolds" (p. 72) - warns them to be careful while in the area and to notify him of any fires they may see.  That is most definitely an unusual name - I don't believe I have ever seen anyone actually named Kentucky, even though that is my home state, where I was born and bred (up until I was 17, anyway, and my family moved to Florida).  Along with the mysterious forest fires, there is also the problem of trees disappearing from Steele's rather large expanse of property.  Even though Dan Idol is supposed to be on guard, somehow, trees and lumber seem to disappear (of course, it's Barbara and Ginger who pick up on the fact that the fires always seek to occur at the same time as the trees and lumber are stolen, connecting the two mysteries).

But don't think they have forgotten the Kings.  That mystery deepens as well, when they witness Earl and his sister in the lake, as if they are searching for something.  During a sudden storm, the girls are able to rescue Virginia, whose boat overturns in the lake - but not even that will make the Kings trust them with whatever it is they are doing there. 

Wirt does an interesting job with these mysteries - even though the fires and the stolen lumber are connected, the mystery involving the Kings is wholly unrelated - yet, it is an out of control fire that results in Jimmie having to leave camp and return to stay with the girls on Mr. Steele's property that leads to the Gibsons uncovering the truth about what the Kings are searching for - and, as anyone can surmise, they step in to help Earl and Virgie find the treasure they are seeking to make all of their dreams come true.  Wirt certainly has readers guessing in this one - is Dan Idol good or bad?  Is he helping the lumber thieves?  What are the Kings searching for?  Was Barbara mistaken about Earl, and is he actually a thief?  Nothing is crystal clear in this one (other than the fact that the man who ran the Gibsons off the road is involved in the whole lumber theft), which makes for a well-crafted mystery.

As indicated above, the young ages of these children does not seem to hinder them in any way.  Kentucky Renolds and the other rangers have no problem allowing the children to assist them with watching the wooded area for fires, and even engage their help when the raging fire gets out of control.  It seems no one considers the danger they are putting these minors in, but, it does make for some suspenseful reading, and in the end, I guess that's all that really matters.  If the youngsters were always being set on the sidelines, it would be boring to read.

Wirt definitely outdoes the previous books with this one - more danger, more excitement, and more mystery.  And while the Gibsons are still traveling around in their crimson cruiser, the stories have focused less on the daily life of a travel trailer and more on the mysteries to be solved.  I said it before, and I'll say it again - it's a shame Cupples & Leon did not commission more of this series, as the tales are extremely good reading!

RATING:  10 sunken log rafts out of 10 for increasing the danger quotient in this book and for giving the two sisters a chance to really shine without their brother in this one!

Mildred A. Wirt's Trailer Stories for Girls #2 - The Crimson Cruiser

While normally, when reading a series, I will not read and do reviews for all the books in a series consecutively like this - but since this is only a four-book series, I thought it might be interesting to read them one after another and provide reviews of how they hold up against each other.  The first book in this series set the stage - introducing readers to Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie and giving readers a taste of what life in the road in a travel trailer a/k/a caravan is like.  It took a while before the mystery really got started.  Now, with this second book, readers are already familiar with the characters and setting, so author Mildred A. Wirt (Benson) starts off the mystery right in the very first chapter!

The Crimson Cruiser finds the Gibson children enjoying a trip in their new trailer home, this time with their Uncle Nathan (who apparently has recovered fully from his injuries in the automobile accident in the previous books).  As the story begins, Barbara and Ginger are discussing the poor girl who is staying in a tent next to their trailer at a unidentified camp (interesting how Wirt manages to avoid giving any location to the camp - the sisters later inform the girl that they are headed out West to Arizona, but don't mention where they are at that time).  It turns out the girl is not only down to her last fifty cents, but she is a week being in her lot payment and the money she was expecting to receive from an aunt is not forthcoming.  When the girl faints, the Gibsons and their uncle realize they need to help the young girl out (hoping that she is nothing like they last girl they offered to help from the previous book, who turned out to be a wannabe thief!).

Linda Allen shares her story with the Gibsons - she previously lived with an uncle in Pennsylvania after her mother died and her father disappeared, but he passed away, so she decided to head West to Great Falls (no state named, although there is a Great Falls in Montana), where her father was last seen.  She tells the traveling family that her father had a mine in Great Falls, but she heard from his business partner, Blake Bartland, that the mine was dry now.  She shows the Gibsons the only thing she has from her father - an old Indian charm in the shape of "curious bright-colored bit of metal cut in the shape of a fantastic bird with huge black and yellow wings, red tails and bill" (p. 15).  Uncle Nathan volunteers to drive the young girl to Great Falls on their way to Arizona, and thus begins the mystery!

Wirt provides a bit stronger mystery in this story, as there are several aspects to it.  First, there's the question of Linda Allen's father.  What really happened to him?  Did his just disappear, or is he really dead as to the locals presume?  And what significance does the strange Indian trinket Linda wears on a necklace around her neck have?  Why does the trinket seem to affect a local Indian guide so strangely?  Then there's Blake Bartland - while Linda seems to believe him, Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie have their doubts about the man's sincerity and honesty, and they wonder what he is hiding.  How does he really make all of the money he has, when he claims the mine owned by Linda's father is barren?  Does it have anything to do with the colorful Thunderbird that scares away people from the nearby canyon?  And what is that mysterious voice coming from the canyon that can be heard for miles around?  Is there a spirit haunting the place, or is it merely a trick to keep people from discovering what is really going on in that canyon?

Of course, Uncle Nathan gets called back home to deal with the possible reorganization of a company in which he hold stock (p. 52), but he allows the children to remain on their own (once again!) so long as they promise to stay out of trouble.  Yeah, right!  This is a children's mystery book, there's no way those kids are staying out of trouble!  The three of them are determined to get to the bottom of all the mysteries in Great Falls, the chief of which is helping Linda regain her inheritance left behind by her father.  The girls face a kidnapping at gunpoint that leaves them in a canyon to die, and they allow young Jimmie (only 13 years old!) to traipse off on his own into the canyon and stay there overnight to see if he can discover the secret behind the mysterious voice heard up and down the canyon.  Again, while I realize this is a different time than now, and this is merely a fictional story of mystery and adventure, it still surprises me that Wirt would give such freedom to children so young!

Something else that I noticed in this story is the view of Indians that is taken by the characters (leaving one to wonder if this was the author's own viewpoint at the time).  The hotel owner makes it clear that Indians can't be trusted to be honest (p. 92), and there are several references to Indians' superstitious nature.  But, good ol' Indian Joe proves himself in the end - while everyone seems to distrust him and question his motives throughout the book, he actually is the one who holds the secret to solving all of the mysteries in Great Falls!  I suppose Wirt placed all the stereotypes within the story in order to have Indian Joe disprove them all with his ingenuity and quick-thinking being revealed at the end of the book.  Not only does he know exactly who is mining the silver from the canyon, but he knows how they are doing it, why they are doing it, and he has the proof that it all truly belongs to Linda Allen as her inheritance!  (I guess the fact that he was actually blackmailing the culprit is overlooked by Wirt and the characters in the story...)

I have to say that I enjoyed this book a bit more than the first (although I readily liked the first book in the series, no doubt).  Perhaps as Wirt continued writing these characters and this series, she developed a better flair for it, and they improve with each one (or, at least, that's what I'm hoping is the trend!).  Unlike the first book, however, there is nothing at the end of this story to indicate what the next book will be - although it likely did not matter, since the first three books in this series were all published in 1937, likely as a breeder set, so the third book was on the shelves already right next to this one, and there was no need for young readers to wonder what would come next!

RATING:  10 multi-colored gliders out of 10 for a superb story with plenty of mysteries to keep the Gibson children (and the reader!) working overtime to figure out how they all connect!

Mildred A. Wirt's Trailer Stories for Girls #1 - The Runaway Caravan

When I first learned that Mildred A. Wirt (Benson) had been the original ghostwriter for the Nancy Drew series back in the '30s and '40s, I was excited, feeling like I had learned a secret that was not necessarily public knowledge (since the books were credited to "Carolyn Keene," a pseudonym created by Edward Stratemeyer for that series).  I was even more excited when I learned that Wirt had written quite a few books back in the day, beyond just Nancy Drew.  She had her own series - Penny Parker, Penny Nichols, Ruth Darrow, Madge Sterling, and others - and she wrote a number of other Stratemeyer books under various pen names - the Doris Force series, the Dana Girls, Kay Tracey, and others.  It wasn't until much later than I heard about a four-book series she had written under her own name: "Trailer Stories for Girls."  Now, when I first heard the name of this series, I'm not going to lie - I honestly thought the books were a series of mysteries set in a trailer park.  I quickly learned how wrong I was!  The stories are about three youngsters who travel around in a travel trailer a/k/a caravan and solve mysteries along the way.  The four books in this series are very hard to find, and even harder if you want them in dust jacket.  I did not think I would ever actually own them, but in recent years, I have managed to track down all four books, three of them with dust jacket!

The Runaway Caravan is the first title in the series, published in 1937.  In this book, Wirt introduces readers to the three Gibson children: Barbara, age 16; Ginger, age 15; and their younger brother Jimmie, age 13.  The children's parents died some time ago, and they live with their Uncle Nathan French (who must be related to their mother, since he has a different last name) and their uncle's housekeeper, Mrs. Goodbar, who they affectionately called "Mrs. Goody."  Each of these main characters has a distinct personality that Wirt does a pretty good job of staying consistent with throughout the four-book series.  Barbara is the sensible one, Ginger is the more "speak before you think" kind of girl, and Jimmie is the adventurous one, not afraid of anything (at least, not that he's willing to let on).  Mrs. Goody is your typical family housekeeper who worries about those under her care, and she sees the Gibson children as her own.  Uncle Nathan does not make much of an appearance in this first book (for reasons explained below), but he is a doting uncle who is mindful of his young wards, but like most adults in the children's series of this time, he provides the children with way more freedom than a typical child would have.

This story opens with Barbara and Ginger seeing their school friends off on a trip in travel trailers.  The girls are jealous of their friends, but they understand that their uncle has hit on some hard times and cannot afford the cost of the trip for them (and they would not dream of taking their teacher up on her offer to pay for them to go!).  When they return home to Ten Towers (gotta love that name - described as a "picturesque house which was their home, sprawled haphazardly over a hill at the outskirts of the town. Its ten irregularly spaced miniature towers gave to the whole an appearance of hit-and-miss design not unlike that of a toy castle" [pp. 5-6]), they discover that their uncle has been hurt in an accident.  And with that revelation, so concludes the first chapter, leaving readers to wonder what will happen next.

SIDE NOTE - I found it rather humorous that Wirt took the opportunity to plug some of her other books here in this first chapter.  On page 6, while describing the girls' rooms inside the Ten Towers, Wirt points out that Barbara's room had a "wealth of books" - including "her favorite stories,The Twin Ring Mystery, The Clue at Crooked Lane, and the Hollow Wall Mystery, which she had read so many times she could almost repeat whole pages from memory."  Astute readers will immediately recognize these titles as three of Wirt's own Mystery Stories for Girls that were published by Cupples & Leon, the same publisher as this series!  Nice plug, there, Wirt!

Okay, so back to the story.  It turns out Uncle Nathan was in a car accident and will be in the hospital for some time.  Mrs. Goody and the Gibson children are worried about how they are going to pay the bills, since the bank is about to foreclose on the house if the mortgage is not paid!  Enter: Matilda and Elmer Kavish, the children's aunt and uncle, of whom they had never heard before (p. 17).  Matilda is basically the wicked aunt who comes in and takes over - first, she fires Mrs. Goody (p. 22), gets rid of Jimmie's dog (p. 24), and ultimately warns the children the court will be placing them under her control while Uncle Nathan is in the hospital - and she plans to separate them (p. 26)!  As if things couldn't get worse for these poor kids...

Soon enough, Wirt manages to work the mystery into the book when the children witness a car with a travel trailer run off the road.  The man is so frustrated, he sells the trailer to the Gibsons for just $50.00 (p. 40).  Aunt Matilda is none to happy, and she tells the children the trailer will be sold the next day.  Well, enough is enough, and that night, the three children sneak out of Ten Towers, hook the trailer up to the car, and drive away with their caravan - a runaway caravan (hence, the title)!  Now, up to this point, it seems there is no real mystery to solve - but before you know it, someone is trying to break into the trailer!  Later, while the children are out, someone does manage to get in and ransack the trailer - but their can of money is still there, so if they weren't after money, what did they want?  Then the man who sold them the trailer catches up to them and offers them double what they paid to buy it back (they, of course, are not willing to sell).  Well, when they pick up a young girl hitchhiking, they learn to be more cautious because they catch her rooting through the trailer's desk.  Once she is gone, Barbara and Ginger discover the diary of one Ezekiel Tolland hidden in the back of the desk, and the three wonder if that is what everyone is after.

The story finds the Gibson children surviving on their own for quite a length of time, finding ways to make money to support themselves, catching fish in nearby rivers, and doing everything they can to avoid the police (who have been told by Aunt Matilda that the trailer is stolen and the children are the delinquents who stole it!).  Ultimately, the mystery comes to a head when the children meet George Tolland and not only discover it was his family's factory that made the trailer they now own, but that the particular trailer happened to be one specifically built by his brother and contains some much sought after plans for a special brake Ezekiel was creating for use in future trailers.  It all leads to a revelation that a competing company has been after those plans, and the Gibson children help George Tolland find the plans, for which he rewards them with a brand new Crimson Cruiser trailer that they can keep (and, conveniently, that happens to be the title to the second book!).

While the mystery is not necessarily exciting at times, with the story often focusing more on the day-to-day trials of Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie as they grow accustomed to life on the road with no adult supervision, it is a rather interesting read.  Not everyone is exactly who you think they are - the man who sold them the trailer; the hitchhiker; the thief - Wirt manages to throw some surprises in here and there with those characters, which keeps the story engaging.  One thing I did find rather questionable is the fact that Jimmie, who is the youngest of the three siblings (at just 13 years old) does quite a bit of the driving!  And there is never a question from any adult about his driving a car with the trailer attached.  A search online reveals that by 1937, many states had adopted 16 as the minimum driving age; so, its surprising that Wirt would have a 13-year old driving across the county with no issues.

Overall, this was a really good start to the series, and as with the "Mystery Stories for Girls," it's easy to see that when Wirt was given the freedom away from the restrictions placed on her by the Stratemeyer outlines, she could produce some pretty great books!

RATING:  9 large sheets of heavy drawing paper out of 10 for presenting a unique type of sleuths, solving mysteries as they travel across the continent!