The Pine Barrens Mystery - an Augusta Huiell Seaman mystery story

After reading my first mystery by author Augusta Huiell Seaman, I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this next book I found.  The first one seemed heavily steeped in historical references and was a mystery from the past, rather than the present.  But I had enjoyed it, and so I went into this book with relatively high expectations.  Having written more than 40 books for young readers, it's likely she's had some hits and misses over the course of her years of writing, but fortunately, the two books I have of hers are both hits!  Yes, this one turned out to be a winner as well, and, in fact, I liked this one more than the first one I read.

The Pine Barrens Mystery is set in New Jersey and follows the adventures of Roxanna Thatcher and her older brother, Christopher, as they head for the coast in hopes of finding a better climate for Christopher's health (he had been sick with pneumonia and developed a bad cough).  While their initial goal is Atlantic City, Christopher (affectionately referred to as "Chub") takes them on a side through the Pine Barrens, which he describes as "the queerest stretch of ground you've ever seen ... a patch of about fourteen square miles inland ... covered by [pine trees] so stunted that none of the trees are over five feet tall, most of them less" (pp. 4-5).  Since he is studying plant biology and chemistry of soils at Princeton, he intends to write his thesis about the land int that area.  Roxanna is reluctant at first, as she does not want to sidetrack her trip to Atlantic City, but she agrees - and when they arrive, Roxanna discovers it like being in another world - "I've never seen anything like it!" she exclaims (p. 9)  While Chub takes their dog, Pepper, off to explore and take some plant and soil samples, Roxanna explores an old, abandoned house nearby ... and while inside, she hears ominous footsteps overhead!  When she explores, no one is there, and thus, the mystery begins...

While the brother and sister do eventually go to Atlantic City, their stay is short lived, as Chub cannot take the sea air, and they end up returning to the Pine Barrens area to stay for their vacation.  In the very small town of Harwood, they take rooms at the home of Mrs. Kramer, whose thirteen year old daughter Alma reveals she was the one Alma heard in the house the previous day - she loves to explore the old mansion, but when Roxanna and her brother showed up, she snuck away to avoid being seen.  Despite the four year age difference in the girls, Roxanna and Alma strike up a rather good friendship, so while Chub focuses on his study of the Pine Barrens, Roxanna and Alma become determined to solve the mystery behind the old house that fascinates them both.  Alma reveals a hidden compartment in the fireplace upstairs, and she shares with Roxanna an old, tattered diary she found inside along with a "beautifully executed miniature painted on ivory set in a gold frame and studded all around with small but wonderfully perfct emeralds and diamonds" (p. 61).  Alma shares the history of the old house, such as she has learned from locals who have lived in the area for awhile - the house was built years ago by a man and his wife, believed to be from somewhere in Europe, before the town even really existed.  It seems the couple were happy for several years, but after the birth of their child, something happened, and one winter, the family disappeared, taking all of their belongings, and never returned.  No one knows what happened, and Alma was hoping the diary would shed some light, but it is written in another language. Roxanna recognizes the French writing, and ultimately has her brother (who is proficient in the language) interpret it for them!

The mystery may sound somewhat tame, but it is definitely anything but!  Seaman manages to squeeze in every possible Gothic trope imaginable to keep the story intriguing and forcing the reader to turn page after page to find out what happens next.  The mysterious disappearance of the original owners ... the old grave marker hidden under the tree near the house ... the scientific papers hidden somewhere on the estate that Chub is desperate to find for his thesis ... the strange old lady who lives alone in a shack in the woods, but who visits the house on a regular basis when no one is around ... the stormy night that leaves one of the siblings stranded away from the town ... the tattered old diary that holds cryptic clues to what really happened all those years ago ... and a case of mistaken identity that leads to the revelation of a lost fortune ... it truly has all the wrappings of a great mystery!

One thing I found odd about the story, though, is the fact that Alma seems to be more able to figure out the clues than Roxanna, despite being younger.  She is the one who found the secret hiding place, she is the one who figures out the identity of the elusive 'Anna' from the diary, and she is the one who persists in re-reading the diary again and again to uncover more clues.  As a reader, I found myself more drawn to Alma and her excitement about solving the mystery than to Roxanna or her brother.  And, I will admit, I was mislead into believing Alma herself might actually have a connection to the old house and the family that lived in it, so I have to give Seaman some credit here for some creative storytelling.

Now, as far as the Pine Barrens themselves, it does turn out that such a thing exists in New Jersey. Known as the "Pinelands," or the "Pines," according to online sources, this area of New Jersey is one of the largest remaining pine barrens ecosystems along the Atlantic coast.  It cross move than seven counties of New Jersey, and to this date, it remains fairly rural and unpopulated.  As accurately described in the book, the Pine Barrens are just off the Atlantic City Expressway.  It seems the Pine Barrens is also associated with a number of legends, such as the Jersey Devil, the ghost of the "Black Doctor," the ghost of "Captain Kidd," the "Black Dog," and a number of other stories.  Thus, it is easy to see how Seaman would have chosen this particular area of the Eastern coast to set this mystery of an old abandoned house and its many secrets.

Another truth brought out in Seaman's book is the cranberry industry.  There are several references in the book to the cranberry farms and plants in the town and its surrounding communities; and it turns out that New Jersey actually produces the third-highest number of cranberries in the country.  Since Seaman lived in New Jersey at the time this book was published, it stands to reason she would have knowledge of the area to be able to include it in her book.

***NOTE - I do not have a copy of the book with the dust jacket, so I have to say a special thanks to George Beatty for allowing me to use his image of the dust jacket for this post.

 

As with Bitsy Finds a Clue (the other book of Seaman's that I own and have read), the internal illustration mirrors the cover art.  The scene shows Roxanna and Alma as they find the odd old lady at the abandoned mansion, sitting on the front porch crying (which happens later in the story).  It is at this moment that Roxanna and Alma are firmly convinced that the old lady has a connection to the house that they have yet to figure out.  The end pages, on the other hand, provide a scene from early in the story, when Chub is digging in the soil while Roxanna, an artist at heart, is busy with her watercolors, painting the beautiful scene before her.  The illustrations are by Carolyn Haywood, who was also an author who wrote more than 40 of her own children's books (mostly famous for her "Betsy" and "Eddie" stories, which I remember reading when I was a child).

I really did enjoy this book, and it has made me want to hunt down and read more of Seaman's mysteries - just hope I can find them at some reasonable prices!

RATING:  10 old 'cabinet' photographs out of 10 for a wonderfully plotted mystery with engaging characters and an exciting story!

The Mystery of Carlitos - the second Mexican Mystery Stories for Girls

It's been more than a year since I read Helen Randolph's first mystery stories for girls set in Mexico, and after reading that book, I was not sure if I would ever find the other two books in this series.  But not so long ago, I managed to pick up the second book in the series for a very small price!  Once again, this book is the Saalfield edition, as is the first book that I own, so it doesn't have the higher quality paper or the glossy internal illustration; but it does still have the same great story as the original A.L. Burt edition, so I'm happy with that!

The Mystery of Carlitos continues the adventures of JoAnn, Peggy, and Florence during the stay with Florence's parents in Mexico.  In the first book, Peggy and Florence helped JoAnn solve a mystery surrounding a window in the house where they are staying that has no visible way to get to, and it leads them to uncover a long lost treasure.  In this mystery, the girls have climbed up into the mountains with Florence's mother to help revive the mother's health in a clean, calm environment.  The girls encounter an extremely poor family, and JoAnn is convinced that one of the young boys in the family has blue eyes, which the others scoff at, claiming she is just looking for another mystery to solve.  Of course, it turns out the boy does have blue eyes, and there is, indeed, a mystery involving his true identity and why this family is trying to hide him up in the mountains.  They learn the boy's name is Carlitos (hence, the title to the book), and the family is protecting him from someone that is merely referred to as the "mean boss" of the coal mine where Jose works.  The girls learn that the boy's father disappeared in the mines, and the boy's mother fell sick not long thereafter and died.  Her dying wish was that Jose's wife, who was her nurse, take the boy and protect him, which they did.  But the question on the girls' minds is - protect him from what?  Why did the coal mine's boss want the boy so badly?

The excitement of the mystery is very slow to build, much like the last book, with more than the first half of the book spent in JoAnn, Peggy, and Florence meeting the family, helping provide the family with food, and even saving the life of the real son (in a somewhat incredulous way, where Florence provides CPR to the boy who has basically collapsed from both malnutrition and sunstroke).  JoAnn's questions about the boy's identity are repeated quite often, until they finally gain the family's trust, and the mother reveals the truth to the girls.  It is here that the girls determine to find any remaining family Carlitos may have in America and restore him to his rightful family.  Randolph provides a few side-stories, such as a bear that has attacked the ranch of a nearby family, taking their pigs, as well as stealing the girls' own store of bacon they had kept near a creek in order to keep it cold.  Unlike other children's mysteries of the day, Randolph has no problem with her protagonists carrying and using a gun, because JoAnn ultimately proves herself to be quite the sharpshooter, taking out the bear in the dead of night!

The climax of this mystery is actually rather exciting, as JoAnn and Florence are kidnapped by the boss, along with Carlitos, and are taken along a dangerous, steep trail during a horrific storm, destined for an unknown fate at the hands of the villain.  Of course, rescue arrives just in the nick of time, and the girls are able to unite Carlitos with an uncle he never knew he had.  

Once again, as with this first book, this one is replete with stereotypes and racism when it comes to the native Mexicans.  The girls often refer to the poor Mexicans as "peons," and continually discuss how "ignorant" the people are, and how they must rescue Carlitos from these people.  At one point, when Carlitos shows up all dirty and covered in soot after helping his father with the charcoal, Peggy remarks, "Say, Jo, your little blue-eyed Mexican seems to have turned into a little nigger" (p. 176).  I actually took a double-take on that line!  But, again, this book was copyrighted in 1936, just one year after the first book, so one must take into consideration the attitudes and beliefs of that day and not judge the author based on today's standards.  I had to remind myself of this many times while reading the book, to avoid disliking the main characters based on these disparaging views of the people of Mexico.

One interesting thing I noted about this edition of the book - the cover depicts the scene where JoAnn and Florence discover little Carlitos and his kidnapper hiding in a small cave during the storm.  The line drawing frontis piece, which is supposed to depict the same scene taken from page 215 of the story, shows Florence and JoAnn peering into the cave, like on the cover, and it shows the back of the kidnapper the same as the cover.  However, where young Carlitos is shown sitting in the background, behind the fire, on the cover, a rather seductive, villainous woman seems to have taken his place on the internal illustration (even though the line below reads "Jo Ann could see that the man and Carlitos were still crouched around the fire").  Not sure why the internal artist substituted a woman for Carlitos in that drawing, and even more confused as to how the publisher let that slip through for publication!

Overall, other than the stereotyping, it's a pretty good story.  Now, I just have to track down that third book to see how the girls finish up their stay in Mexico!

RATING:  7 candy and cake-filled pinatas out of 10 for a mystery filled with liars, kidnappers, and bears - oh, my!

Mycroft's Dangerous Game - an Enola Holmes Mystery Graphic Novel

The Enola Holmes films on Netflix have been very well done.  I thought they did a great job of casting Millie Bobby Brown as Enola Holmes, as she fits the character well - she has the look, she has the spunk, and she has the acting ability to break the fourth wall, yet keep the story believable and in character. So, when I chanced across this particular story on Amazon, I thought perhaps it was a new novel based on the television continuity (since they have taken liberties with some of the stories) - but imagine my surprise when it arrived, and I discovered it was a graphic novel instead of a prose novel!  (Of course, had I read the Amazon description more carefully, I might not have been so surprised.)  But this was a pleasant surprise, as I love comics as well as books, so I placed it on my stack of graphic novels and then promptly forgot about it.  Until now...

 

Enola Holmes: Mycroft's Dangerous Game was published in 2022.  Since the second Enola Holmes film did not come out on Netflix until the end of 2022, I have to assume this story takes place immediately, or not very long, after the first film. While the story is by original Enola Holmes author and creator Nancy Springer, the actual writing (dialogue, etc) is by Mickey George, a relatively newcomer to the comic world.  Despite being new, I would say George does an exceptional job of capturing Enola's personality and spirit within the story.  Reading this graphic novel, I could very easily see this story being transitioned to a film.  And, well, the art by Giorgia Sposito and Enrica Angiolini certainly helps - Enola, Sherlock, and Mycroft are all drawn so that they appear exactly like their actor counterparts from the film.  In fact, it's uncanny how much they look like the actors in each and every panel!  That shows some amazing talent on the part of the artists!

The story focuses on Mycroft, who still sees his little sister as someone who needs proper teaching and training, who needs to be more like a lady and less like their mother.  But despite his views, when Enola is trying to take back a book he took from her, and she accidentally witnesses her brother being kidnapped, she knows she has to step in and rescue him.  First, though, she has to figure out who took her brother, and why, and then she must take on the harder task of finding where they are keeping him.  Lucky for her, she has Viscount Tewkesbury to give her information; she has her mother's friend, Edith, to give her direction; she has Inspector Lestrade to point her to a police informant that sees more than people suspect; and she gains a new compatriot in Shag, a young boy who isn't afraid to jump into danger to help Enola rescue her brother.

Of course, the mystery turns out to be much bigger than just her kidnapped brother.  It seems a political group of terrorists is planning to set off a bomb in London to prevent Scotland Yard from opening up a new branch of detectives that could put a wrench in all of their plans.  It therefore becomes a race against time for Enola to get to Parliament Square and put a stop to the terrorists' plans before hundreds of people are injured or, worse, killed!

What I liked about this story is that it stays a bit more faithful to the books than either of the films.  In the films, Henry Cavill as Sherlock played a rather large part, while in the books, Sherlock was relegated to the background, and the stories focused solely on Enola.  This story does just that.  Sure, we get a couple of scenes of Enola's more famous brother, but they are irrelevant to the mystery, and he plays no actual part in Enola's investigation ... and other than being the kidnapped victim, Mycroft also has a rather minor role in the mystery.  And, thus, Enola is the star of her own book, as it should be.  (That's the problem with Hollywood adaptations - they often focus on the wrong things, all for the sake of promoting big name stars instead of the actual main character.)

Now that a third Enola Holmes film has been confirmed to be in the works, I'm hoping Legendary will do more of these graphic novels.  This was a great mystery that offers readers both the fun of the television show, while staying true to the source material, combining the best of both worlds!

RATING:  10 well-aimed sling-shots out off 10 for mystery, mayhem, and madcap adventure with an intelligent, yet fun female protagonist!

Samantha Wolf Mysteries, Book Ten - Return to Hollow Inn

With this tenth book in the series, author Tara Ellis returns her characters to the place where they solved their first mystery: Hollow Inn.  That first book came out back in 2013, and this tenth book was published six years later in 2019.  In those six years, Samantha Wolf and her best friend, Allyson Parker, have shared some adventures and solved some mysteries and helped a number of people along the way - all the in the span of barely a year in their time.  Faithful readers have watched Sam and Ally grow in so many ways, as they have learned much along the way in terms of not only dealing with their emotions and with other people, but also in deciphering clues and figuring out the toughest mysteries.  So, it's rather fun to read long as they return to "the scene of the crime," so to speak, with hopes of having a relaxing week with no mysteries or adventures ... yeah, right!

There have been a number of changes to Hollow Inn since that first mystery, and as Sam and Ally Return of Hollow Inn, they are in for some surprises.  Sam's aunt and uncle have added cabins, they are conducting tours of the woods surrounding the property, and they have fixed up the inn to make it cozy and welcoming for guests.  Tori Castle is now the caretaker, and the girls are excited about the prospect of staying alone in one of the cabins, with Tori staying in the nearby caretaker's cabin.  One of the guests is also a rather rude author who just wants to be left alone, but who Sam catches in places he shouldn't be.  She is told to ignore him, as he is researching for his next book.  Everything is nearly perfect, except for one thing - Sam's cousin, Kevin, is also staying at the Inn, sent there by his parents to ensure he stays out of trouble (which he apparently has a habit of getting into).  Sam has a troubled history with the boy, and she she does not look forward to spending a week with him around.

Until the young son of one of the guests disappears into the woods across the lake.  The woods that adjoin the property next to Hollow Inn, where a commune has been established.  And the owner of that commune has been causing problems for Hollow Inn, trying to keep them from getting necessary permits to run the Inn and doing everything he can to get them to sell the property.  Yup, looks like Sam and Ally's week is going to be anything but relaxing!

Ellis crafts a pretty good mystery, although there are certain elements that are pretty obvious from the get-go.  Tori (the caretaker) used to be in military, so Sam wonders why she would take a job as a caretaker at an inn nestled deep in the mid-western woods.  While the question is asked repeatedly throughout the story, astute readers will easily pick up on the answer pretty early on during the search for the missing boy.  The mystery surrounding the commune is a bit more in-depth, however.  When I think of "commune," I usually think of a cult where a self-serving leader deceives people into joining his "family," but once they are there, he uses force to keep them isolated from the outside world.  And while this is partially the case in the story, there is another element to the commune that does not get revealed until the end.

And the final showdown with the bad guys at the end is actually pretty intense.  Of course, the conveniently timed appearance of that author I mentioned earlier ends up saving the day.  Which isn't as cliche as it sounds, as the author's name in the book happens to be Mr. Appleton.  Now, any fan of children's series books should automatically recognize that name - after all, Victor Appleton is the pseudonym Edward Stratemeyer used for his various Tom Swift series over the years.  Ellis, though, turns the tables a bit here, as in this story, Mr. Appleton uses a pseudonym (C.K. Everson) for the books he writes!  After the "Penelope" character in the previous book, and the "Appleton" character in this one, I can't help but feel Ellis is giving some wonderful nods to the children's series books of yester-year!

Once again, this series continues to be enjoyable to read, and I'm glad Ellis continued it beyond the 10-book run.

RATING:  8 ripped out pages of an old diary out of 10 for returning Sam and Ally to the beginning with a completely new mystery!

The Saltwater Murder - A Posie Parker Mystery, Book 7

I have really been enjoying the character of Posie Parker.  I love a good mystery, and I definitely love a good female detective.  Author L.B. Hathaway has managed to meld the two nicely, and each book not only further develops the characters(not just Posie, but also all of the members of her supporting cast), and if there's one thing I've learned to date, it's to never assume that any character is safe from harm.  Over the course of the first six books, poor Posie has lost a couple of loves, has been jilted by another, and has watched her friends suffer the loss of ones they love.  In a way, it's like the old joke about Jessica Fletcher - if she invites you to a dinner party, you might want to decline, because someone always ends up dead!  With this series, though, Hathaway keeps peeling more and more layers back from Posie's past, as we meet new people time and again that have a connection to this early 20th century detective, and in this book, that past has its consequences.

The Saltwater Murder introduces readers to Amyas Lyle, an up and coming lawyer who has made it big in such a short time, and is getting ready to further his career thanks to the position and influence of his father-in-law.  But Posie knows a different side of Amyas.  When he mentions needing her help with something, she promises to meet with him the next day.  The only problem is, the next day turns out to be too late.  Inspector Lovelace calls her in on the case, asking for her assistance in figuring this out - he seems to be in a rush to get this one solved, and Posie can tell there is something on his mind.  It seems everyone else knows but her, and when she (and the reader!) does learn what it is, it comes as a real shock!  It's definitely a life changer for both of them.  But let's leave that for later...

The mystery is definitely one that is just chock full of secrets.  Amyas was living a double (triple?) life.  His wife has her own secrets she is keeping.  And there is Amyas' law partner who has made no secret of his desire to get the position Amyas was taking.  Of course, we also can't forget the Head Clerk, George, who was facing his own dilemma at the hands of Amyas.  And lest we forget, just how in the world can Posie spot Amyas alive and well outside of his house days after his death?  Well, there's definitely a reason for that, and my suspicions on that turned out to be correct (but you don't honestly think I'll spoil the surprise and tell you here, do you?).

Hathaway provides plenty of twists and turns, and with each secret revealed, there are two more to uncover.  Posie learns not only more about her brother, but also about Amyas' past interactions with him and why her brother hated the lawyer so much that he warned her away from him while he was in college.  But every time she thinks she has a feel for what type of person Amyas is (was), she learns something new that makes her question everything.  But it is the trip to Whitley Bay that literally changes everything, both for Posie and the case.  She goes there initially to meet up with Max, but when he fails to show, she starts to investigate the connection of Amyas Lyle and Whitley Bay.  It is here she discovers some of the answers she has been looking for - but before she can truly act, she gets called back to London by the most unexpected source - the spy agency for which Max works!  It seems Max was working undercover and has gone missing and is presumed dead, making the second love that Posie has lost in the same number of books.  Poor Posie!  But, let's remember - in any fictional setting (books, movies, television, comics, etc.) - if there is no body, then that means the person is very unlikely to be dead and will probably show up again at some point in the future! (At least, we can hope!)

This is the first Posie Parker mystery that I literally could not put down.  I kept reading, turning page after page, and finished the book in less than two days (which is a record, since I normally take three or four days to read one of Hathaway's books!).  The mystery truly was that good.  And the epilogue - well, let's just say that the decision Inspector Lovelace has to make has some very, VERY life-changing affects for both him and Posie.  I am definitely looking forward to the next book to see where these characters go from here!

I realize I am really far behind in this series (this is only book seven, and there are 15 books listed on Amazon), since I came into it late.  But I am working my way through, and I am loving every one of them.  If the rest are anywhere near as good as this one, then I know I'm in for one heck of a great ride!

RATING:  10 containers of nitric acid out of 10 for a gruesome murder, an unlikely murderer, and a surprising ending!

Mystery of the Laughing Mask - a Mystery Story for Girls

I finally got my hands on a copy of this book - one of the few Mildred Wirt (Benson) books that I didn't have yet.  This book, along with Wirt's The Twin Ring Mystery, is a part of Cupples & Leon's Mystery Stories for Girls, alongside Ginther's The Jade Necklace, The Thirteenth Spoon, and The Secret Stair, Forrester's The Door in the Mountain, Young's Secret of the Dark House, and Anson's The Dormitory Mystery.  Not to be confused with Wirt's own series of Mystery Stories for Girls, which included Ghost Gables, The Shadow Stone, The Painted Shield, among others.  This book was published in 1940, and according to Geoffrey Lapin, Wirt purchased the plot for this book from a rather famous author of science fiction books, Andre Norton (who, in reality, was Alice Mary Norton), which may explain why it is decidedly different from so many of Wirt's other published work.

Mystery of the Laughing Mask features young Gail Landreth, a sixteen-year old, dark-haired honor student at Cordell High School who works part-time as a secretary for Henry Allan, a naturalist who has taken her under his wing.  Gail and Mr. Allan interact more as friends than as employee and employer, which made me smile, since sometimes that is the relationship I seem to have with my own boss (for whom I have worked this past 15 years!).  Two mysteries fall into Gail's lap - the first involves a unique silver pin she and Mr. Allan find on the ground near a trading post in the Everglades, and the second centers around one Doctor Breckenridge, a man Mr. Allan was planning to meet in the seacoast town of Cordell Beach, who fails to appear and has mysteriously disappeared.  Neither seems to have anything to do with the other, but as any children's mystery story fan knows, they ultimately intertwine before the end of the book!

The "laughing mask" in the title of the book refers not only to the stranger carving on the silver pin, but oddly enough, it turns out to be the name of a criminal organization that is operating out of the Everglades.  Gail unwittingly stumble onto some of those secrets when she begins wearing the pin - the reactions from people she comes in contact with range from outraged to curious to suspicious.  She has no idea the importance of the pin, but when a woman tries to claim the pin, but strangely enough backs off when Gail tries to return the pain, she begins to suspect there is more to the pin than sentimental value.  

While she is dealing with this, Gail also must face one Madame Alexander.  Now, remember, this book was written in 1940, some three years before The Clue in the Jewel Box for the Nancy Drew series.  Fans of Nancy Drew may recall that there was a Madame Alexandra in Jewel Box, who played an important part of that mystery.  Well, Madame Alexander in this book plays an important part, but she is by no means as gracious as the Nancy Drew version.  In this mystery, Madame Alexander believes Doctor Breckenridge has defrauded her, planning to sell her a jade pendant, and then absconding with both her money and her jade!  (Let's stop a moment here and remember that jade jewelry also played a part of two other mysteries written by Wirt - The Deserted Yacht from the Madge Sterling series [1932], as well as The Shadow Stone from Wirt's own Mystery Stories for Girls series [1937].)  Anyway, Madame Alexander warns Breckenridge's daughter, Sara, that if her father does not provide the pendant, she will have the police arrest him and throw him in jail!  Needless to say, Gail takes an immediate interest in the matter, believing Sara's story that her father is innocent and something has happened to him.

As you can imagine, Gail stays pretty busy trying to figure both of these mysteries out, and Wirt doesn't give the poor girl a moment's rest.  Unlike so many of Wirt's mysteries, Gail is not the daughter of a widower father, nor is she an orphan.  Gail does not have a friend (or friends) who join her on the mystery - she must solve this mystery on her own, although she does have companionship in the form of Sara Breckenridge, who she is helping find the girl's missing father.  There are no real Gothic elements to the mystery, as there are in many girls' mysteries of that era; rather, this story feels almost like an adult mystery, with the secret organization, the very real threat to Doctor Breckenridge's life, and the adventures in the Everglades.  And the relationship between Gail and Mr. Allan is certainly unique, as I can't recall any other of Wirt's books that featured a secretary/boss relationship like this.  In fact, not many - if any at all! - of Wirt's protagonists actually have a job.  The very last line has Gail remarking, "I could even learn to love your old swamp, Mr. Allan, if only it would bring me another grand adventure" (p. 203).  That certainly left it open for Wirt to revisit this character in the future, had she wanted.

Another interesting element to this book (at least for me!) is that it is set in Florida, my very own home state.  However, the cities named by Wirt throughout the book - Cordell Beach and Oronto - are entirely fictional, as there are no real cities in Florida by those names.  The second one, though, made me instantly think of Toronto, and every time I came across it, my mind kept reading "Toronto" instead of "Oronto."  Not really sure where Wirt came up with these cities, but considering how close they were to the Everglades, they are likely to be situated somewhere along the southern coasts (although whether on the East or West coast, that is not so easily discernible).  

The story is not a bad one by any means, and I actually liked the character of Gail - she was very personable, somewhat cautious, but definitely curious and independent.  She makes a strong protagonist that is enjoyable to read.  

RATING:  9 exposed rolls of film out of 10 for giving readers something completely different, yet definitely readable!

Mystery at High Hedges - a Goldsmith Book for Boys and Girls

Since several of the Goldsmith mysteries I have read have been fairly good, I figured I'd try some more.  I picked this book up at the estate sale of a good friend of mine a few months back.  I love the title and the very creepy cover, so I thought perhaps it might serve up a spooky, spine-tingling mystery.  Have never heard of the author - Edith Bishop Sherman - but it turns out she has written some Revolutionary War stories (Mistress Madcap and Mistress Madcap Surrenders), as well as what I can only think must be a comedy story (Polly What's-Her-Name).  The only information I could find online is that she passed away in South Orange, New Jersey in 1971. The obituary indicated she was the "author of children's books and magazine articles" and was "the wife of John S. Sherman,a retired civil engineer."  Apparently those Mistress Madcap stories are the books for which she was most well-known.  

Mystery at High Hedges is a story that is a bit hard for me to describe.  There is a mystery, ever so slight, at the estate known as "High Hedges" due to the tall hedges that "closed in either side of the place as well as the front of it" (p. 39).  The mystery, though, is not even hinted at until the seventh chapter, when one of the caretakers tells the main character, Marcia Lambert, about "a legend about the tapping of high heels being heard just before some momentous happening takes place ... she's called the Heel Woman because nothing is ever heard or seen but just this tapping of high heels..." (p. 80).  The story is brushed off as merely a tall tale, and although the characters do eventually hear the tapping a couple of times, they do not take it too seriously...

Now, let's get back to the protagonist - Marcia Lambert.  She is a highly unusual lead character, in that she is not all that nice or friendly, she is somewhat uppity and spoiled, and she has no problems looking down on those who are below her station or social position.  When told by her aunt with whom she is staying that they are to travel to High Hedges for the summer, Marcia is "a little bored" (p. 21).  She endeavors to convince her aunt to travel with her overseas, completely oblivious to her aunt's financial situation.  Then, when her aunt informs her she has been invited to a party by a local girl, Marcia's instincts are furious. "How horrid to be dragged out to a party and meet a lot of uninteresting children, she thought stormily!" (p. 22).  Later, when the dresses she bought in France are deemed inappropriate by her aunt, Marcia fumes, believing "Aunt Hattie'll choose some babyish dress that will make me look perfectly ridiculous. Oh, f I didn't have to go to that horrid party!"(p. 29).  She ends up distant and on the verge of rude at the party, wishing she were home.  Marcia comes across as arrogant, self-centered, and condescending, making it difficult for the reader to have any sympathy for her whatsoever!

Even when Marcia and her Aunt Hattie make it to High Hedges, Marcia's first thought is that the tall hedges that surround the property will keep others out - and when the two neighbor children, Sharon Chase and her brother Kent, come popping through the hedges, Marcia is aloof, wishing they would stay away.  But her aunt convinces her to attend a local strawberry festival taking place at a nearby church, and it is there were Marcia comes to the aid of Kent (who is stuck in a wheelchair due to an accident years before), thereby earning the appreciation of both Kent and Sharon.  This seems to be a turning point for Marcia's character, as even her distaste for poor Tubby (aptly nicknamed such because of his weight) begins to dissipate, and she opens herself up to having friends that are what she previously deemed to be beneath her station.  This opens up a summer of adventures, including picnics, visits to the beach, and trips to town.

Sherman's writing seems more focused on just the daily lives of the characters and the growth in Marcia's character as she learns to see beyond her own wants and needs; the mystery (or mysteries, as the case may be) is hinted in various places, not truly coming into play until well over half-way through the story.  I guess the book could technically be broken up into two parts - the first half being Marcia's story and her character growth, while the second half is the actual mystery.  In the first half, the only hints of mystery are (a) the odd actions of the new handy man hired by Aunt Harriet; (b) the legend of the women in heels heard walking up the stairs; and (c) the strange man at the gas station in town who apparently speaks and understands German (but claims to not be of German descent).  Sherman does not dwell on any of these matters for the first half of the book, but merely mentions them in passing.

As it turns out, there are ultimately two mysteries and surprisingly, neither is related to the other.  There is the mystery regarding the "Heel Woman" that the girls hear several times, and in trying to solve the mystery, the young people discover a hidden staircase from the attic to the lower level of the house (gee, sound familiar?  throw in the "tapping heels," and it makes you wonder if Sherman wasn't perhaps "borrowing" ideas from a certain female sleuth that was quite popular at the time!  Although, now that I think about it, The Clue of the Tapping Heels didn't come out until two years AFTER this book ... things that make you go "hmmmmm!").  They do ultimately solve the source of the tapping, but what is left hanging is where the tapping came from all of the previous times when something horrific happened to a member of the family after the tapping was heard.  That is one mystery that remains....

The second mystery involves Sharon and Kent's father, who is presumed dead after being declared missing years ago during the first World War.  The solution to this mystery does not come as a surprise - but what does come as a surprise is how Kent regains the use of his legs.  I know in times of extreme danger and/or stress, people are known to do some amazing things, but the situation in which Kent uses his legs (reactionary in nature, he jumps into the lake to save someone without thinking about it) is a bit far-fetched.  But, at least this family gets a happy ending all the way around, providing a great resolution to their story.

 

There is one funny thing in the story that I have to mention.  When the girls find a diary from one of Marcia's ancestors in the attic, they find her great-great-great-great-great-grandmother wrote of "backing day and of the Battle of Monmouth, of weaving and the Surrender at Yorktown..." (p. 182).  I found this humorous, as I just auditioned for a play called Leading Ladies (by Ken Ludwig), in which there are references to "Harry Monmouth" and to "York, Pennsylvania."  I thought it funny that I should read the same references in this book at pretty much the same time I am reading them in an audition!  Coincidence or fate...?

Overall, it's not a bad read - I just wish the story had been heavier on the mystery.

RATING:  7 long rows of corn out of 10 for a creepy, Gothic cover that hides a somewhat interesting mystery and likeable supporting characters!

Cherry Sundae - The Complete Collection

I'd never in my life heard of the comic strip character, Cherry Sunday, until I happened across this collection of the newspaper comic strips on Amazon one day.  I've been thoroughly enjoying the Mary Perkins: On Stage comic strips I've been reading, and since this strip apparently ran for only a short period of time (this one small book collects all of the strips), I figured I'd give it a shot and see if it was worth the read.  And quite surprisingly, it was well worth the read!  The only information I have on this strip is from the Introduction and the Production Notes, which reveal the strip only ran for three years - 1946 to 1949 - and was intended as a weekly strip used to promote advertising in weekly newspapers.  What I found to be especially interesting is that any paper that picked up the strip would start with the first one - meaning that one paper might start it in 1946 with the first strip, while another might not have started until 1947, also starting with the first strip at that time.  This meant that multiple papers that carried the strip across the country were not necessarily running the same strips at the same time, which is unusual for a syndicated strip.

 

Cherry Sundae was copyrighted in 1946 by A&M Advertising Company.  The first two years of strips were drawn by Pete Tumlinson, while the third and final year was drawn by Paul McFadden.  The art style was not very different, so it's doubtful people even noticed the change in artists mid-stream.  However, there was a definite change in the stories - in the beginning, the stories were more lighthearted and fun, with two men (one blonde, the other dark-haired) both vying for the love and attention of red-headed Cherry (gee, does that sound familiar?  as pointed out in the Introduction, this was definitely a gender-swap of the Archie comic stories - a red-headed boy being pursued by two females, one blonde and the other dark-haired!).  There are a number of silly antics, misunderstandings, and harebrained plots as the two service men try their best to out-do one another and win Cherry over.  But as the strip went into its second year, and moreso in the third year, the stories turned serious and involved a group of jewel thieves and even a deadly shoot-out that left one of the main heartthrobs lying on the ground (more on that later...)!

Cherry herself is a redheaded beauty who works as a car hop at the local drive-in.  She lives with her grandfather (affectionately referred to as "Gramp"), who she cares for because he is in a wheelchair.  Gregg is her blonde boyfriend who has just come home after serving time overseas in the military, while Jarret is a slick, dark-haired man who sets his sights on Cherry and is determined to win her over, no matter the cost!  Of course, it turns out Jarret was actually Gregg's superior in the military, so the two men have a definite competitive nature already, and it only increases when they learn that the other is also in love with Cherry.  As the strip is written, Cherry appears to be more enamored by Gregg, but she doesn't like the tricks he pulls to try and keep Jarret away from her.  His tricks, though, are nothing compared to the stunts pulled by Jarret!  He tries doing tricks with an airplane and ultimately crashes not far from the drive in where Cherry works!  He also hires a couple of thugs to "pretend" to rob him and Cherry, so he can play the hero, but it turns out the crooks are for real and Gregg has to swoop in and save the day!

 

The "stories" are quick-paced and do not last long, which is not surprising, since this was a weekly strip, and it is unlikely anyone would stick around for any lengthy stories that took more than four or five weeks to complete.  And I give the creators credit - while Cherry may look like the frilly, silly beauty, she's actually pretty smart, as she never has any difficulty seeing through the schemes of both Gregg and Jarret.  Gramp is the one to watch, though, as he injects a number of humorous scenes into the strip, because he can clearly see what is going on and just sits back and watches to see what happens!

 

Now, as previously indicated, the stories took a much more serious turn towards the end (as it seems the second artist on the book, Paul McFadden, pulled away from the humorous side of the strip and took Cherry and her friends down a darker path).  Those crooks hired by Jarret turned out to be real criminals, and they planned a series of jewel heists that they set up Jarret to make it appear he was the thief.  In the final few strips, the police follow up on a lead, which puts Jarret directly in their sights!  An over-anxious cop shoots at Jarret, who he thinks is trying to escape, and in the very last panel of the strip, Gregg asks the question, "Is he dead or not?"  And, sadly, this is where the strip ended, with readers never actually knowing if Jarret was killed - such a horrible way to end a strip that was initially filled with silly antics and plenty of humor!

According to the production notes, only one of the original strips could be found for reproduction in the book - the remainder of the strips were scans taken from digital archives of the various papers that published Cherry Sundae.  While most of the strips of the first year are pretty clear, it seems only one paper was found that ran the strip past that first year.  Because of that, the final couple of years of strips in this collection are not always the best scans, since the production team only had the one source from which to pull the strip.  However, they are all readable, and you can still get the full story - and for a strip that is now more than 75 years old, which had such a truly limited production run, that is saying something!

RATING:  9 overturned canoes out of 10 for a fun little strip with humor, danger, and a great cast of characters!

WW84: Wonder Woman - The Junior Novel

The Wonder Woman '84 (titled "WW84") film came out three years ago (back in 2020).  As with the first film, there were plenty of merchandising that came out with the film, including a junior novelization of the film.  Unlike the first film, however, there was no adult novelization (which surprised me).  Since I pretty much collect all things Wonder Woman, I picked up the junior novel when it came up, and it has sat up on my "to-be-read" shelf ever since.  Having seen the movie, I knew the reading the book would feel a little redundant - but, I also knew that sooner or later I'd pick it up and read it just to see how it compares with the film.  And it pretty much was what I was expecting.

WW84: Wonder Woman is an abridged version of the movie, just as the junior novelization of the first movie was.  The original film was adapted by Steve Korte, while this one was adapted by Calliope Glass; however, Glass did not do any better of a job than Korte did with the original.  There are quite a number of elements from the film - important elements to the story! - that are missing in the book.  Now, I can understand when you are writing a book aimed at younger readers, you might want to leave out any adult content (such as scenes of a sexual or intimate nature, or scenes of harsh violence); but I don't understand leaving out elements that are important to the plot.  It leaves the story lacking and incomplete.

For example, in the opening scene, in which a young Diana is ready to compete in the Amazon games on Themyscira, Glass leaves out a very important part that results in Antiope stopping Diana before she can complete, and possibly win, the game.  In the film, Diana is knocked off her horse, and so she cheats by taking a short cut to catch up with her horse and stay ahead of the other contestants.  Thus, it makes sense when Antiope catches her and stops her from throwing the spear at the end, because she has to learn the lessen that she cannot take short cuts  cheat in order to win at something.  Sometimes it's just not meant for her to win.  Yet, that element of the story is omitted from this novelization, and so when Antiope snatches her out from victory, it doesn't make sense.

There's also the story of Steve Trevor's return.  The book follows the story with regard to Diana's wish for her one true love to return; however, the book completely ignores the fact that his return is in the form of taking over another man, whose life and identity disappears when Steve takes over the form.  Instead, Steve merely wakes up and is there, with no mention of this other man.  Readers also lose out on Maxwell Lord's son, who plays a pivotal role in his part of the story.  He is nowhere to be seen in this book.

And, just like the junior novelization of that first film, this book completely leaves out the final climactic battle, instead ending on the part where Diana and Steve are getting ready to stop Maxwell Lord and Barbara Minerva, while at the same time preventing the world from entering a nuclear war.  That final battle is important on so many levels, with the redemption of Lord, the complete conversion of Minerva over to the Cheetah, and Diana's ultimate sacrifice.  Young readers get none of that.  And while I'm all for not wanting to spoil the ending of a movie, this is a novelization, and as such, it should have the full story, regardless of how abridged.  Leave out the cheating, leave out the son, leave out the stolen identity - but leave out the ending?  No, sorry, that just doesn't work for me.

The book does include eight pages of color photos from the movie, so that is one saving grace.  Otherwise, this book feels much less than what it should be and is a big disappointment.

RATING:  5 wish-granting citrines out of 10 for, at the very least, giving young readers a portion of the story.

Mind Over Murder - the 1st Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery

This is probably not a series I would have ever picked up on my own.  A friend of mine gave me this book a few years back, and I set it up on my shelf and promptly forgot about it.  Once in a while, when going through my stack of books to be read, trying to decide which one to read next, I would see it and say, "I need to read that someday."  Well, that someday finally arrived, and I made the decision to pull it down and read it.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I figured since my friend put enough thought into it to give it to me, I should at least give it the benefit of the doubt.  And I was surprised how much I enjoyed it!

Mind Over Murder is the first book in the "Raven's Next Bookstore Mystery" series by Allison Kinglsey. It is different from other mystery series that I read, in that there is more than one main character in the story.  The protagonists are Clara and Stephanie Quinn, sisters who reside in the small town of Finn's Harbor, Maine.  Stephanie, who is married with children, has recently opened a bookstore (Raven's Nest - hence, the title to the series), and Clara just recently returned to town after living for years in New York.  To complicate matters, something happened to Clara while she was in New York that is keeping secret from her family, and it is one of the reasons she came home.  She agrees to help out at Stephanie's store until she can get herself established and find a job of her own.

Oh, and Clara also happens to have inherited the Quinn's family gift - a psychic sense of the future and other's thoughts.  But Clara does not like, nor does she want this "Quinn Sense," and she has spent years pushing it down.  Only, when a body is found in the back room of her sister's store, Clara finds herself in a position of having to turn to that "sense" in order to help figure out who the murderer is!

 

Kingsley does a great job of balancing the story between the two sisters.  I think writing the story in third-person rather than first-person helps.  I've noticed that with both The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers and The Hardy Boys Adventures series, which are written in first person with alternating chapters changing character points-of-view, the biggest complaint is trying to keep up with which character is now the focus.  But with this book, there is no confusion, and the transitions between Clara and Stephanie are smooth and easy to follow.  Plus, the characters are written sufficiently different, so that even without being named, the reader knows which one it is.  Now, the book does focus more heavily on Clara, which I think has to do with the fact that she is the one who just returned to town, she is the one carrying a secret regarding her past in New York City, and she is the one with psychic powers.  I'll be curious to see if that holds true in the other books of this series.

With regard to murder mystery, I have to admit the killer was fairly easy to spot.  Kingsley did try to throw in a number of possible suspects - the new owner of the business next door who turns out to have basically forced the victim to sell her the business before she died; the man whose life was basically ruined by the victim years before; the bookstore assistant whose last run in with the victim resulted in her threatening the woman; and even the good-looking guy who owns the hardware store across the street, who had his own ax to grind with the victim.  It seems the victim made an enemy of pretty much every person she met!  And even though Clara and Stephanie don't see it until the end, I think any astute reader who has been reading mysteries as long as I have will spot the killer early on - the signs are there, and while the means may not be clear, the motive and opportunity definitely are!

Overall, it was a really great read, and I will definitely be purchasing the next three books in the series (sadly, it appears there are only four books in this series - not sure if sales just didn't warrant any more, or if the author moved on to other things).  

RATING:  8 tiny whale charms out of 10 for a new mystery-solving duo with a twist!