Shadow of the Caravan - a Pocket Books gothic

It still amazes me at just how many publishers jumped on the "gothic wave" during the 1960s and '70s.  It seems every time I turn around, I'm finding gothic novels from yet another publisher that I was unaware published any during that time.  This time, it's Pocket Books, under the "Pocket Goth" line as set forth on the spine of the book.  Pocket published a number of books by many regular gothic authors, such as Joan Aiken, Lynn Benedict, Dorothy Daniels, Miriam Lynch, Janet Louise Roberts, Dan Ross, Mary Kay Simmons, and so many others.  This one caught my eye at my local used book store because of the gorgeous cover art, so beautiful and spooky.  Plus, the title has that "Nancy Drew" style to it - you know the one I mean, "The Secret of the -- " or "The Mystery of the --" and the like.  So, I could not pass it up, and having now read it, I'm glad I did not!

Shadow the Caravan is a tale of the past, set in the late 1800s.  It was written by Saliee O'Brien, which name is the author's real name and not a pseudonym.  Ms. O'Brien was born at the turn of the 20th century in Missouri, and she died at the age of 94 in Florida just a little over 20 years ago.  She was not quite as prolific as many of the gothic authors were, and it appears she only wrote a few gothic novels during the '60s and '70s (The Bride of Gaylord Hall, Beelfontaine, Night of the Scorpion [for the "Zodiac Gothic novel" series], and this book).  If the rest of her books are as well-written and enjoyable to read as this one, I will definitely be tracking them down!

The story is about Lila Bruce, who travels to California with her frail Aunt Catherine so that Lila can marry the wealthy Giles Castle and share his grand home.  Lila is fully aware that Giles is not in the best of health, but she is not prepared for what awaits her when she arrives at the House of the Camel (it is called, since the Castle family has a business of camel caravans).  Lila discovers that no one in the house - not family nor staff - has ever heard of her, and even more devastating, she learns that her betrothed has died!  On that dark, cold, rainy night when she arrives to a house of people who distrust and dislike her, Lila is at a loss what to do.  She and her aunt used their entire savings to make the long trek from Missouri to California (remember, this is the 1800s, so it was completely by stagecoach!), and they have nowhere else to go.  Giles' younger brother, Timothy, allows them to stay the night, as the funeral will be the next day and they are reluctantly allowed to attend.

It is a well-written mystery that begins when Lila finds a small note in the hands of her deceased husband as he lies in the casket in the parlour - a note that tells her to return home, she is not wanted!  Not heeding that warning, she then gets pushed into the grave after the casket is lowered into the ground, and the family thinks she is nothing more than histrionic, playing at the grieving fiance.  It is after the gravesite service that she (and the Castle family and friends!) learn that Giles made a new will just prior to his death, leaving the bulk of his estate to Lila!  Clearly this leads to greater threats, as she is locked in a stable, left to face the not so friendly camels on her own; she is then tripped before a herd of stampeding camels; she later discovers a deadly scorpion under the covers of her bed; and she ultimately falls from the balcony of her upper floor room, which gives way after having been nearly sawed through!  It is evident someone is determined to remove her from the picture, but the question is: who?

 

First, there's Timothy Castle, Giles' younger brother who was set to inherit the entire Castle fortune in the even of his brother's death. There's Patricia Swann, who, along with her mother Daisy, keep the House of the Camel running (and who clearly has eyes for Timothy).  There's Brawley Jones, the gruff stable hand who works with the camels. There's also Steven Perry, the Castle family's attorney who resides at the great house in order to manage the Castles' legal affairs. Then there's Fancey Abbott, the next-door neighbor who grew up with the Castle boys and makes it very clear it has always been her intention to become a Castle wife.  And there's Roger Castle, Giles and Timothy's second cousin whose ranch adjoins Giles and Timothy's, but is nowhere near as bid nor as successful; and finally, there's George Damon, the Castles' neighbor across the way.  The only ones who show any friendliness or courtesy to Lila and her aunt are the attorney, the cousin, and the neighbor across the way - the rest of the family and staff make it clear in no uncertain terms that Lila is an interloper and not wanted.  In fact, Timothy takes several opportunities to tell Lila she would be better off returning home and never coming back!

 

The novel definitely builds suspense, but O'Brien gives readers a protagonist who is neither weak nor submissive.  Sure, she gets frightened, and sure, there are moments when she is rescued and thankful to be held by the strong arms of a man; but that does not mean she does not have the strength of her own to stand up to them all and determination to not give up and run away.  Despite the growing danger, she sticks to her decision to stay, knowing this is what Giles wanted for her.  Now, that being said, it's not exactly difficult to determine which of this cast of characters is actually behind all of the happenings at the House of the Camel.  Despite the large number of harsh characters who do not hide their contempt for Lila, anyone who has read a large number of gothics will know that the villain is usually hiding behind an outward appearance of niceties, love, and concern, and this story is no different.  But that does not make it any less of a great read.  No, in fact, the story is so filled with suspense, it is a fantastic read, and I could easily envision this story made into a film.  I mean, the final scenes where Lila and her aunt are kidnapped (and HOW they are kidnapped is rather unusual!), and the final confrontation with the culprit definitely make for a superb climax to the tale.

Without a doubt, I'll be going out there to find O'Brien's other gothic novels!

RATING:  10 burlap bags of grain out of 10 for a prime example of gothic greatness with the perfect blend of mystery, suspense, and terrific characterization!

Friday Barnes, Last Chance

Friday Barnes has been an entertaining series of mysteries unlike any other.  The title character, a cross between Nancy Drew and Sheldon Cooper (of Big Bang Theory fame), is definitely one of the most quirky, unusual teenage sleuths, and the mysteries are always ingenuous with the right amount of humor mixed in.  What I had originally thought was going to be an eight-book series has expanded beyond that (to my overwhelming joy!), and it has been such fun following Friday and her friends as they travel beyond the halls of Highcrest Academy, where many of the first eight books took place.  After the last book's hi-jinks in Italy and Norway, I was curious to see where this book would take us - and R.A. Spratt did not disappoint!

Friday Barnes, Last Chance brings Friday, her sidekick and best friend Melanie, as well as her boyfriend (can she call him that?) Ian, and her Uncle Bernie to France in order to answer the all-important question - is the Mona Lisa hanging in The Louvre the real thing, or is it a masterfully reproduced fake?  It is interesting Spratt would use this premise for the mystery, as there has been speculation through the years as to whether the Mona Lisa that currently hangs in The Louvre is a masterful copy or the actual original painted by DaVinci.  And Spratt takes it a bit further, as Friday and Melanie observe the DaVinci, in the Mona Lisa and many of his other paintings, tended to paint prominent or misshapen noses on the people he painted.  This is a fact in the real world that has been a topic of discussion for art critics looking at his works.  Thus, Spratt integrates a bit of factual art history in this mystery.

So, in this book, after dealing with a bout of hypothermia (remember that last bit of adventure in Norway?), Friday heads to Paris to join her uncle and boyfriend as they investigate the claim that has been made about the Mona Lisa.  An aged letter was discovered behind some bathroom tiles of the home of one Signora Peruggia, a descendant of the infamous Vincenzo Peruggia, who stole the Mona Lisa back in 1911 (yet another integration of real facts!), which indicated the painting found and returned to The Louvre was actually a copy, and the original remained hidden somewhere, possibly painted over by another famous artist and hiding in plain sight!  This claim is bringing a lot of unwanted bad publicity to The Louvre, and so Interpol is called in - and since Friday, Ian, and Melanie are all now honorary Interpol assistants, they are on the case!

The series over the last couple of books has taken a departure from the original format of the series. In the beginning, each book had an over-arching mystery for Friday to solve, but along the way, she solved any number of smaller mysteries, seemingly in every other chapter.  In the last book and in this one, as well, there are fewer short mysteries along the way, and the text focuses more on the main mystery.  Yes, Friday does happen to solve a couple of quick problems (such as a missing passenger on the plane, the identity of a woman attacked by the police at the French airport, a girl using her phone to scam tourists in Paris, and tricking a young girl who has locked herself in the dorm bathroom to come out), but they are definitely fewer and farther between than what they were in the early books.

The book also features a couple of "identity" focal points that have never been raised before - the first being Agent Okeke, the woman sent to pick up Friday and Melanie from the airport.  She is tackled by the police at the airport for carrying a gun, and while Friday figures out who she is, the agent herself makes it clear she believes she was attacked only because of the color of her skin (being of African descent).  The second instance involves Ian.  When Friday and Melanie arrive in France, Friday's fear is that Ian has been enthralled by the beautiful French girls; however, she is surprised to be told that Ian is actually dating another boy now!  Of course, this turns out simply to be a ruse perpetrated by Ian to keep the girls away (since his heart belongs only to Friday); but I did find it interesting that the author used both of these somewhat topical issues in today's headlines as plot points in the book.

The villain in the story is not very difficult to spot; however, the ultimate goal of his criminal venture does make the story exciting, and how he and his group of bandits manage to steal the Mona Lisa from the most secure art museum in the world is rather ingenuous.  The supporting cast of characters are also unique (as is pretty much everything in this series!) and fun, giving Friday some challenges and surprises along the way.  In some ways, the series is developing into a soap opera, as there are elements that would clearly make for a good soap - does Ian really like Friday, or will he leave her for someone else?  why is the young girl in the bathroom so upset that her father is making her attend art school?  what secret does the boy who works for his uncle's pizzeria have?  how will Friday and her new friends escape from a locked chamber in the basement of The Louvre?  And why, oh why, is Friday being arrested yet again at the end of this book (leaving us a wonderful cliffhanger that will lead into the twelfth Friday Barnes mystery!)?  All the great trappings and tropes of a good soap!

As with every other book in this series, this mystery was a joy to read, and I am looking forward to the next one (hoping and praying that book 12 is not the last!).

RATING:  9 cases of bulletproof glass out of 10 for putting Friday Barnes in the middle of a real-life mystery and having her solve it in true Friday-style!

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #10 - The Final Pose

Marc Baker a/k/a Marcia Blair comes back with his third Zebra Mystery Puzzler, bringing his nurse, Tory Baxter, back for yet another murder mystery to solve.  The one thing I really like about Baker's (Blair's?) mysteries is that he always starts them right off with a murder.  Unlike some of the other books in this series, we do not have to wait several chapters for that murder to take place - no, Baker takes us right into it from the get-go, and as such, his protagonist is thrust into the mystery right from the beginning.  This means, for the reader, that there is page-turning excitement and suspense right away, and so we must begin to search for clues in those first first few pages (not to mention in the cover art, as well as the internal illustrations).   And for this third go-around, readers follow Tory Baxter to the magical, mysterious land of Spain...

The Final Pose opens with Tory Baxter getting ready to board her plane to Palma, Spain to care for Ann Blaine Milton (who is called "Mrs. Robert" by her family and staff), who has an unexplained sleeping illness.  Despite warnings from everyone about the "Badluck Blaines," Tory takes the job, not believing all of the superstitious nonsense.  Just because the one sister (Edith) is crippled by a boating accident ... and Ann's husband and daughter die in an airplane crash ... and their nephew falls down the stairs, greatly injuring his leg ... it does not mean the family is cursed by bad luck.  But when a man calls out to Tory at the airport, just before she boards the plane, to ask for her help - then falls down dead at her feet ... when a young woman sitting next to her on the plane quickly changes seats when she finds out where Tory is headed and why ... Tory begins to wonder if perhaps taking this job was not the best idea.

 

Things only get curioser and curioser (as Alice would say) when Tory arrives at the Blaine home - it seems everyone is completely taken back by Tory's appearance, even though Miss Merriweather, the nurse who had originally been scheduled to take this case had notified them of the last minute substitution.  It is clear something is very off in this household.  The chauffeur and housekeeper are clearly not pleased with Tory's presence.  The Blaine's nephew seems to run hot and cold with her, doing everything in his power to keep any friendliness towards her a secret from his aunts.  Ann Milton's sleeping sickness seems to be more of an escape than an actual illness.  Edith Blaine is the only one that truly welcomes Tory, although her concern for her sister's failing health seems to overshadow everything else.  And then there's the cook...

 

Mattie, the cook, is probably one of my favorite characters from the story.  She is gruff and a rather nasty piece of work, but Tory has no problems talking back to her, which quickly earns her Mattie's respect.  "I'd thank you to get those trays down as soon as Mrs. Robert has finished pushing her food around ," says the cook, to which Tory promptly  and coldly responds, "And I'd suggest you go up and tell Mrs. Robert you want her to do her food-pushing faster!" (p. 97).  It is scenes and dialogue like this that made me smile as I was reading the book.

The murders begin with a young woman found dead after falling from the balcony of Edith Blaine's studio out behind the main house - a young woman who used to work for the Blaines, but who was fired after stealing some jewelry.  The same young woman who happened to be on the plane with Tory as she was flying to Spain.  Coincidence?  I think you know better than that!  And it's not too long before another body turns up, this time it is the family lawyer, who supposedly commits suicide over the guilt he feels from having caused the accident that put Edith in the wheelchair.  Tory, of course, suspects there is a lot more to it than that, and her sleuthing ultimately pins her as the next victim of the heartless killer!

Blair (Baker) writes a perfectly plotted murder mystery that will keep you guessing right up until the end.  I readily admit that I kept jumping back and forth between the suspects as the story progressed, and although I did ultimately figure out the culprit before that final, sealed chapter, I was completely wrong about how and why!  The author also utilizes a considerable amount of real information about Spain throughout the story - from the location in Palma to the Bellver Castle (p. 62) to the Pueblo Espanol a/k/a Spanish Village in Palma de Mallorca (p. 62), and even the pearl factories and shops in Majorica / Manacor (p. 116).  Although, the one thing I did question was Blair's use of a motorized wheelchair (p. 31).  I did not recall there being motorized wheelchairs in 1978 when this book was published, and a friend who is in a wheechair made the same comment when I told him; however, upon researching the question, it seems motorized wheelchairs have been around since 1953, when electric wheelchairs entered the market at large.

And since we are speaking of the wheelchair, I find it funny that the cover art for the book pictures Edith in a standard, non-motorized wheelchair, when the story is so blatantly clear about Edith's motorized wheelchair (even mentioning on more than one occasion how adept she was with the chair, moving around faster than someone can walk!).  I know the illustrations in these books do not always match the story, but this one seems a bit too far out of synch.  Bruce Emmett, who also did the cover art for Blair's previous two Zebra Mystery Puzzlers (book 2, The Final Ring, and book 6, The Final Lie), provided the art for this book, and I have to say - poor Tory looks completely different on each of the three covers. I am not sure if that is because the artist used different models for each book, or what the reason is, but of the three, Tory looks the worst on this cover.  In fact, Edith Blaine, as depicted on the cover, looks younger and prettier than Tory, which is definitely not the case in the story!  As far as the internal illustrations go, they are not bad, but Tory does not look anything like she has in previous books, nor does she resemble her image on the cover.  I suppose with the amount of books they were publishing in this series at the time, they could not use one artist for all of the illustrations in the books, but some level of consistency would have been nice, at least for those books that were written by the same author and featured a regular protagonist!

This is definitely one of the better mysteries in this series, and the title of this book actually gives the reader the greatest clue as to the identity of the killer.  Now I have to wait six more books before Tory Baxter returns for another murder mystery...

RATING:  9 thermoses of hot chocolate out of 10 for a wickedly good mystery with a devilishly devious killer!

The Heroine with 1,001 Faces - a Look at the Heroic Journeys of Heroines

The only reason I purchased this book was because I happened across it while scrolling through "Nancy Drew" items on Amazon.  The description of the book on the website claims the author "explores how heroines ... have flown beneath the radar even as they have been bent on redemptive missions."  The description goes on to cite examples, "[f]rom Bluebeard's wife to Nancy Drew, and from Jane Eyre to Janie Crawford, women have long crafted stories to broadcast offenses in the pursuit of social justice."  Based on this, I felt the book might have some valid research material about not just Nancy Drew, but the representation of women in general in folklore, fairy tales, and fiction through the ages, and so I bought it.  I do not regret buying the book, because even though the chapter with Nancy Drew does not spend a lot of time on the sleuth, it does offer up some interesting views on the character, the books, and the relationship with the stories and the writing of them.

The Heroine with 1,001 Faces is authored by Maria Tatar, who is a professor at Harvard University and who has written books on folklore, German studies, and children's literature.  In the introduction to the book (which is an astounding 15 pages in length - the longest introduction I have ever seen in a book!), Tatar readily states that this book is in response to Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces (first published in 1949), which purported to study "the mythological structure of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world myths" (The Hero with a Thousand Faces).  But, as Tatar appropriately points out, Crawford's book focuses solely on the journey of the male hero.  "What about the women?" Tatar asks on the first page of her introduction.  Whereas Crawford posed the answer that question with the thought that  women are "the mother of the hero; she's the goal of the hero's achieving' she's the protectress of the hero..." (p. xii).  Tatar indicates that the goal of her book is to look at these myths, folktales, and heroic journeys from a different point of view, and thereby showing that the women in these stories were on their own journey, spurred on by their curiosity to seek justice and right wrongs.  It is Tatar's belief that women have their own heroic journey, not with swords and violent battles, but with words and wiles and a wealth of other non-violent means at their disposal.

Nancy Drew is not discussed until Chapter 5, "Detective Work: From Nancy Drew to Wonder Woman."  This is due to the fact that Tatar relates her studies in a chronological fashion, starting with the earliest myths and folklore and working her way forward to the present time, with female detectives, magic wielders, and super heroes.  However, the chapter starts off with a look at characters from the television series, Sex and the City and Girls.  I get the sense that Tatar is trying to connect these characters as writers to the investigative work done by detectives; however, the connection feels tenuous at best, and I don't think the author accomplishes her goal.  It is not until nine pages into the thirty-eight page chapter that Tatar actually gets to the discussion of female sleuths.  Even then, Nancy does not fully get discussed until the twelfth page, where Tatar begins a section on "The Mysteries of Nancy Drew, 'Best of All Girls Detectives.'"  She opens with a fact I did not realize - the year that Nancy Drew debuted (1930) also happens to be the same year Agatha Christie's spinster sleuth, Miss Marple, made her first appearance!  

Tatar gives some brief background on the creation of Nancy Drew by Edward Stratemeyer and his hiring of Mildred Wirt (Benson) to write those early stories of Nancy Drew.  She even references the citing by many Supreme Court Justices and other influential women of Nancy Drew as their source of inspiration and encouragement to pursue their careers of choice.  Tatar looks at Nancy Drew from the standpoint that in addition to her desire to seek justice for others, she does so while embodying "the ethics of care."  She cites to a comment made by George Fayne in The Sign of the Twisted Candles, in which Nancy's friends remarks, "You are always putting yourself out to do a kindness for somebody or other who simply doesn't count in your life at all."  It is Tatar's position that while Nancy Drew works to ensure law and order are followed, she never does this at the expense of others (p. 210).  The young sleuth may risk her life time and time again to help those in need, she always does so with a kind word.

The author then posits the question of why the Nancy Drew (and Hardy Boys, as well as other similar series) books were banned from libraries. While Tatar fails to directly answer the question, she does point out that despite these attempts to keep the books out of the hands of children, it only seemed to fire up their desire for the books all the more (p. 211).  She theorizes that when reading books, we are doing exactly the same thing as the detective in the story - we are "[d]ecoding mysteries, sorting out the truth, finding meaning" (p. 211); and thus, when young readers pick up a Nancy Drew book, they are doing the same exact things that Nancy is doing in the book.

What honestly piqued my interest the most about this section of the book is Tatar's comparison of the stories involving "ownership" and "legitimacy" with how the books were written.  She looks at the fact that a number of the mysteries involve stolen or lost items that need to be found and returned to their original owners with the manner in which Stratemeyer farmed out his outlines and plots to ghostwriters, who in turn provided completed books for which they had no ownership right to (even though the work was their own).  As she states, "Dual authorship had a built-in rivalry between a public face (Carolyn Keene a/k/a Edward Stratemeyer) and a secret ghostwriter (Mildred Wirt Benson), and the books themselves reproduce that rivalry by putting their heroine on the trial of counterfeiters and thieves, those who appropriate the property that rightfully belongs to others" (pp. 212-13).  Tatar even wonders if perhaps Benson "somehow wrote her own struggle with authorial identity into the series (consciously or not), turning Nancy into a sleuth who uncovers, among other things, true identities, the genuine article, the real thing?" (p. 213).  While I don't know that I would answer that question in the affirmative, I do admit it is something interesting to think about.

Tatar wraps up her section on Nancy Drew by discussing how her longevity and legacy has inspired so many strong female characters that have come after, specifically looking at Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter books and films.  She even goes so far as to say that Hermione "exceeds Nancy's passion for justice by becoming a social activist who founds ... an organization designed to advocate for the rights of an oppressed group" (p. 215).

The author's look at Miss Marple, Wonder Woman (of whom she claims has certain detective-like skills and stories that fit the archetype), and other modern detectives provides for some interesting insight into those characters; but, for me, it was the seven-and-a-half pages about Nancy Drew that drew my attention. Seven-and-a-half pages out of a 290-page book is certainly not a very large part by any means, but I suppose when you are covering decades' and centuries' worth of material, we can be grateful she devoted that much space to our favorite female sleuth.

(As far as the rest of the book goes, I did attempt to read the chapters, but to me, a lot of the material felt like it was repetitive.  It seemed to go over the same theories and observations, but simply applied them to different characters and stories throughout history, and I became a bit bored with it all, so I skimmed through it.)

 

RATING:  7 heroines who are much too flip out of 10 for looking at women in literature (myths, folktales, and fiction) through a new lens, and showing their accomplishments within their own heroic journeys!

Harlequin Gothic Romance Series No. 32002 - The Ravens of Rockhurst

'Death lurked in the dark corners of the old house waiting for a girl who had nowhere to hide" (cover blurb)

 

Well, so far for this series, it's two for two!  After enjoying the first Harlequin Gothic Romance, I was hoping the second would be just as good, if not better, and I was not disappointed in the least.  I don't really know much about the author, Marian Martin, as there seems to be next to nothing about her online.  Besides this one book, she apparently published a book titled Dangerous Stranger in 2011.  There are also some European waterway guide books that are authored by a Marian Martin, but I have no way of confirming if it is the same author.  Thus, I'm unsure if "Marian Martin" is a pseudonym for a more prolific author, or if she is an actual person.  The copyright page for this book indicates it is copyrighted by Marian Martin, so that hints at her being an actual person rather than a pen name.  Regardless, the story was a great read, so it's a shame she did not write more!

The Ravens of Rockhurst is the tale of Courtney Hughes, a young art appraiser who finally has the opportunity to prove herself by taking on the job of appraising the estate of one Jacob Padgett, a man who collected just about anything and everything (hmmmm, she should come to my house!).  There is some uncertainty about Courtney handling the job, as her employer has never allowed her to take on such responsibility in the firm, but she convinces him to allow her to take the month-long job at the old house known as Rockhurst, high in the Cascade Mountains (p. 7).  According to Google maps, the Cascade Mountains are approximately four hours from Seattle, meaning poor Courtney had quite a drive.  Upon her arrival, Courtney meets the various members of the cast who become the focus of the readers' attention, as they try to figure out what is really going on in this isolated mansion.

There is Sarah Padgett, the widow who is set to inherit most of her deceased husband's collections, and who is anxious to see it all sold.  There is Jenny, the housekeeper who has been at Rockhurst for most of her life, and who knows all of the family's secrets.  There is also Floyd Taylor, the handyman at Rockhurst, who the family says is a little bit slow, but who knows more than he is telling.  Then there are Aaron Padgett and Daniel Padgett, the decedent's grandson and grand-nephew - two cousins who are set to only receive a small portion of the estate proceeds - unless, that is, Sarah dies first!  Oh, yes, there is also the "neighbor" (who lives through the woods a bit), Winston Coe (I wonder if he is any relation to Lucy Coe?), who seems to be a collector in his own right and who shares an interest in some of Jacob Padgett's possessions.  And all of these have one very big thing in common - they are all aware that Jacob Padgett, before he died, claimed to have discovered something in his collection was worth a fortune, and he took joy in keeping that treasure a secret!  Since his death, no one seems to have found it, but everyone is on the look out for it.  Now that Courtney is there, taking inventory of everything in the house, will the treasure turn up?  And if so, how far will someone go to get their hands on it?

The story somewhat reminds me of Janet Louise Roberts The Dornstein Icon, which also deals with a young woman training to be an art appraiser, who ends up at an isolated castle.  Both that book and this one involve some valuable icons (which I learned, after reading Roberts' book, is a religious work of art, usually a painting of the Holy Mother, Mary).  Both stories feature two men who appear to be vying for the main character's affection.  And both stories have a protagonist whose name begins with "C" - Courtney in this book, Caroline in Roberts' book.  But, thankfully, this story did not follow the path of Roberts' - in this book, Courtney is a strong, independent woman who is capable of taking care of herself, while poor Caroline was a submissive woman who desperately needed a man to save her.  Also, thankfully, the man in this story who was truly trying to help the main character all along does not drug her and force her to marry him, as what happened in Roberts' book!

This book does, however, have the feel of a grown-up Nancy Drew book.  The cover art, in fact, seems to pay a slight homage to the original Tandy and Nappi covers of The Secret in the Old Attic.  Like Nancy, Courtney is determined to help Sarah Padgett protect her inheritance, and like Nancy, she is not afraid to climb the stairs into an old turret room (similar to the attic).  And, like Nancy, she gets locked in the room up there and left to die!  Only through ingenuity does Courtney (like Nancy!) figure out a way to escape the locked room.  There are also clues that are stolen, red herrings, a message from the decedent that gives the much needed clue to the hidden treasure, and a last minute attempt by the villain to keep Courtney from foiling his plans!  But, like Nancy, she manages to escape his death trap and make her way back to Rockhurst to reveal all at last.

The cover art is a wonderfully painted scene taken directly from page 118 of the story, where Courtney is exploring the turret room and comes across the "kerosene lamp, with a flat circular reflector, newly polished, and fresh oil in its well."  What I do like about the cover is the window in the background, in which one can see the numerous ravens flying around, as if they are preparing to swoop in and scavenge for whatever treasures they can find.  It's the perfect imagery for the characters in the story (and, hence, the title of the book), as Courtney tries to figure out who among them is working against her and against Sarah to try and steal the inheritance left by Jacob Padgett.  

This book was published in July 1983 alongside the first book in the series, the two acting as a sort of "breeder set" for this new Harlequin series.  At the same time, Harlequin also offered up two other new series:  their Regency Romance series and their new Romantic Suspense series.  An advertisement for all three series appeared on the inside back cover of these first two books, encouraging readers to "Discover the new and unique Harlequin Category-Romance Specials!"  The ad described the books as "A new and exciting world of romance reading."  The Regency Romance series lasted the longest (22 books from 1983 to 1988), while this Gothic Romance series lasted 18 books (from 1983 to 1988); however, the Romantic Suspense series never made it past those initial two books in 1983.  Perhaps because the Romantic Suspense stories were so similar in nature to the Gothic Romance books, Harlequin simply saw no reason to continue two series with the same subject matter.  Since then, of course, Harlequin has offered up other Regency and Suspense series, some of which continue being published today.

This book, for whatever reason, proved to be the hardest of the Harlequin Gothic Romance books to find.  I eventually took a chance with Thrift Books (who I normally try to avoid buying from, as they rarely offer photos of their books being sold, they never actually describe the actual book being sold, and they place bar code stickers on the spine of every book they sell that can sometimes be difficult to remove), and by some miracle, I received the right copy of the book with a sticker that was easily removed without damage to the book.  Thus, with this book, I was finally able to complete my full set of 18 Harlequin gothics!

RATING:  10 small lavender jade Buddhas out of 10 for a great gothic tale with the right mix of mystery, suspense, danger, and romance.

Penny Parker Mystery Stories No. 16 - Swamp Island

And so we come to the penultimate Penny Parker mystery story, as we reach the 16th book in the series.  It is truly amazing to me how far this series has come, and how Mildred Wirt's writing has evolved over the course of the nine years and 17 books that were published in this series.  What started as a more-or-less typical children's mystery series has gradually grown into stories with more intricate plots, more dastardly and dangerous villains, and definitely more adult-oriented stories.  This story definitely ups the ante in all of those aspects.

Swamp Island is a story that leads readers to think the mystery is one thing, but then takes it in an entirely different direction.  Wirt opens the mystery with Penny and her best friend, Louise, sailing a flat-bottomed skiff through a local swamp to collect flowers for a banquet that her father is putting together (p. 1).  Now, right off the bat, this raises a few questions, the main one being just where in the world if Riverview?  Previous books indicated the town is only a few hours from a beach (see Voice from the Cave).  Yet, now, here the girls are making their way through swamp land to collect flowers, such as Cherokee roses, water lilies, yellow jessamine, and iris (p. 3).  A quick internet search reveals that these flowers are native to the southeastern areas of the United States; so, does that mean Riverview is located in the south (such as Florida)?  Other tidbits from the books would be more indicative of a mid-western setting, such as those clues to River Heights in the Nancy Drew books.  I suppose that is something we will never know.

Regardless, Penny stays true to nature (no pun intended), as her father had given her $20 to purchase flowers for the banquet (p. 3), which is equivalent to $350 in today's money; yet, she decides to pocket the money and gather swamp blossoms instead.  While in the swamp, the girls come face-to-face with some rather not-so-nice gun-carrying men who warn the girls away - forcing them to leave Louise's dog, Bones, behind (p. 8)!  I wonder when Louise got the dog, as she never mentioned having a dog in any prior book.  The girls learn the men are Ezekiel Hawkins and his two sons, Hod and Coon (p. 13).  You have to give Wirt credit for using some rather unusual names.  Ezekiel and Hod are both Biblical names, but Coon is an odd choice, considering its negative connotation (although, back in Wirt's day when this book was published, the word may have been more connected with hunting and working dogs).  And Ezekiel's wife's name is actually Manthy (p. 14)!  By the end of this second chapter, we get a hint at what we think will be the mystery - a radio warning to be on the lookout for escaped convict Danny Deevers, alias Spike Devons (p. 15).  It is interesting to note that "Danny Deevers" is the name of an 1890 poem by Rudyard Kipling, considered by many to be one of Kipling's most significant early works, which tells the story of the execution of a British soldier in India for murder.

We quickly learn that Danny Deevers was sent to prison because of some stories Jerry Livingston wrote about shortages at the Third Federal Loan Bank in Riverview (p. 17), and so readers have the expectation that the story is going to center around Deevers and his desire for revenge on the man who put him away - similar to the story of the original Cape Fear film from 1962.  But, if that is your belief, well, you'd be sadly mistaken.  Other than one incident where Jerry is knocked unconscious (p. 46), Jerry plays little part in the mystery, and as a result, so does Danny Deevers.  Instead, Penny's focus is on finding out exactly what the Hawkins men are up to in that swamp (and although she believes it is somehow connected to Danny Deevers, there are incidents that occur - such as a stolen shotgun, a last-minute save from a charging boar, and missing food - that are misdirects and red herrings that are ultimately revealed to be completely unrelated to Deevers).  While the book and overall mystery are good, the false start ended up with a bit of a let-down by the end of the story.

As usual, Wirt throws some things into the story that have real life connections.  For instance, more than once in the story there are references to Neco cigarettes - described as "one of the strongest cigarettes on the market" (p. 47).  As it turns out, NECCO was a candy company back in the day that sold chalky white candy cigarettes back in the '20s and '30s, so one might assume that Wirt perhaps had some of those as a child and perhaps integrated them into her story as a cute nod to them.  There is also the hotel where Penny's father is throwing the banquet - Hillcrest Hotel (p.21).  Back in the day, there was a hotel by that name in Toledo, Ohio, where it is said authors, artists, and business people would regularly stay (including Amelia Earhart, who stayed there in 1933).  In addition, an accident that provides Salt and Penny with an important clue occurs at the intersection of Jefferson and Huron (p. 30) - and, wouldn't you know it, but there is such an intersection in downtown Toledo, Ohio, just blocks away from the Maumee River!

And we certainly must not forget Black Island, a remote island in the middle of the swamp, which holds secrets that Penny is determined to uncover.  Now, the name of this island has several possibilities when it comes to references outside of the story.  First, the name is also the title to the seventh volume in The Adventures of Rin Tintin, a comic series by Herge (The Black Island).  It was first published in black and white in 1938, and later republished in color in 1943, just four years prior to this book being published.  Black's Island is also the name of an island off the gulf coast in Florida, which was so named after the pirate, Black Sam Bellamy, who made the island his home back in the 1700s (and in case you're interested, this particular 7-acre island is currently for sale for just $50 million!).  Also, there is another Black Island, located at the center of Muscongus Bay (in Maine).  This 15-acre island was settled by Europeans back in the early 1800s, and at the start of the 1900s, approximately 50 people lives on the island.  No doubt, there are other Black Islands out there in the world, so it leaves one to wonder which one inspired Wirt for this book!

K.S. Woerner provides the art for both the cover and the frontis piece, and I have to say, neither of them are his best work.  His art from the earlier books is definitely superior to the art in this one.  One thing I did note, however, is that in the early books of the series, Penny is depicted by Woerner with a bow in her hair on most of the illustrations; however, Penny lacks the bow in both the cover and the internal of this book, and her hair is more modern, curled style.  One wonders if he was instructed to give Penny an older appearance, and so the bow was done away with, or was it simply a matter of changing hair styles for young women from 1939 to 1947 that prompted the change.

Again, the story was not bad at all - definitely more mature storylines than in the earlier books; but, I was disappointed by the hinted mystery surrounding Danny Deevers at the beginning of the book that was never truly the main mystery of the book.  I was looking forward to the Cape Fear-style tale of a convict looking for revenge on the man who put him away, but instead got a story about bootleggers hiding in the swamp.  Well, with only one more book left in the series, I'm looking forward to see how Wirt ends her tales of Penny Parker's adventures!

RATING:  8 large puts of turtle stew out of 10 for sending Penny into more dangerous situations, while deepening the relationship between her and Jerry Livingston!

Kidnapped in the Jungle - A Hal Keen Mystery Story (No. 2)

While I do not normally collect boys' series books (with a few notable exceptions, such as Ted Wilford, Tom Swift, Ken Holt, and a few Hardy Boys here and there), the Hal Keen series is one where I have picked up books only when I have come across them in dust jackets at a very reasonable price.  Up until now, I've only had three of the ten book series - The Hermit of Gordon's Creek (book 1), The Copperhead Trail Mystery (book 3), and The Mysterious Arab (book 5).  Despite not having the whole series, I did go ahead and read those (well before I started this blog), and I found them to be halfway decent reads.  So, when I came across this book on Amazon with a dust jacket at a cheap price, I went ahead and snagged it.  Having now read it, I must admit - either my memory is faulty, and the other three books were not nearly as good as I remember, or this book just does not hold up as well as the others!

Kidnapped in the Jungle is the second book in the series.  The story finds Hal Keen traveling by ship to the Panama region to join his uncle, Denis Keen, who has been in that region searching for a missing young boy by the name of Alan Brody who disappeared in the jungles six month prior.  The elder Keen had no success, so Hal was going to meet up with his uncle to accompany him on his trip home.  Unexpectedly (to him, but not to us as the readers), Hal finds himself knee-deep in mysteries as his former school friend, Colin Walters, has stowed away on the boat!  He is believed to have killed one Mr. Wainwright in order to steal a treasure map that would lead him to a hidden family treasure -- where else?  You guessed it!  In the jungles near Panama!  Coly. as he is known, claims to have followed one of the men he knows who actually stole the map onto the boat, and now he asks for Hal's help.  Of course, Hal readily agrees, not knowing that mystery will also intertwine with the search for young Alan Brody.

 

While the story makes some attempt at being suspenseful - stinging scorpions just inches away, deadly tarantulas crawling up Hal's arm, and stories that two of the three criminal died horribly in the treacherous swamps in the jungle - the sluggish manner in which it proceeds only makes the story seem to drag.  It's fairly evident from the get-go that Hal and Mr. Brody's guide through the jungle has evil intentions, and when he turns out to be working alongside the only surviving criminal who is searching for the Wainwright treasure, it comes as no surprise.  Even the revelation regarding Mr. Brody's son towards the end of the story does not truly surprise the reader, as it is hinted at several times as they traipse through the jungle.  There's very little time actually spent "searching" for the treasure (they know where it is based on the map, and it takes them less than a chapter to dig it up, never even opening it after they find the box), and there's actually no time spent "looking" for Mr. Brody's son.  The majority of the story is spent with the walk through the jungle and the turn of events when their guide shows his true colors, leaving Hal tied to a tree (as depicted on the cover) and taking Mr. Brody with him to do God-only-knows-what.  (And Hal is tied to the tree for more than 24 hours, leaving me to wonder - what did he do when he needed to go to the bathroom?) 

 

There are a couple of things that caught my attention while reading.  On page 2, when Hal is talking with the purser aboard the ship, the purser describes Hal's uncle as "a miniature Woolworth Building..."  You don't often see references to actual departments stores in children's series books; normally, the author will use fictional store names.  Another thing worth mentioning is found on page 115, when Hal is speaking with Mr. Brody about their diminutive native guide - Hal laughs at the small stature of the guide, telling Mr. Brody that "[w]hat puzzles me is whether he's the only nigger in the woodpile?"  Now, remembering this book was published in 1931, such a turn of phrase would not have been as shocking as it would be to today's readers.  The phrase originally referred to some unknown factor that would ultimately cause things to turn out differently than one had anticipated - basically, something suspicious or not quite right.  As the term "nigger" became more of an ethnic slur, the phrase was used less and less.  Of course, the story also has other ethnic slurs, as they consistently refer to their guide as a "half-breed," and more than once, references are made to the superiority of "white man" over the jungle natives.  Again, when reading these things, one must remember the context and time period when the story was written in order to understand that such ways of thinking, while appalling today, would have been fairly standard in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

One final thing I found odd is the fact that Hal smokes a pipe in this book.  I don't recall any of the other three books I've read having Hal smoke at all, yet in this story, Hal is said to have "leaned over toward the night table [in his state room aboard the ship], and secured his pipe and tobacco.  After he had taken a puff or two..." (p. 11).  Later in the story, while in the jungle with Mr. Brody, he pulls out his pipe again and smokes.  While Hal's age is never stated in this book, I seem to recall from reading the other books that Hal was a teenager.  If such is the case, why in the world would he be smoking a pipe?!

The series is written by Percy Keese Fitzhugh under the pseudonym Hugh Lloyd.  Fitzhugh wrote nearly one hundred books for children, including several boy scout-type series featuring Tom Slade, Pee-Wee Harris, Roy Blakeley, and others.  Apparently, from what I could gather online, when Fitzhugh's series about scouts began to falter, he wrote the Hal Keen series for Grosset & Dunlap, as well as the lesser known Skippy Dare series (which only had three titles).  Neither series lasted as long as his scouting series did.  In fact, one of his characters, Pee-Wee Harris, still appears in a comic strip in the Boys' Life magazine.

A far as I know, only this book and the first were republished by Whitman under different cover art.  Whitman was known for offering up previously published books from series without actually publishing all the books in that particular series (such as Tom Swift, the Rover Boys, Garry Grayson, the Outdoor Girls, and others).  The cover art, as seen here, is usually of a lesser quality than that of the original stories, and usually not as detailed either.  Bert Salg provided the art for the original Grosset & Dunlap version of this book, and his visuals are, as far as I'm concerned, a far cry better than the unsigned art that graced the cover of the Whitman edition.

 

The internal illustrations are done by the same artist who did the cover art (Berg Salg), yet they do not have the same quality as that on the cover.  In addition, the publisher did not insert the illustrations at the correct places for the scenes depicted.  For example, the first internal is inserted between pages 66 and 67; however, the scene shown in the illustration does not appear until page 108! The second internal is inserted between pages 130 and 131, yet the scene occurs on page 142.  The final internal is the closest, as it appears between pages 194 and 195, while the scene actually takes place on 193.  It would be interesting to know the reason for the misplaced illustrations.

Although this book did not meet my expectations, based on the previous three I read, I will likely still pick up the series as I find the books and hope that they hold up better than this one!

RATING:  5 ragged shirts with duck trousers out of 10 for at least attempting to take the main character and put him in an uncomfortable and unfamiliar locale and situation.

Misty - 2024 Special

I was actually surprised when I saw this comic solicited in Previews.  I have several collection of the old Misty weekly comic from back in the '70s and '80s, as well as one of the original Annuals that was published in Britain; however, I was not aware that anyone was publishing new stories. Obviously, I ordered it, and when it arrived this month, I was not really sure what to expect.  What did surprise me is that three of the four stories were written by Gail Simone, a comic book writer, I have followed for years.  Her work on Birds of Prey for DC Comics is probably one of the best runs out there (outside of Chuck Dixon, of course), and I loved her run on Wonder Woman.  Thus, seeing her name headlining the creators for this special gave me high hopes - and she did NOT disappoint!

Misty 2024 Special features a beautifully painted cover by Tula Lotay (the pen name for English artist Lisa Wood).  The cover clearly pays homage to the classic images of the character Misty, who graced the covers and inside covers of the ongoing weekly comic, while at the same time giving readers a slight hint as to the first story once you dig inside.  I'm not familiar with Ms. Wood (a/k/a Ms. Lotay), nor do I recognize any of the artists for the four stories (Carola Borelli/Ellie Wright; Aly Fell; Marianna Ignazzi; and Letty Wilson), so I am assuming they are likely all European artists.  The work on the first three stories, all written by Simone, is magnificent (the second one being my favorite); the art on the fourth and final tale is a bit outside my normal likes, but I suppose it does fit the story.

The first tale, "Eleven Lonely Deaths," finds Misty herself walking the short of Syndon Lake, when she meets a photographer who is also a true crime podcaster.  He shares with Misty (and the readers) the tragic history of the lake and the eleven young girls who were murdered there.  A man was eventually arrested and charged with the crimes, but Misty surprises the photographer with news that the wrong man was convicted - and from there, the story takes a couple of surprising twists and turns ... and, well, I don't want to surprise the ending for you, but let's just say the irony is certainly fitting!

The second story, "The Pub at the End of the Road," is probably my favorite of the four tales.  Misty hosts the tale, but she only has a minor background role in the story itself.  A young woman named Willow, the daughter of a rather shady pub owner, is the star of this macabre tale.  While she may look and act like a Disney princess (even caring for the small critters that scurry around the back of the pub), she doesn't see herself as one, thanks to the cruelty of a father that uses her merely to increase his bank account.  Of course, there's the charming young man named David (who bears an uncanny resemblance to a young David Cassidy from back in the day!) who wants to save her from this life.  But, as with any good horror tale, things spiral out of control and ... well, by the end of this story, everyone really does get exactly what they deserve!

The third tale, "Happy Birthday, Mrs. Parker!," plays on the expectations of the reader. In this one, Misty takes on the role of a nurse at a small country hospital, where the nurses gather to celebrate the birthday of one very special nurse named Carina.  The patients refer to her as an angel because of her disposition and her willingness to work all hours of the day and night to help them.  But there's one nurse, Mika, who doesn't like her - in fact, she gets rather nasty to Misty as well!  Well, the story, of course, takes a dark turn when it is revealed the hospital has an unusually high death rate - and the tables get turned on one of the nurses who has been killing the patients!  Oh, and pay attention to the sign on the kitchen wall in the background, as it might give you a hint of what's to come...

The final story is definitely my least favorite of the four tales.  A young girl knows something strange has happened next door, as the neighbors have suddenly disappeared without cause.  When she goes to investigate, she discovers the house has been left with good on the counter and mail piling up at the door.  As she explores further, she comes across a mirror that is cracked ... a mirror that offers her an unusual escape ... or is it actually a trap?  And when she does finally find her way out of the mirror, is it her that comes back - or merely a mirror copy?  The art in this story just does not do it for me.  The story I can take - I like the idea of mirror/mirror worlds with alternate realities or other dimensions.  But I have a hard time appreciating the stylistic art of this tale - it takes away from my enjoyment of reading.

Overall, a pretty good issue, and it is capped off with a beautiful rendition of Misty by artist Shirley Bellwood on the back cover.  Hopefully this issue sells well so that maybe we will see some more specials in the coming years (or maybe even a regular series!).

RATING:  9 bottles of evening strange perfume out of 10 for some fantastic new tales of irony, horror, and Misty-loving fun!

Let the Crags Comb Out Her Dainty Hair - a Queen-Size Gothic

Okay, so last month, I came across the title to this book and thought, "This has to be the strangest title I have ever seen for a gothic novel!"  The cover art was beautiful, although not the typical young woman running away from a castle in the background, but rather, a collage of images that I figured must somehow depict the story within. I did not think much of it after that, but color me surprised when I went to my local used book store this month and happened across a copy of this very book!  Needless to say, I had to have it - with a title like that, I was dying to know what the story was.  I know the back synopsis hinted at a woman with the power to see the future in her dreams, so I was anticipating some great supernatural gothic terror.  Sadly, that was not the case.

Let the Crags Comb Out Her Dainty Hair did not in any way meet up to the expectations I had for it.  Published in 1975 by Popular Library under its "Queen-Size Gothic" series, this book was written by Jacqueline Marten, who, it turns out, is an actual person and not just another pseudonym.  She apparently began writing for pulp magazine back in the 1940s, but later tried her hand at novels; this book is the first of only twenty that she had published over a twenty-year period.  From what I could find online, her favorite genre was historical romance, of which this novel was clearly an example.  With a title like this, I was truly expecting a dark, strange story to equal the name; but what I found instead was a fairly typical romance story set in the early 1800s with a very, VERY small spattering of gothic elements that seem to have been thrown in as an afterthought.

The first fifty pages of the book are spent giving readers the backstory of Kynthia Brook, the daughter of an Englishman and Greek woman who spent her childhood and teen years in Greece, her mother's homeland.  The author gives readers a hint of the fact that Kynthia has the ability to dream of future events, but more time is spent on her relationship with her best friend, Berenike, and the four boys she considered like brothers - Aris, Paulos, Georgi, and Joseph.  When Kynthia's mother succumbs to an illness and dies, her father (at her mother's dying request) takes her to England, where they purchase a small cottage on the cliffs near Kent, in the hopes she will marry an Englishman that will treat her like a lady rather than like property, as so many Greek men do.  But Kynthia is special - not only does she have the dream talent, but she is also well-educated, thanks to her father is a teacher.  Thus, Kynthia has a mind and will of her own, and she is not one given to faint or blush at the sight of a man.

From there, most of the remainder of the story focuses on Kynthia's struggle to determine which man she loves - the playful, rebellious Brant Halley (the only son of Sir Halley's second wife) and the more formal, traditional Dennis Halley (he second son of Sir Halley's first wife).  She finds herself attracted to both men for various reasons, and although Brant is more similar in nature to Kynthia, Dennis has an off-putting personality that drives Kynthia crazy.  Both men profess their love for her, but only one of them actually proposes.  And then Halley Hall is set ablaze, killing Brant and Dennis' older brother, William, and leaving their father grievously injured.  Of course, that burnt, shell of a building also happens to be the dark castle Kynthia saw in her dreams when she was still in Greece (one of the very few elements of the story that might be considered to be "gothic").  At this point, the story begins to spiral downward - the engagement is off, Dennis heads off to war while Brant leaves with his mother for other parts of England, and Mr. Brooks' health takes a sudden turn for the worse.  And when it seems like everything in Kynthia's life is crashing to the ground, a surprise appearance by Dennis (who was wounded badly in the war) leads to a new marriage proposal.

And FINALLY, as we reach the end of the story, in just the last few chapters, we get some semblance of a gothic tale.  Kynthia finds married life is not what she thought, as she becomes more or less a prisoner in her own new home.  Her father is dead, and her new husband is determined to control her at all costs, never letting her go anywhere alone.  The reappearance of Brant offers her a chance at freedom, and Kynthia ultimately learns the truth about the Halley family and the secrets they have been hiding, which nearly cost her her life!  Readers get a passing mention of a "ghost" in the halls of the burned building, and Kynthia does hear strange singing coming from the supposedly abandoned house - but again, none of this takes place until the very end of the book.  Frankly, the end of the story feels more like an afterthought, as if the author suddenly remembers this was supposed to be a gothic novel, so she threw in some quickly inspired elements to fit the genre.

The writing itself was not bad, and the characters are strong; however, the story itself is not what I would call "gothic" at all, and I think promoting this as a "Queen Size Gothic" was a misnomer.  I have to wonder how many readers back in the day were just as disappointed when they picked up the book, only to discover a historical romance completely lacking in all of the standard gothic tropes.  I will say, though, that the author did stay true to the time period.  Dennis goes off to fight in the Battle of Waterloo, which took place in June 1815; and Kynthia's love of Jane Austen books is scattered throughout the story, with her enthusiasm at getting the new books as they came out in in 1813, 1814, and 1815.  The fact that Kynthia was an avid reader, and that she fought against the norm of her day, where women were not educated in scholarly studies, but rather in household duties, was a plus for her character in my book.  Her refusal to simply cow-tow to the men around her, and her courage to stand up to them did make for a more interesting read than this could have been.  So, despite the lack of gothic elements, the story did have a few saving graces.

Overall, however, this is definitely my least favorite gothic book to date.  I would say it rates even lower than that first Janet Louise Roberts book I read (and that's saying something!).  Would not recommend it, unless you are a fan of historical romance, in which case, this would be right up your alley!

RATING:  4 secret messages hidden in a book out of 10 for a strong female lead and for coming up with the most unique title to ever grace the cover of a gothic tale!

Connie Blair Mystery No. 1 - The Clue in Blue

I think this may be one of the first series of children's mysteries that I have read out of order!  Normally I would start with the first book and read them in order; however, with this series, I admit to having read the ninth book (The Brown Satchel Mystery) first, since it was set in Florida, and I happened to be reading through a number of books set in Florida.  I admit, I was not overly impressed with that book, although I would not say it was bad - it was sort of mediocre when it came to the mystery element.  But, I wanted to read this book, since I recently read Gertrude E. Mallette's mystery of a similar name (Mystery in Blue), and I was curious to know if there were any similarities between the stories (especially since they were published only three years apart - Mystery in 1945, and Clue in 1948).  The comparison was definitely worth it!

The Clue in Blue, the first Connie Blair Mystery, was published in 1948.  Written by Betty Cavanna under the pseudonym, Betsy Allen, the book introduces readers to the title character and her rather large supporting cast.  We get introduced to seventeen-year old Connie Blair and her twin sister, Catherine (referred to as "Kit") ... we meet their mother, their younger brother (Toby), and their father (who owns the local hardware store in Meadowbrook).  We meet the twins' Aunt Bet (Elizabeth Easton), who is said to be twenty-eight years old (p. 91) and who works in a department store in Philadelphia, and who has come to Meadowbrook to visit with her sister and host an impromptu fashion show.  This leads to her asking one of the twins if they would like to come back with her and model fashions at Campion's department store in Philadelphia!  Kit, the more reserved of the twins, declines, preferring to stay in their small hometown and help her father out at the store; Connie, on the other hand, jumps at the chance, as she has been eager since graduating high school to enter the working world, and now is her chance!  But, before she can even leave Meadowbrook, a mystery begins to brew when an expensive hat Aunt Bet was sure she brought with her is nowhere to be found...

As the story unfolds, Connie travels with her twenty-eight year old aunt to Philadelphia, where she is introduced to the (what she believes to be) glamorous world of department store modeling.  Aunt Bet is the store's stylist, and she is very popular among the employees.  It is here that Connie meets Larry Stewart, who works in the display department at the store - and with whom Connie develops an immediately liking for!  But there's little time for romance, as Connie soon learns the expensive hat is not the first item in the store to go missing.  What is odd, however, is that all of the other items had been returned. Before you know it, Connie accidentally spots a man in the ladies hat room, and she gets knocked unconscious before she can identify him.  No one believes she saw anyone (since the store was not open at the time), and Connie begins to doubt herself.  But as more things begin to happen - an expensive faux pearl necklace disappears and then reappears in her aunt's purse!  A young stock girl is found crying in the models' dressing room. Aunt Bet's apartment home is broken into and ransacked!  Connie slowly begins to put the pieces of the puzzle together, and soon enough, she not only solves the mystery of the "borrowed" merchandise, but she finds the missing hat and uncovers an ingenious international plot to sell priceless jewelry!

There are a number of terms in this book that I found to be interesting.  The first is the casual reference to "The Fortnightly" hosting a garden party and fashion show in Meadowbrook (p. 5).  There is no indication as to what "The Fortnightly" is, and I found nothing online other than its definition, which means once every two weeks.  So, perhaps this is a club in Meadowbrook that meets every two weeks?  I suppose that is one mystery that will remain unsolved.  Then there is the Blair's dog, which is named Ruggles "because of his color, for Ruggles of Red Gap..." (p 15).  Having never heard of this, I went online and discovered this was a 1935 comedy film based on a 1915 best-selling novel. Not really sure what the "color" of the dog has to do with the relation to the film, unless it is simply because of the "red" in the title of the film.  Next, we come to two psychological terms - schizophrenic and kleptomaniac.  Connie and her aunt both agree they cannot say the first (p. 28); yet, neither have a problem pronouncing the second.  I found that rather odd.  Further terms include "chambray" (p. 75), which I learned is a type of natural fabric made from either linen or cotton with colored wrap and white filling yarns; a "Pennsylvania Dutch water bench" (p. 81), which turns out to be a dresser that has a lower portion closed off by doors and an upper section with shallow drawers; an antique brass "samovar" (p. 85), which is a metal container used to heat and boil water; some "baum martens" (p. 95), which happen to be fur coats; and ultimately, a "sacque" (p. 120), which is a short infant's jacket.  That's quite a few fashion terms I learned from this book!

In addition, there are several references to actual things in the book, such as Connie and her aunt walking to a church described as being near Rittenhouse Square (p. 32).  Rittenhouse Square is an actual park located in Center City Philadelphia (and apparently it's a well-to-do area).  There is also a reference to Coke (p. 47) instead of simply "cola" or "soda."  You don't often see brand names like that in series books, particularly from as long ago as the 1940s.  There is also reference to the Robin Hood Dell (p. 168), where Larry takes Connie and her aunt to see a summer concert (p. 169). This was an area where the Philadelphia Orchestra performed summer concerts from 1930 to 1976, but is now known as the Dell Music Center.  Plus, the book mentions Fairmont Park (p. 170), which is said to be the largest municipal park in Philadelphia.  Finally, when Connie comes back to her aunt's apartment late after a night spent at the department store, Larry mentions they were prepared to "drag the Delaware ... and then the Schuylkill" (p. 195).  While I was aware of the Delaware River, I was not aware of the Schuylkill River, which joins the Delaware in Philadelphia.

Now, when it comes to the title of the book, I was patiently waiting as I read the story for the "blue" clue to show up.  The first referenced clue is found after Aunt Bet's apartment is ransacked (which is also the scene depicted on the cover of the dust jacket and picture cover editions of the book).  Connie comes into the kitchen carrying an ash tray with a single, crushed cigarette butt (p. 89).  Connie declares it must be a clue, as neither she nor Aunt Bet smoke (which begs the question, why would they have an ash tray in the apartment?), and since the butt has no liptsick on it, it must have been a man - although Aunt Bet overcomes that theory when she reminds her niece that not all women wear lipstick.  What all of them overlook, however, is the bigger question - if someone was ransacking the house, searching for something or wanting to steal something, why would they stop and take the time to smoke a cigarette, and then so graciously crush the butt into an ashtray, instead of just letting it drop wherever?  This has to be one of the craziest clues I have ever seen in a mystery novel!  The blue clue does eventually appear, though, when the stolen necklace shows up in Aunt Bet's purse wrapped in a square of pale-blue cleansing tissue (p. 129), the same tissues that are only found in the models' dressing room!

One thing I must make mention of is the advertisement I found at the front of the book.  I am aware the copy of the book I have is not a first printing, as the front flap of the dust jacket, as well as the ad inside, list up to book five, The Green Island Mystery.  But what I thought strange is the ad, which appears before the frontis piece, before the title page, and before the copyright page, promotes the first book as "a special low-priced edition made to introduce" readers to this series, and advertises the series of books as being "available at all bookstores" at the low price of seventy-five cents each!  The listing shows five books (the final one with the caveat of being "ready soon") and indicates "there will be more to come."   I don't recall seeing any other series books that listed the series in such a manner, and I have to wonder what prompted Grosset & Dunlap to advertise the series this way.

And, just like The Brown Satchel Mystery, which I previously read, this book also has a paperback edition that was published by Tempo Books in the 1960s.  The cover art is gorgeous, and like the art for The Brown Satchel Mystery, it offers up a college that features more elements from the actual mystery than the dust jacket and picture cover editions do.  Something to note about the Tempo paperback editions is that only three were published, and they were in a different order than originally published - the 12th book in the series was the first Tempo paperback; this book, the 1st in the series, was published as the second Tempo paperback; and Brown Satchel, which was the 9th book in the series, was published as the third Tempo paperback.  I've not read the paperback editions, so I'm not sure if there were any editorial changes to the text to account for the books being out of order (since I know Brown Satchel makes reference to a couple of the other mysteries which were not published by Tempo in the paperback versions).  However, the cover art alone of those Tempo books is enough to make finding them worthwhile!

Before signing off, I do want to say that reading this mystery reminded me a great deal of the Katy Keene television series that ran for one season on the CW.  In that series, Katy went to New York to become a fashion designer, but she starts off her career working in a high-end department store.  Some of the descriptions of the store and the employees and management therein felt very much like the store in the Katy Keene show.  It almost makes me think they could have done a Connie Blair mystery series if they had wanted!

Overall, I would say I liked this book better than I did The Brown Satchel Mystery, so it has given me hope that the other books in the series will be worth the read!

RATING:  8 elevator car cards out of 10 for a great introduction to a different type of amateur sleuth, a fun supporting cast, and a series of unique style.

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #9 - You'll Die Tomorrow

One thing I remember liking about this series when it was first published, and I admittedly still enjoy it today, is that the authors who wrote more than one book in this series managed to use titles that immediately identified with the author and the character of the story.  For Marjorie J. Grove (a/k/a Martin Grove), each of the books with Maxine Reynolds was titled with "You'll Die..." something.  First, it was You'll Die When You Hear This ... then it was You'll Die Laughing.  Now, with Grove's third book in the series (numbered nine if the actual ongoing numbering of the series), we get another variation of this title. And since this book picks up literally right after Grove's second mystery in this series, it feels like returning to visit old friends again ...

You'll Die Tomorrow opens with Max waking up after a long flight home from London, where she was solved her last murder mystery.  In fact, there is a specific footnote referencing the last book on page 8, in case readers forgot.  Dealing with jet lag, the Hollywood gossip columnist must get up for her meeting with everybody's favorite agent, Ken Carson - a meeting that sets the ball rolling for Max's latest mystery.  While lunching with the older man, Max meets record producer Cory Collins, who is known for his wandering eye for women, and whose marriage to his second wife is rumored to be on the rocks.  Max is determined to get the story, so when Cory invites Max to his house for a party he is hosting, she jumps at the chance.  Of course, she intends to take her boyfriend, Rob Allan, with her so that Cory will know she is off-limits.

At the party, Max meets Cory's wife, Joyce (nicknamed "Joycie"), a woman who clearly enjoys the lavish lifestyle her husband provides.  But Max knows that lifestyle may be in jeopardy due to Cory's unhealthy love of gambling and the amount of money he loses during his jaunts to Las Vegas.  As coincidence would have it, Max is planning a short vacation to Aruba with Rob and - well, it turns out Cory and Joycie are also headed to Aruba at the same time!  Needless to say, Max's employer tells her to keep an eye on Cory and come back with some great columns for their magazine.  None of them realized that story would find Max involved in yet another murder mystery (although, for the reader, it is no surprise, since this is a murder mystery series!).  When Cory keels over dead at a craps table in one of the Aruba hotels, it is up to Max to figure out whodunnit.  Was it the young singer whose career Cory ruined years ago when she would not sleep with him, and who is now forced to sing in Aruba hotels just to make a living?  Was it the mysterious man with the briefcase who came out of the safe deposit room at the hotel with Cory earlier in the day, and with whom he was arguing at the time?  Was it Joycie Collins, who was worried her husband would squander away all of their money before she could divorce him?  Or was there someone else involved who Max had not yet seen?

Like Grove's previous books, the murder does not actually take place until nearly half-way through the book.  Grove has a habit in her (his) stories of spending quite a lot of time describing the meals and going into considerable detail about locations.  In fact, the hotels referenced in the book along the Palm Beach area of Aruba are actual places - the Concorde hotel (referred to as "the brand new Concorde" on page 53 because, at the time this book was published, that hotel had just opened its doors - now it has been renamed to the Riu Palace Antillas); the Sheraton hotel (which is now called the Aruba Grand, a part of the RIU Palace); the Caribbean hotel (which is now the Hilton Aruba Caribbean Resort & Casino); the Americana hotel (which has also changed names a couple of times, now called the Occidental Grand Aruba); and the Holiday Inn (which appears to be the only hotel that still retains its original name!).  Thus, if anyone really wanted to explore the hotels and casinos mentioned in the book (and see the place where poor Cory died in the book), it is actually possible!  The casino where poor Cory is poisoned is the King International Casino in the Holiday Inn, which is what the casino was called back in the late '70s - it later became the Grand Holiday Casino, and now it is named the Excelsior Casino.  Thus, I have to suspect that Grove at some point prior to writing this mystery actually visited Aruba and was familiar with those beach front hotels.

While the previous Grove mysteries featured internal illustrations that were not as distinct and clear as many of the other books in this series, this particular one offers some beautiful art inside (as well as on the cover).  No signatures on any of the illustrations identify the artist, and there is, of course, no credit given on the copyright page.  However, if you have learned by now to really pay attention to the details in the internals, as well as on the cover, you will see that this one gives up some fairly easy-to-spot clues as to the killer's identity.  In fact, the mystery itself makes the killer's identity pretty obvious, although the motive is not necessarily what one suspects.  And unlike the last book, the cover scene does actually occur in the book (albeit with more characters and Max is not quire so close to the deceased).  

Another satisfying read - and looking ahead, it appears I will have a bit of a wait until Grove's next mystery, since the next one does not come along until book 18, some nine books after this one!

RATING:  8 black Las Vegas gambling chips out of 10 for giving readers a trip to Aruba for a somewhat easy mystery to solve!