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.