Meg and the Treasure Nobody Saw - Mystery #3 in a series

This book marks the halfway point of the Meg Duncan series, by Holly Beth Walker.  It also turns out to be the book that has the only scene I remember from the series from back when I read these as a child (more on that below).  So far, I have been enjoying my re-reading of this series, and I am thankful my friend, Jarrell Dickey, made the suggestion that I should pick these up and re-read them.  Yes, admittedly, these stories are fairly simple and clearly aimed at early readers (not quite the Nancy Drew Notebooks age group, but definitely younger than the original Nancy Drew Mystery Stories age group).  They are fun, and Meg is not your typical financially-secure, freedom-enjoying teenager - she is probably closer to Trixie Belden in that aspect, as her father, as well as the family housekeeper and her husband keep a close eye on Meg, and she does get in trouble when she does not listen to them.  This gives the series a bit more of a realistic feel to it, giving young readers someone with whom they can easily identify.

 

The Treasure Nobody Saw does not have an identifiable author; yet, despite what online sources say, the stories still feel rather consistent.  A slight variation in names (calling Constable Hosey "Mr. Hosey," or the Carmody children calling their dad "Father" instead of "Sir," do not really make much of a difference when the reader is focused more on the story and Meg's adventures in solving the mystery.  In this instance, the mystery starts off as one things and leads into something entirely different by the end.  With her best friend, Kerry Carmody, out of town, Meg is rather lonely and bored.  So, on a dark and stormy night when she witnesses a car driving up to the Haywood house (which is supposed to be empty, since Bud and Sally Haywood were gone for the summer for jobs), Meg smells a mystery!

 

For the first half of the book, Meg sets about uncovering the identity of the person or persons who have taken up residence at the Haywood house.  First, it was merely the car driving up.  Then there is the person she sees in an upper window.  Finally, she sees a girl not much other than her in the yard, and that is when she finds out the truth!  A traveling family was forced to stop the night of the rain because the father had taken ill, and with no place else to go, they stopped at the Haywood house - finding it unlocked and empty, they chose to stay until the father was recovered and could drive (planning to leave money for anything they used while they were there). Meg agrees to keep their stay a secret, and even helps them out by bringing them food from her own house (and don't think that does not go unnoticed by the housekeeper!).  

 

After Meg makes friends of the James family, she then learns that the family has heard strange sounds in the house, as if someone was breaking in.  Meg sets about to find out who could be breaking in and why, and what she ultimately learns is that the house contains a treasure worth as much as twenty-five thousand dollars (which would equate to more than $200,000 in today's currency!), a treasure that would greatly help out Bud and Sally Haywood, who are in danger of losing the house due to a lack of money.  This is now the second mystery in a row where Meg has uncovered a hidden treasure that helps save a family homestead.

 

As with the previous books, the internals are provided by Cliff Schule, with a new cover on the paperback painted by Olindo Giacomini.  Looking at the original cover, if one was not aware of the story inside, one would assume the picture is that of Meg and her best friend, Kerry; however, when you read the story, you realize the blond-haired girl is actually Abigail James, the daughter of the family staying in the Haywood house.  The cover for the paperback edition gives us a more dramatic scene, where Meg and Mr. James are hiding behind a curtain while the intruder is climbing in through a library window (although, admittedly, you cannot see Mr. James - you only know he is there if you read the story!).

 

A few tidbits gleaned from the story.  One is a reference to the county in which Meg resides.  Mr. Wilson mentions there are "big tree branches down all over Kenilworth County" after the big storm (p. 24); however, that is a fictitious county, as Virginia does not have a county by this name.  There are cities by that name in New Jersey and in Illinois, so perhaps the name was pulled from there.  We also get some information about Meg's mother, when Meg looks up at her mother's portrait hanging over the mantel (p. 43).  Her hair and eyes match Meg's, and the color of the dress she is wearing in the portrait even happens the match the color of Meg's outfit on that day.  Meg begins to wonder what her mother's voice sounds like, and whether Mrs. Duncan would have listened to Meg when she talked about her mysteries?  It is actually a very touching scene that will pull on the reader's heartstrings.

 

Finally, that "treasure" worth so much money - SPOILER ALERT - it turns out to be a first printing of Edgar Allan Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue,  which the Haywoods had in their library without ever realizing its worth.  It is odd that the book places the value of the book at $25,000, when some research online reveals the book today is only worth about $7,500, which is considerably less!  The Haywoods may very well have been in for a big shock when they eventually tried to sell the book and discovered it was not worth near as much as Mr. James claimed it was!

 

Now, about that scene I remembered as a child.  Of all of the Meg books, the only thing I could ever really remember (before re-reading them now) was a scene where Meg wanted to pretend to be sick, so she took the thermometer the housekeeper gives her and sticks it in her hot chocolate to make the temperature rise - only, it rises too high, making the housekeeper realize the ruse!  Well, this is the book where it happens, right there on page 83, as Meg is hoping to make the housekeeper and her husband think she is sick so they will let her stay home for the day and she can escape over to the Haywood house to help out the James family! Mystery of the remembered scene solved! 

 

Overall, another fun read, and at least this time, we get some more time with Thunder (Meg's Siamese cat).  Not sure why, but I absolutely love the cat as a supporting character, and I'm glad the author chose to utilize her in the story.

 

RATING:  9 cans of pineapple, tuna fish, and baked beans out of 10 for another fun little mystery that is an easy and enjoyable read!