Flashing Mountain - a Children's Press Mystery

It's been a bit since I last read a mystery from The Children's Press, and this one was picked up for my by a friend of mine from a library in Canada.  I don't often see many of The Children's Press books here in the States, and most of the ones I have came from beyond our borders.  This one is authored by Edwin Johnson, who wrote a couple of other books for this publisher, with titles such as The End of Project 38 and The Devil of Bruges.  With these kind of titles, one would think the books were aimed at adults, rather than young adults or older children; however, all three of these books were published by The Children's Press, and as such, were marketed for young readers.  I did find a number of other books by "Edwin Johnson," but I have a feeling this name is associated with different authors, as the topics range from Christianity and the origins of the Christian religion to poetry to books about sexy Asian girls.  I cannot, for the life of me, imagine all of these varied subjects were written by the same Edwin Johnson!

 

That being said, Flashing Mountain follows the adventures of fifteen-year old Charles "Chip" Wood, an orphaned young lad living with his already overworked aunt, who has her hands full with her own family.  Despite attempts to stay under the radar, Chip ends up on the run from a gang of bullies and ultimately finds himself saving the life of one Dr. Mandrake, an archeologist with a special mission, to assist a physicist friend who needs to borrow some specialized electronic equipment for a discovery he has made.  Chip joins Mandrake on a ship bound for an island off the coast of South America - to an island known as "The Island of the Four Apostles" (p. 26), or as it is referred to in French, "L'Ile des Quatre Apotres."  This is likely based upon the Ilots des Apotres (Apostle Islets), which in the real world are some uninhabited rocky islands located in the southern part of the Indian Ocean (south east of the southern tip of Africa - they are nowhere near South America, as the island in the book is).  In the book, Johnston indicates the name "comes from four hills at the north of the island," named by a shipwrecked Frenchman who was so thankful for not perishing in the wreck that he named the hills for the apostles (p. 26).  Of course, the mission turns out to be much more dangerous than originally anticipated.

 

Before they even arrive at the island, they learn the man Mandrake is supposed to meet is dead.  They also discover there are two men on the boat with them who are determined to learn what the scientist's discovery was and get to it before Mandrake can.  Thus, from the beginning, the reader knows it is going to be a race to see who can solve the mystery of what the scientist discovered first.  Mandrake and Chip must not only deal with the president of the people on the island, but they must also contend with a wealthy treasure-hunter who has basically taken control of the island in the hopes of uncovering the scientist's secret, as well as a group of revolutionists who want the interlopers gone and also want to overthrow the president!  With the help of some unexpected allies, Chip and Mandrake manage to escape after being captured and make their way through the jungles to the area known as "flashing mountain" - and they learn exactly what the scientist discovered and why that mountain has the name it does!

 

This is definitely a boys' adventure story, as it is chock full of adventure and danger for our main characters.  It also does not shy away from violence and death - even some very gruesome deaths that involve melting faces!  There are also deadly natives on the island, and mysterious legends regarding the formation of the island and the hills.  The climatic scenes where Chip uses his ingenuity to destroy the flashing mountain, ensuring that no one would ever be able to mine what the mountain was hiding (and trust me, considering what it was, Chip definitely did the right thing!) - and in the process, he causes the deaths of two of the bad guys.  Certainly not something you would ever read in a Stratemeyer series book, that's for sure!

 

Sadly, there are no internal illustrations (in fact, I don't believe any of the books I own that were published by "The Children's Press" have internals), and there is no identifying information for the artist who painted the cover.  The scene depicted on the cover is somewhat misleading - it comes from that final chapter, where Chip sets off explosives to cause the destruction of the flashing mountain, however, Chip and the man helping him were wearing considerable protective gear (otherwise, they would have been melted down, just like some of those natives had been!).  I guess showing the main character completely covered from head to toe would not make a great cover, so they simply placed Chip at the scene in his regular clothing.

 

As someone who much prefers mystery stories to adventure stories, this book was not overly captivating to me.  Sure, it had plenty of adventure and chapter cliffhangers; but the lack of mystery just made me want to speed through it and get finished with it so I could move on to another book.  This book would probably be enjoyed more by those who like Tom Swift, Rick Brant, Ken Holt, or series such as that.

 

RATING:  6 small ticking boxes out of 10 for an adventure story filled with more danger and death at ever turn than most young adult stories I've read!

Secret of the Forest - a Children's Press mystery (the second Roger and Jimmy Keene mystery)

The Children's Press (London and Glasgow) seems to have published a number of books for boys and girls back in the mid-20th Century under "The Boys' and Girls' Library" heading.  I own and have read a couple of books from this series of titles (Kit and the Mystery Man and The Headland Mystery), and since both of those books were fairly decent reads, I will pick up books from this publisher when I happen across them - which is not too often.  This particular book was found by a friend of mine in Canada (as I rarely see these titles here in the States), and when she sent me an image, I immediately said, "Yes!"  Three teens - two boys and a girl - held at gunpoint by a white-haired villain in what appears to be a cave - yes, there could be no doubt in my mind this would make for an interesting story!

 

Secret of the Forest, as it turns out, is the second mystery to feature Roger Keene and his younger brother, Jimmy. I was not aware of this when I bought it and started reading it, but now that I do know, obviously, I need to find a copy of the first book in this 2-book series.  The author is H.J. Goodyer, and there is not much information out there about this particular writer, other than the fact that he/she wrote three books - this one, the first Keene Brothers book, and a third book entitled Time for Reflection: Love is Every Child's Birthright (which is clearly not a mystery like the other two!).  I find it odd that there is little to nothing on the internet about Goodyer, leading me to wonder if the name is simply a pseudonym.  In any event, Goodyer does offer readers a rather tense mystery involving World War II, spies, and counterfeit money.

 

The adventure begins as brothers, Roger and Jimmy Keene, are traveling the German countryside with their Uncle Arnold, headed for a guesthouse  named "Der grun Specht," which translates into The Green Woodpecker.  Back during the war, the building was taken by the British and used as a temporary headquarters for the Colonel and his men. Eventually, it was purchased and turned into a guesthouse, and a former soldier friend of Uncle Arnold's had offered them a stay at the old place.  Upon arrival, though, they begin to find things are a bit off.  Herr Holz appears cordial enough on the surface, but his wife, Frau Holz, seems extremely fearful and nervous.  The young chap, Willi, who seems to be the hired help, is anything but friendly.  There's also the waiter, Hans Gruber, who Uncle Arnold remembers from the war - but Hans begs his former friend to forget he ever knew him!  And then there is General von Tarkenheim and his daughter, Grizelda.  The General owns the guesthouse, but he does not communicate with his guests and appears to be angry most of the time.  And last, but not least, we must not forget Paul Konrad, who is all smiles, yet, behind those pearly whites, he is hiding a very important secret...

 

Robert and Jimmy are not really looking for a mystery, yet, at every turn, they come across more and more strange happenings.  When they notice the things in their room are being rifled through, and some things even go missing, they decide it is time to start investigating.  Then Grizelda comes to them for help, as someone is blackmailing her father, the General.  The three teens (hmmmm, Frank and Joe Hardy with Nancy Drew, perhaps?) team up to uncover the truth of what is going on at The Green Woodpecker.  It quickly turns into a very deadly game, as Gruber is run down and killed, and a merciless treasure hunter takes the brothers and their new friend deep within a cave and leaves them there to die with no way to escape!  This story is definitely not your typical children's mystery fare, but a much more mature tale of war heroes, unrepentant villains, deadly killers, and ruthless treasure hunters. 

The story mentions several places in Germany, and I was curious as to whether any of them were real.  The small village of Kallendorf that the Keenes and their uncle pass through early in the story (p. 10) is likely a variation on the real city of Allendorf, Germany.  The author does make reference to Hanover, Brunswick, and the Harz Mountains (p. 27), all of which are actual places in Germany.  The boys also indicate they "thought of running down to Goslar," which Konrad describes as "a delightful town ... much of the medieval so well preserved..." (p. 30).  Such town does exist, and it is an historic town that is famous for its ore mines.  It is also just south of Brunswick and southeast of Hanover, which would fit with the other cites the Keene brothers were planning to visit during the stay.  The ore mining would certainly explain the caves in which the teens find themselves captive, and the details of the location lead one to think the author might have visited there or otherwise be familiar with the area.  Again, I'm a sucker for books that integrate factual locations or other elements into the stories, as it tends to ground them a bit more, making even the most unbelievable tales somewhat more believable.

 

While it is definitely more of a mature story than the standard children's mysteries here in the States, this is a pretty good book and worth the read.  Leaves me with a desire to find that first Keene brothers' book and read it!

 

RATING:  8 wild boars with wicked-looking tusks out of 10 for a suspenseful story with a rather intricate and at times very dangerous plot.

 

 

The Headland Mystery - a Children's Press Mystery

This book is the third, and final, book that I brought back with me from Ireland.  Sadly, I found very little in children's mystery series in the used book stores I visited while touring Ireland, but I did manage to pick up three books that caught my eye - The Three Spaniards, Kit and the Mystery Man, and this one.  The other two books were not bad at all, so I went into this one hoping the same would be true.  Not only was it true, however, but it actually exceeded my expectations.  After all, the main reason I bought this book was for the cover, which has a very gothic feel to it (the two girls in the foreground, and a castle-like structure high atop a cliff in the background).  And while the story is not gothic in nature, it has a well-written mystery filled with suspense and plenty of danger!

The Headland Mystery is written by Arthur Groom (1898 - 1964), who, from everything I can gather online, was quite the prolific children's author, writing more than 100 books for children during his lifetime.  He is not to be confused with the Australian author by the same name (1904-1953), who was also a conservationist, journalist, and photographer.  The book was published by Children's Press under their "The Boys' and Girls' Library" of titles, and it features one glossy internal frontis piece.  (According to one source I found online, there is a later reprint of this title published by Collins, which has a glossy black and white frontis.)  The inside front flap for the book indicates that Groom (the first one) is a "newcomer" to the Boys' and Girls' Library, but indicate he "has written a really thrilling story, which will grip the reader from start to finish."  Well, not sure about how gripping the start of the story is, but I can attest to the fact that once it does get going, there's literally no stopping!

Jean Wensley and Patricia ("Pat") Bolton are the two lead characters in the story.  The girls are the best of friends, and the story opens with them heading off to Cliffside Cottage to spend their summer holiday with their godmother, Mrs. Bertha Heal.  Now, before I go on, I must make an observation here.  The girls' mothers are referred to as Mrs. Wensley and Mrs. Bolton, and of course, their godmother is referred to as Mrs. Heal.  At no time during the story is there any reference to any "Mister" for any of these older women - the girls' fathers are never mentioned, and nothing is said about Mrs. Heal's husband.  Thus, readers are left with the impression that Mrs. Heal is a widow, and the girls' fathers are simply not invested in their daughters' summer vacation.  Okay, enough about that.  Cliffside Cottage is situated in the peaceful village of Somerset, which is fine with Pat - but Jean is looking for excitement.  What's the old saying?  Be careful what you wish for...

The mystery begins when the girls arrive by train and try to make their way to Mrs. Heal's cottage - they take a wrong turn and end up at a rather large house "practically on the point of the headland ... it contained at least ten bedrooms, probably three or four sitting-rooms, and other accommodation in accordance with its quite imposing appearance" (p. 18).  The girls find a way into the great house when a storm breaks upon them, and while no one is there, it is clear someone has disturbed the furniture inside.  When they eventually make their way to Mrs. Heal's, they are warned to stay away from the house - it's owner, one Mr. Pink, would be arriving soon to re-open the place.  But Jean can't get enough of the place, and keeps convincing Pat to go back - which ultimately leads to them discovering a man tied up in the basement!  (More on that later...)  And here is where the story really heats up - three men show up and kidnap not only the man that the girls rescued from the basement, but also Jean and Pat!  The entire second half of the book deals with the girls' attempts to escape the clutches of these criminals, and just when you think they are free - BAM!  Right back in the crooks' clutches again!

Groom definitely knows how to write suspense, because once those girls get kidnapped, there's not one pause in the action, and there is literally no way to put the book down until the very end.  The danger for the girls is very real, and even innocent bystanders get caught in the crossfire.  Groom holds nothing back, and we even get a fog-filled get-away on the side of a cliff, where one wrong step could mean death for Jean or Pat - or both!  But these girls are not helpless by any means - Pat may be a bit timid, and Jean may be a bit spunky, but together, they make quite a good team.  And before the end of the tale, even Mrs. Heal gets a moment to shine (and I have to say, I really enjoyed her character - wish there had been more of her in the book!.

Now, back to that man in the basement.  As mentioned earlier, the girls do rescue Mr. Pink's right-hand man, who they find tied up in the basement - and that entire scene is rather dramatic, with a dark basement, broken stairs, a dangerous fall, and a shocking reveal.  But the most interesting part of it all (to me, at least) is the fact that the frontis art is VERY reminiscent of the frontis from the revised text of Nancy Drew's The Bungalow Mystery (go check it out, if you don't believe me!).  Both pictures feature a man tied up in a basement, discovered by the young sleuth(s) who have descended the stairs.  Sure, there is a bit of a difference (Nancy Drew is actually walking down the stairs, while Pat and Jean are already at the bottom of the stairs); but, the entire scene is so similar, it could be a knock-off.  The revised version of The Bungalow Mystery was published in 1960, and this book appears to have been published somewhere around 1949 or 1950 (depending on which site you look at), so The Headland Mystery would have come out first.  It could just be pure coincidence (after all, children's mysteries depend on those coincidences!), but then again...

 

A few points worth mentioning.  I find it interesting the use of the word "ass" in the story, as Pat refers to her best friend as a "blessed ass" (p. 46) when they are discussing why someone would build a fire in the fireplace in the middle of summer.  I can only assume the term does not have the negative connotation that it does here in the States. Another term I was not familiar with was when one of the crooks tells Mr. Pink's man that, "I reckon you're potty" (p. 93).  Took me a bit, but discovered a British encyclopedia of slang online that indicates "potty" means silly, crazy, or eccentric.  The final thing was the hidden room that Mr. Pink's man discovers in the upstairs of the old house - which is described as a "three-cornered recess with a filthy dirty window..." (p. 110).  Needless to say, that description immediately brought to mind a certain Dana Girls book (if you know, you know), and since there is a Jean here and a Jean there ... well, my mind made the connection instantly.

Of the three books I brought home with me from Ireland, I would have to say this is by far my favorite.  Love the characters, love the writing, love the suspense, and love the setting.  Too bad poor Pat and Jean never got a continuing series of books.  Or, maybe Pat changed her name to Louise and they crossed the ocean ... nah, never happen!

RATING:  10 swiftly rising tides out of 10 for a fantastic tale of a mysterious house high atop the cliffs of the English countryside with two very likable young sleuths!

Kit and the Mystery Man - a Children's Press Mystery

This was another of the books I picked up while in Ireland earlier this year.  Sadly, I did not find very many series books at all while there, but I did manage to pick up a few one-off mysteries that, based on the cover art, seemed pretty cool.  The first one I read, The Three Spaniards, wasn't too bad at all (The Three Spaniards), so I went into this one hoping it would be just as good, if not better.  Of course, being a completely different author, I couldn't be too sure.  But, the premise sounded intriguing and the cover provided a hint of what was to come (a young boy watching a mysterious man seeming to sneak out of a building...), and, well, let's just say, I was not disappointed.

Kit and the Mystery Man is the story of Kit Pugh, formally Christopher Marlin Pugh. Kit's backstory is a bit convoluted, and it actually took me a couple of times reading that first chapter to really get it straight (this is due mostly to the author's style of writing - almost a stream of consciousness in some places, where she has Kit daydreaming, wondering off  on tangents, while at the same time trying to maintain a third-person point-of-view to describe his life).  It seems Kit's parents are both gone, and he lives with one of his three aunts in Whitebay (which I had first assumed was in England, but after researching online have to wonder if it isn't a reference to Ireland, since I found not Whitebay in England but I did find a White Bay in the County Cork in Ireland - which, of course, would be fitting, considering that is exactly where I was when I bought this book!). So, Kit helps out his Aunt Carrie with her boarding house while his cousins Marguerite (Midge) and Madeleine (Maddy) live with his other aunt, Mrs. Morgan, in their hotel, the Royal Dragon, closer to town.  His third aunt is barely mentioned in the story.  Anyway, Kit is a daydreamer and is consistently forgetting things and getting sidetracked, much to Aunt Carrie's chagrin.  Until he meets Judy Somers...

Judy is the daughter of a professor who is a permanent resident at the Royal Dragon - but he is so wrapped up in whatever it is he does (it's never mentioned) that Judy finds herself quite alone.  She strikes up an awkward friendship with Kit, as the two of them will be traveling together every day to Langley, which is a nearby city where they attend school (now I did not find a Langley in Ireland, but I did find one in England - so again, I can't quite place where this story takes place!).  It is on one of these days that Kit happens across a painting in an old antique shop, one that captures his full attention.  Through a series of events, the owner of the shop gifts the painting to Kit only moments before a strange man shows up in the shop desperate to buy the painting.  The owner refuses to sell it, having given it to Kit, and the enraged man leaves.  Of course, as any mystery-reading fan will guess, this isn't the last Kit and Judy see of this man!

After a somewhat rocky start in the first couple of chapters, where the author seems to be grappling with how to introduce the characters, the settings, and the situations, once Kit get a hold of that painting, the story really picks up steam.  One of Aunt Carrie's boarders, a man by the name of Joe Tree who seems to have no job, no means of support, yet lives carefree and has no problems meeting his expenses, also befriends Kit and becomes instrumental in helping Kit with some of the decisions he has to make throughout the story.  Between Joe and Judy, they not only give the young man some backbone, but also help him solve the mystery involving the painting.  As it turns out, the painting could potentially by the fourth of four paintings by a very famous and elusive artist who disappeared years ago.  One collector from the States has three of the four and has been searching for years to find that fourth one.  When Kit's painting is stolen, he and Judy are determined to find the man they believe that stole it - but when they do track it down, they are in for some major surprises (although, quite honestly, they were not overly surprising to me as the reader - there are enough hints in the story to figure out exactly what is going on, whether the painting is real or not, and what happened to the artist).

A couple of things I found to be different about this book:  one is that despite being 190 pages in length, there are only nine chapters!  Each chapter is quite lengthy, so the reader is not left with the standard "cliffhangers" at the end of every chapter like you would read in the series books published in the States.  Two is that the mystery is wrapped up by the end of chapter eight, so that the entirety of chapter nine is more or less an epilogue, but one that comes with a very pleasant surprise for Kit (and one that left me feeling very happy for the young man).  Despite these differences, I did enjoy the story (once I got past those first couple of chapters) and grew to like the main characters.

 

With regard to the location of the story, since there is mention of train rides to London, I'm ultimately guessing the story takes place in England, and that the small towns are simply fictional towns made up by the author.   And speaking of the author, I've never heard of the author, Mollie Chappell, although some searching online revealed that this author wrote quite a number of books, some for young adults and others for adults, including romance novels.  I liked this one enough that I may try and track down some of her other books...

RATING:  7 airline tickets from London to New York out of 10 for a unique mystery with a different kind of protagonist!