Whitman Mystery Stories - Judy Garland and the Hoodoo Costume

Here we are with another in the long line of "Authorized Editions" published by Whitman back in the 1940s.  The series featured big names like Deanna Durbin, Bonita Granvile, Ginger Rogers, Betty Grable, Ann Sheridan, Shirley Temple, Dorothy Lamour, and a number of others, so it should come as no surprise that Judy Garland's name should be among them.  After all, her role in The Wizard of Oz in 1939 made her a household name, and her many other movies (including several with Mickey Rooney in the "Andy Hardy" series) during the late 1930s and well into the 1940s kept her in the limelight.  So, it is only natural Whitman would want to use her name for a character in one of their "Authorized Edition" mysteries.  Unlike most of the other books, in this one, the main character is actually the famous actress whose name is being used (and one of the characters actually refers to her as a "famous actress" on p. 71).

 

Judy Garland and the Hoodoo Costume finds our protagonist agreeing to take an  expensive dress to its owner, unaware that this small errand is going to become a nightmare of a mystery.  It begins innocently enough, as Judy delivers a gift to the sister of a friend of hers.  While at the sister's house, she stumbles across a rather expensive dress that the sister claims is not hers - but she knows to whom it belongs!  Oddly enough, she asks Judy (a person she does not even know, other than as an actress she has seen on the movie screen) to take the dress to its owner.  Judy reluctantly agrees; but when she arrives at the boarding house where its owner resides, the two women who run the house inform her that Frederica Hammond has left to care for an ill relative not some distance away.  Judy gets lured into taking a bus to a secluded old house where Frederica is believed to be staying - and upon arriving, Judy finds herself facing a night of Gothic terror!

 

Yes, Heisenfelt once again takes her protagonist and places her in unusual circumstances, where she finds herself trapped in a foreboding old house with unseen danger lurking around every corner.  If you don't believe me, go back and look at Ann Rutherford and The Key to Nightmare Hall or Betty Grable and The House with the Iron Shutters, or even Ann Sheridan and The Sign of the Sphinx.  Of course, one of her best examples is Jane Withers and The Swamp Wizard.  In fact, this book has a lot of similarities to that last one, as both books feature a supernatural character of sorts that has people in the household frightened.  Heisenfelt seems to focus on a similar theme for all of her stories (well, at least with all of the ones I have read of hers thus far!), and it makes me wonder if perhaps at some point she did not delve into the world of Gothic paperback tales in the '60s and '70s, as her Whitman mysteries would fit perfectly in that genre.

 

From the moment of Judy's arrival at the old house, the Gothic tropes are at play.  A mysterious figure chases Judy outside, forcing her to run around the back of the house and enter in a rush through the kitchen.  She is then rushed upstairs by the very girl she was there to meet, as both the girl and the housekeeper are fearful that "Mr. Frazer" may find out she is here.  Judy then learns that Frederica, while not adverse to helping her aunt, is being forced to remain in the house, allowed no contact with the outside world.  Judy also overhears conversations that lead her to realize Mr. Frazer, along with Frederica's cousin and her uncle are hatching a plot against Frederica's aunt, who may or may not be ill - are the relatives convincing her of an illness, feeding her medication in hopes she will die and they can inherit her fortune?  One of the biggest surprises comes, however, when Judy finally sees the bed-ridden Mrs. Mattis and recognizes her - not as Myrta Mattis, however, but as a famous songstress by the name of Lucia Grayson!

 

While this book offers up some songs that Lucia Grayson allegedly sang (p. 130 - songs such as "Still as the Night," "Evening Star," and "Then You'll Remember Me"), a bit of research reveals that no such singer named Lucia Grayson existed.  However, there was an actress named Kathryn Grayson who sang in a number of MGM musicals alongside greats such as Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra.  This real Grayson dreamed of doing opera, but instead ended up signing a contract with MGM to do film work; yet, interestingly enough, she received an offer to sing Lucia at the Met, but she was convinced to turn it down. This book was published in 1945, four years after Grayson's film debut in Andy Hardy's Private Secretary.  It does lead one to question if perhaps Heisenfelt based her aged character's name on this young up-and-coming singer/actress of the day.

 

The story takes place literally over the course of 48 hours - meaning there is 248 pages of mystery and suspense that lasts merely two days!  Heisenfelt spends considerable time having her protagonist worry and dwell on everything going on around her, constantly questioning her own actions, the motives of those around her, and the possibilities of what may happen to her - which is something the author seems to relish doing in all of her stories.  Despite her main characters being based on actresses who normally portray rather strong female characters in their films, Heisenfelt manages to turn them into whining, worrisome, and nearly wearisome characters who spend most of their stories agonizing over what is happening rather than taking any action to overcome the circumstances in which they find themselves.  While all of this anxiety of the characters may build some level of suspense, it does get a bit tiresome to read after a while, and I, for one, find myself reaching the point where I don't really care whether she makes it out of the house or not!

 

One difference between this and Heisenfelt's other books in this series is that this story actually features two mysteries - the first involves the happenings inside the old house and poor Mrs. Mattis (a/k/a Lucia Grayson); the second involves a con artist who is taking money from Mrs. Mattis' groundskeepeer and other neighbors, leading them to believe there is a lady ghost who comes from the lake.  Poor Judy, trying to escape the house, ends up a pawn in the con artist's game, and she must try and outwit him in order to escape his machinations. This second mystery is almost like an intermission in the main story, as it really has no connection whatsoever to Mrs. Mattis or her relatives.  One is left to wonder if perhaps the main story was not long enough, so Heisenfelt added this in order to "pad" the story out to a proper length for publication.

 

The illustrations are provided by Ruth Ruhman, who illustrated a large number of children's books, as well as (surprisingly!) a few comics back in the day, including pages in Big Jon and Sparkle, published by Ziff-Davis Comic Group back in the early 1950s.  She did quite a bit of work for Western Publishing, who acquired Whitman Publishing in the early 1900s, so it should not be any surprised that her illustrations would appear in one of Whitman's Authorized Editions.  While she does not do an exact likeness of Garland in her art, there are a couple of the illustrations in this book that do capture Garland's facial expressions pretty well.  The endpages, thankfully, do not spoil any of the story; rather, they depict the scene where Judy first arrives at the dark, old house and is forced to run in the freezing snow around to the back in order to escape the man chasing her.

 

While this book does read better than most of Heisenfelt's other stories (with the exception of Swamp Wizard, which I actually rather enjoyed), it certainly does not rate the same quality of story as most of the other Whitman Authorized Edition by other authors.  I've seen a few online sites that indicate this is one of Heisenfelt's most popular books; I can only postulate that the reason is because of the star name, Judy Garland, as opposed to the story itself.  Not the worst, but definitely not the best.

 

RATING:  6 stark white capes with high collars out of 10 for an attempt to thrust Judy Garland into a Gothic landscape of suspense and fear to create a story half-worth the read. 

Jane Withers and the Swamp Wizard - the second Whitman Authorized Edition

The second Whitman Authorized Edition mystery to feature actress Jane Withers has some easily discernible differences from the first book.  There is a different author for this book - Kathryn Heisenfelt takes over the writing chores -  you may recognize her name, as she wrote quite a few of the Whitman Authorized Editions, including mysteries starring Ann Rutherford, Ann Sheridan, Betty Grable, Bonita Granville, and even the Powers Model girl.  I have done reviews of a number of these books, and if you look back, you'll see Ms. Heisenfelt's writing has never gotten more than a 5 out of 10 (in some cases, only 4, and in one case, as low as a 3!) rating.  I am definitely not a fan of her writing, so I went into this book with quite a bit of trepidation.  The story also has no seeming relation to the previous book - there is no mention of any of the characters from the previous book, and while Jane was a student in the first book, it is implied that she is an actress in this book (just like her real-life namesake).  The tone is completely different as well - much, MUCH darker.  The question in my mind as I started reading - how bad is this going to be?

 

Jane Withers and the Swamp Wizard takes young Jane Withers to a small town named Burley (the state is left unnamed) to spend some time with her best friend, Miss Cordelia Champlin (affectionately referred to as "Cokey"), and her mother, Alice Champlin.  The two women, along with Cokey's younger brother, Eddie, have moved into a farm to start a new life.  "Dad is still in Washington," Cokey tells Jane (p. 14), adding that they do not expect to see much of him, "[b]ut then, we didn't anyway - lately" (p. 14).  Thus, with the man of the house out of the picture, and with the younger brother off-screen, so to speak, going into the next village to buy a tractor, it is just these three women left to face the mystery that lies ahead.  It begins when Cokey tells Jane about a strange feeling she got after being told of the Simmering Springs and the legend of the "Swamp Wizard" that is said to haunt the springs.  Jane puts no stock in the story, but Cokey reminds her friend that her hunches have always come true in the past, and she is certain there is trouble ahead for the girls.  Needless to say, her premonition turns out to be true.

 

As much as I have not liked any of the previous books written by Heisenfelt that I have read, this one turned out to be quite different and quite readable.  Perhaps a large part of that is because of the gothic feel she gives to the story.  The girls run an errand for Cokey's mother, and end up taking a side trip to deliver a message for a sick woman.  As they say, no good deed goes unpunished, and the girls go out of their way, get lost, and mistakenly end up in the house of a bitter woman who makes it clear she does not want them there!  But a storm is unleashed, which takes out the bridges that are the only way across the raging river, leaving Jane and Cokey stranded at this lonely old farmhouse with the woman, her cantankerous father, and her brooding son.  All three want the girls gone, insistent that the Swamp Wizard does not like strangers near the springs - which is exactly where the farmhouse is located!  Jane and Cokey are not able to rationalize this family's fear, but when they hear the strange cries in the night, and when the woman's son appears to be missing, they have to wonder if there is some supernatural force at work.

 

  

 

The gothic tropes abound in this story - the secluded house, the family with secrets, the visitors who are not wanted there, the whispers of supernatural creatures, and the dire warnings of impending doom.  The night seems to be endless, and the storm unrelenting.  The girls are shuffled off to an upstairs room at the end of the hall, with strict instructions to not leave the room.  Of course, Jane is much too curious to remain locked in the room, and she and Cokey venture out in the hopes of learning some of the secrets behind the animosity this family had towards them and why they are so afraid of a superstitious wives' tale about a wizard in the swamp.  Heisenfelt does a decent job of building up the tension, of keeping the secrets right there on the edge of everyone's thoughts, and instilling terror in her characters, leaving the reader to wonder who really is the bad guy of this tale. There is even a scene where the woman's father takes the girls to the edge of the springs, claiming he wants them to understand why they need to leave and never come back - but Cokey loses her balance (or was she pushed?) and nearly falls into the deadly quicksand that makes up the swampy springs!  This scene is depicted on the endpages, with Jane reaching out desperately to save her friend!

 

The conclusion builds up nicely, as the secrets are not so quickly revealed, even after Cokey's mother finally arrives with some others, who were out searching for the missing girls (remember - they had simply gone on an errand to buy eggs, yet never came home for more than 24 hours!).  These villagers, who know the woman, are given the same harsh welcome that Jane and Cokey endured, and it is from the most unlikely of sources that the truth behind the Swamp Wizard is finally revealed. Once that truth comes out, and once the secrets of the past are laid bare, the woman is finally freed from all that has been haunting her for so many years, and Heisenfelt provides a very satisfying conclusion to the story and its characters.  The book even concludes with Jane observing that, "I've a hunch we're going to have a lot of fun this summer!" (p. 248).

 

Henry E. Vallely, who has provided the art for so many of these Whitman Authorized Editions, does the line illustrations for this book.  For this, I am glad, as he does a fantastic job of drawing expressions that help strengthen the scene depicted, so that even if there were no words given, you would get the impression of what was going on.  In one such instance, where Jane has left the upstairs bedroom to learn more about the secrets of this hose, Vallely shows Jane hiding behind the couch as Alma Frieson and her father prowl around in the night - just by looking at Jane's face, you can see the fear she feels at the thought of being discovered; while, at the same time, the harsh expressions on Mrs. Frieson and her father give you a clear sense of just how fierce this family can be. The mood created fits perfectly with the gothic nature of the story, and I can't imagine a better artist to provide the illustrations for this one than Vallely.

 

This was an unexpectedly good book to read, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  Now I am curious as to the third Jane Withers mystery, as it is written by yet another author (Roy J. Snell) - I wonder how it will compare to these first two...

 

RATING:  9 bowls of strawberry preserves out of 10 for a suspenseful story of gothic terror mixed with young adult mystery. 

Whitman Mystery Stories - Ann Rutherford and the Key to Nightmare Hall

Yeah, I thought I might as well punish myself again and read another Whitman Authorized Edition written by Kathryn Heisenfelt.  I figure the sooner I get them all read and behind me, the sooner I can move on to some better written books.  I'm not sure what Whitman was thinking when they published her stories, and honestly, I'm surprised the publicists for these actors allowed the likeness of their clients to be used for these stories.  But, I suppose the old saying true - any publicity, whether good or bad, is good publicity.  In any event, I had absolutely no thought of enjoying this story when I picked it up to read it.  Surprisingly, while Heisenfelt remained true to her over-wrought and always-questioning protagonist writing, the underlying plot to this story was rather good.

Ann Rutherford and the Key to Nightmare Hall features the Candian-born actress, Ann Rutherford (1917-2012) who is probably most recognized as playing Polly Benedict in the Andy Hardy series of films from the '30s and '40s, as well as Careen O'Hara in Gone with the Wind.  This book was published in 1942, the same year that Andy Hardy's Double Life was released (which was the last Andy Hardy film in which Rutherford starred).  As with the other Authorized Editions published by Whitman, the Ann Rutherford of this story does not seem to be the actress, but merely shares the name - however, there is a vague reference by the protagonist in the story where she worries the people in the house may have recognized her (hinting that she could be the actress from Hollywood, although that is never explicitly said).  

As for the mystery, it centers around a mysterious old mansion Nath-Mar Hall.  Ann and her friend, Robert Gilmore (known to his friends as "Bop") are on their way to meet friends at a ski resort, when Bop decides to make a side trip to visit a property that is being listed for sale.  Bop wants to impress his father by getting the listing, so Ann agrees to the side trip.  But, as fate would have it, Bop mistakenly takes the wrong road and thinks that Nath-Mar Hall is the property being sold.  They quickly learn otherwise when they are invited inside by the great house's owner.  Without allowing them to explain the purpose of their visit, he ushers them into a large room where four others are waiting - two men and two women.  To their shock, Ann and Bop learn the old gentleman believes they are his daughter's adopted children, Josephine and Ronald, and every time they try to tell him his error, he shuts them down.  So, the two of them get stuck in a twisted game that Nathan Emans has set up for his heirs - find the key hidden somewhere in the foreboding house and win his entire estate upon his death!

It's actually a rather ingenuous little plot that might have been better executed by another writer.  The idea of an aging, wealthy man pitting his greedy heirs against one another in order to gain the inheritance could be a wonderfully thrilling tale, especially when you have two "heirs" who are actually unrelated to them all.  Throw in the quiet, yet powerful butler and the not-so-nice housekeeper/cook, as well as two vicious dogs waiting outside for anyone who tries to leave, and you've got the perfect setting for a very dark mystery.  The two men and two women tun out to be the old man's great-nephew, Richard Meaker, and his sister, Lileen, along with the old man's step-son, Stuart Palmer and his sister, Muriel.  Each of these four characters are overbearing and somewhat spiteful, and a couple of them have some very shady backgrounds.  Thus, the deeper Ann and Bop get into this search for the hidden key, the more afraid they become that someone might discover the truth - because what would these people do to them if they knew they were not members of the family?!

There's a definite gothic feel to the book, as Heisenfelt describes Nath-Mar Hall (which Ann refers to as "Nightmare Hall" - hence, the title of the book!) with plenty of arched doorways, frightening shadows, statuettes watching from above and around, darkened rooms, and a sense of danger no matter which way you turn.  There's even a poor little bird in a cage that no one seems to feed or give water to, making Ann's heart ache to care for it, since even its owner seems ambivalent to it as he does to the members of his own family.  There is an incident in the book that makes Ann realize how deadly the situation is, when she witnesses someone try and kill Nathan Emans!  From that point, Ann and Bop decide they have to find the key before anyone else so that they can get out of this nightmare mansion.

As I said, the plot is actually an interesting one, and the characters definitely make you hate them (like you are supposed to).  The drawback to the story is Heisenfelt's need to make her lead character do very little throughout the book other than question herself.  The incessant "why won't he listen to us?  why can't we tell him the truth?" and "do they know who we are? what will they do if they find out?" and "how can we escape this prison? why did we have to come here?" and so many more, to the point where you just want to reach into the book, slap Ann, and tell her to shut up.  I mean, seriously, the idea that neither she nor Bop can speak up and tell Nathan Emas who they are at the beginning of the story goes well beyond any suspension of disbelief.  She and Bop keep telling each other they are going to tell him, then when the time comes, they start questioning themselves and end up not saying a word.  After a while, it just gets ridiculous.

 

That being said, the book does have illustrations by Henry E. Vallely, which helps make up for the writing, as Vallely's art is always beautifully drawn.  And thankfully, this is one Whitman book that does not spoil any of the story with the endpages!  In this book, we get a two-page spread that show Ann and Bop when they first arrive at Nath-Mar Hall, mistakenly believing it to be the house of one Mr. Marshall who is looking to sell.  The house is this illustration is not quite as large, nor as mysterious as the one described in the book, but it is still beautifully rendered.

Of all the Heisenfelt books I've read to date, while this one definitely has issues, I would say this is the best of the group.  The underlying plot was engaging and interesting enough that I could get past all of Ann's constant self-doubts and questioning of everything. 

RATING:  5 green jars of bird seed out of 10 for at least giving us a mystery that catches your attention strong enough to keep you reading to the end!

Whitman Mystery Stories - Ann Sheridan and the Sign of the Sphinx

I suppose I'm a glutton for punishment, because I decided to read yet another Whitman Authorized Edition written by Kathryn Heisenfelt.  The previous three books I have read by her have been less than stellar, and, in fact, it seems the more I read, the worse they become.  I honestly cannot figure out why Whitman utilized her as a writer for these books, particularly the authorized editions that were using the names and likenesses of relatively big name stars from that time (such as Bonita Granville, Betty Grable, Ann Sheridan, and others).  I have to wonder if any of these stars actually read the books using their names, and if so, what they thought of the stories.

Ann Sheridan and the Sign of the Sphinx has a fairly dark mystery to it.  Ann has come to the town of Coreyville to visit her friend, Tess Whitehouse, who owns a beauty parlor in town.  But, from the moment of her arrival, she can tell something is off.  The employees seem worried, and while Tess tries to play if off, Ann senses something is very wrong.  She quickly discovers that Tess's business partner, Gail De Lane, has given her notice and is leaving the business!  What's worse is the reason she is leaving - she is worried about her sister, who she believes to be missing!  Ann finds herself thrust into the middle of helping Tess and Gail, where she discovers that Lacey De Lane has become involved in some kind of cult that uses a poorly drawn sphinx as its symbol.  Ann is not sure who she can trust - the De Lanes' neighbor?  His rather brusque nephew?  The parlor's assistant?  All of these supporting cast come across as suspicious, and quite frankly, it's not easy for the reader to discern who is really on the up-and-up.

As with any mystery involving a "cult," they are, in reality, nothing more than con men, determined to swindle people out of their fortunes and leave them high-and-dry!  Only, this cult intends to do more than that - they don't believe in leaving behind witnesses!  Probably the best thing about this story is the final few chapters, where Ann and the nephew, Charles Boyden (also known as "Crunch"), sneak into an abandoned hotel that was never finished and try to put a stop to the cult's actions before Lacey, and the others being swindled, are sent to their deaths in a deep pool at the heart of the hotel!  Ann has to overcome her fears to create a distraction so that Crunch can rescue the women - and boy, she definitely creates a distraction!

Now, since we are talking about Ann's fears, let me say that this entire book seems to be mostly about Ann's fears.  Heisenfelt goes on for page after page with Ann's inner dialogue and her fears -her fear of going into the apartment building where Lacey might be; her fear of going back into the beauty parlor to pick up some papers; hear fear of climbing the stairs; her fear of getting into a car with Crunch; her fear of going into the dark hotel; etc., etc.  It becomes very tiresome that in order to get to any actual scenes of action, we are forced to read pages of fear-filled thoughts and feelings running through Ann's head.  It makes me wonder if Heisenfelt believed this was the best way to create tension and suspense in her writing, by giving her title characters unfounded fears, and then just rehashing them over and over until the action finally occurs, revealing the fears to be baseless (in most cases, but not all).  It becomes almost like the boy who cried wolf, as the readers starts doubting anything is going to happen every time Ann's inner dialogue goes to work in building up fear of what might be about to happen.

 

One thing that did surprise me about the story was the fact that Ann Sheridan was actually written as the actress, rather than just a character of the same name.  In other Whitman Authorized Editions, the "star" is not actually a movie star in the story, but rather, simply a character with that name.  In this book, however, the supporting cast immediately recognize Ann as the film star that she is, and there's even comments about her stardom and how she handles it.  

 

At least one saving grace about the book is the art.  Henry E. Vallely, who did art on a number of other Whitman titles, provides some beautiful line drawings that are a few of the only redeeming qualities for the book.  The end pages show a fantastic scene of Ann and Crunch getting ready to jump into action to save the women from the cult - which, as with other Whitman books, reveals part of the climactic scene, spoiling some of the story for readers (if they actually pay attention to the end pages before they start reading!).  

Of the 23 illustrations throughout the book, though, I'd have to say my favorite is probably the one on page 175.  The drawing depicts the unfinished hotel at night, where all that can be seen is the shadowy outline of the crumbling building, with only one light shining through a slim window and a full moon in the sky overhead.  It creates an eerie scene, and certainly relies on the gothic to project fear into the reader's mind.  And while I do really love the image, I am somewhat confused as to why the publisher placed it at this point of the story.  The tag underneath the illustration reads, "The windows glowered at them."  This comes from the previous page, 174, where Ann and Crunch had come up to the Stop-Off, a food stand that was the place where they would catch the trail to lead them to the abandoned hotel.  Ann is looking at the Stop-Off, not the actual hotel, when this line is applied, and so it begs the question of why Vallely drew the hotel for this illustration instead of a food stand.  Or did the publisher merely put the picture in the wrong place, tagging it with a line they thought might fit.  In either case, it doesn't fit the story here.

The remainder of the illustrations, though, are also beautifully rendered, and Ann looks absolutely stunning.  I give Vallely props for keeping Ann's clothes consistent from the one drawing to the next, including the rather ostentatious hat she is wearing at the beginning of the story!  The drawing on page 209, where Ann and Crunch are eavesdropping on two of the cult leaders, looks like it could have been drawn for a move poster!  You can actually "feel" the action in that scene.  I think that is part of the reason I like Vallely's illustrations so much, in that they come alive in most cases, and it feels like a moving scene rather than a two-dimensional drawing.

It took me a bit longer than normal to work my way through this story, mostly because I had to force my way past all of the repetitious "what's going to happen?" and "should I do this?" and "why am I doing this?" and "I must go on, but I'm scared!"  I suppose the big finale was at least a sort-of payoff for sitting through the rest of the book - but this is definitely not one of the Whitmans I would recommend.

RATING:  4 white-robed figures carrying candles out of 10 for at least making the reader question the motive of a number of the characters, so as not to give away the identity of the actual culprits too early in the story.

Whitman Mystery Stories - Polly the Powers Model: The Puzzle of the Haunted Camera

This latest Whitman Authorized Edition that I read is a bit off-beat.  Of course, it is written by Kathryn Heisenfelt, and based on the previous Whitman books I've read written by her (Bonita Granville and Betty Grable), I suppose I should not have expected anything different.  Both of those stories were odd, to say the least, and this one follows their lead.  This book came out in 1942, the same year as the Bonita Granville mystery, while the Betty Grable story did not get published until the following year.  If I were to base all Whitman mysteries on these three books, I would likely stop buying and reading them; however, since I have read a number of them that do have enjoyable stories, I will simply chalk these up as exceptions to the rule.

Polly the Powers Model: The Puzzle of the Haunted Camera does not feature an actual model from the John Robert Powers modeling agency.  Instead, while nodding to the actual modeling agency in New York, Heisenfelt creates a fictional character to be the "Powers Model" of the story.  Polly Hartigan is the model, who is returning home after "making it big" in Ne York City.  She is met by her younger sister, Susan, who is not only eager to follow in her sister's footsteps, but seems to be hiding some secret about the family.  Soon enough, Polly finds that a mystery awaits her at home, as everyone is a bit "off."  Her father, Peter Hartigan, is more than just depressed about his failing hardware store.  Her Aunt Floss, who lives with them, seems more worried about things than ever before.  And her Aunt Vide, to whom Polly ad been sending part of her paychecks to help with family expenses, appears to have not told anyone about the money, leaving Polly to wonder what she has done with it.  A general sense of gloom hangs over the entire household, and no one will tell Polly exactly what is going on.

And this is the primary focus of the first half of the book, as Polly is constantly wondering what is wrong; yet, she never comes right out and asks anyone, other than Susan, who refuses to tell her and just keeps asking Polly to take her back to New York with her as soon as possible.  The constant conundrum of "what's wrong with my family?' gets weary real fast, and I had to force myself to trudge trough the story to hopefully reach a point where the story moved forward in any meaningful way.  It's not until Polly inadvertently takes a photo of her sister than has a sinister man in the background does the mystery start to unravel.  Aunt Vide sees the photo and collapses, leading Polly to finally start to figure out that her aunt is involved in something shady.  

 

After the halfway point of the book, Heisenfelt finally gets things moving, and Polly starts taking some affirmative steps to solve the mystery.  She questions the attorney who lives nearby, she pushes Susan to reveal what has her so anxious to leave home, and she engages the help of her father's assistant at the hardware store to keep watch on the house in case that mystery man makes an appearance.  The climactic face-off between Polly and the stranger is really the only exciting moment in the story, and it is here that Heisenfelt provides readers with something worth reading.  Polly's ingenuity and bluff leads the stranger to make a mistake that leads to his defeat and capture, and the whole truth finally comes out.  It's just a shame that it took so many pages in the book to reach a truly readable point.

 

I'm not familiar with the artist for this book, Hedwig Jo Meixner.  The only other book I've read where I've seen Meixner's illustrations was Nancy Craig and the Mystery of the Fire Opal, and the illustrations in that one were actually better than this one.  The line drawings in this book were not bad, per se, but I didn't find them as nice to look at as those done by Henry E. Vallely (who seems to have illustrated quite a number of the Whitman books I've read).

Something I noticed in this book (and other Whitman mysteries may be the same, but I hadn't really noticed before now) is that the chapters are exceptionally long for a children's mystery.  The story is 246 pages in length, yet it only has 13 chapters.  The chapters run anywhere from 14 to 23 pages in length, which is somewhat longer than the chapters in children's mystery series from Cupples & Leon, Grosset & Dunlap, and and other publishers.  I don't think that had any effect on the story, but I did find it interesting to note.

This is a Whitman mystery that I would probably not recommend.  Now that I've seen a semi-theme with the Kathryn Heisenfelt books (that theme being "odd and not that great to read"), I'll likely be a bit choosier when picking up the Whitman mysteries - if I see one that is authored by her, I will probably put it back on the shelf!

RATING:  4 games of find the hidden clothespins out of 10 for at least giving readers a mystery that is a bit out of the ordinary and not just standard fare.

Whitman Mystery Stories - Betty Grable and the House with the Iron Shutters

I am amazed at just how unique and, often times, quite good these Whitman mysteries for boys and girls are.  I spent years passing them over, because I assumed they were of inferior nature to the Grosset & Dunlap and Cupples & Leon series, simply based on their fragile paper and their less than stellar cover art.  But as I've begun reading some of them, I'm learning that they are nowhere near as bad as I thought they were!  Yes, the paper is very fragile, so I have to be very careful reading them (since many of them are well over 6o and 70 years old!), and the cover art is not necessarily as beautifully painted as some of the ones by G&D or C&L.  But some of the stories have been just as well written, in a few cases more so, than the more popular series books.  This one, however, is not one of those.

Betty Grable and The House with the Iron Shutters is one of the "Whitman Authorized Editions," which are mysteries featuring film stars who were rather famous at the time.   The Bonita Granville book I read some time ago was rather enjoyable, and the Quiz Kids mystery was a lot of fun.  So, when I picked this one up, I had fairly high hopes.  Now, mind you, while I recognized the name Betty Grable, I honestly had no idea who she was.  I just knew she was an actress back in the day.  Thus, using that handy-dandy information resource otherwise known as the Internet, I looked her up.  Betty Grable (1916-1973) was more than just an actress, it seems - she was also a pin-up girl, a dancer, a model, and a singer.  In 1943, when this book was published, she would have been 27 years old and has starred in more than 40 films!  That's quite a career.  And she did plenty more movies afterward, so one can assume that this book came out during the height of Grable's popularity.

The story is written by Kathryn Heisenfelt, who wrote a number of these authorized stories for Whitman.  I've read her Bonita Granville, and I have several other of her books (Jane Withers, Shirley Temple).   Her Bonita Granville story was pretty enjoyable, so I expected the same here.  What I found, though, was a somewhat lackluster tale that tried to create drama and suspense by dragging out scenes unnecessarily too long and a plot that was haphazard at best.  This book does not at all compare to the Bonita Granville story, which is a shame.

The story opens with Betty and her friend, Loys Lester, on a unique vacation, wherein they have no set plans, but just travel from place to place by pulling out a map and blindly selecting their next destination.  I had never seen the name "Loys" before, and thought it rather unusual.  I looked it up and discovered it is of Greek origin, and is equivalent to the American version of "Lois."  At any rate, as they are preparing to leave the hotel, Betty realizes they are not far from a city where a friend lives, so she suggests going to visit the friend - but, first, she wants to find an antique gift to bring her friend.  The owner of the hotel and his wife, who both act rather shady, inform Betty that an old woman and her sister who reside in a formerly grand house up on the hill are selling off their antique furnishings, and the wife agrees to take the girls there.  The woman drops them off in front of the house (that has definitely seen better days!), but she refuses to go inside, saying something about a quarrel with one of the sisters.  Betty and Loys are suspicious, but needing to find a gift, they go inside, where they meet one of the sisters, Miss Ardeeta Dewitt (a/k/a Miss Deeta), and her housekeeper, Mercy.  The woman does not seem happy about selling anything, but she is willing to do so - at least, until her sister, Miss Cherry Dewitt, comes downstairs.  Betty and Loys can feel the tension between the two.  Finding the whole situation uncomfortable, Betty and Loys decide to leave - only, the wife of the hotel owner is gone, leaving them stranded at the house!  And thus begins the mystery.

From here, the story becomes not only stranger, but a bit convoluted ads well.  It seems the housekeeper is afraid a ghost seen on the premises - a women dressed in white - and the Dewitt sisters confess things have been taken from the house.  When a treasured bowl (one that Betty was interested in buying) goes missing, Miss Cherry blames the girls and locks them in an upstairs bedroom that has iron shutters on the window so they can't escape!  Betty and Loys do not want to stay trapped in the room, but they cannot convince the sisters that they did not steal the bowl.  Through a trap door in the ceiling, Betty climbs into the attic, out through a small window, and down the vines on the side of the house.  She  thinks of taking the car in the garage, but not only does she not find a car, but she stumbles upon a strange and gnarled old woman (Betty thinks she is a witch!) who seems to be taking things from the garage.  She sees Betty and things Betty is the ghost!  There's a lot of back-and-forth, misunderstandings, near-misses, and the sudden appearance of a strange man who takes Betty back into the house through the basement and forces her to help him see Miss Deeta.  The story drags considerably here as Betty tries to silently steal her way back up the stairs and find Miss Deeta, but nearly gets caught and has to hide in a closet - where someone nearly finds her when they reach in to hide the supposedly stolen bowl!  Everything eventually comes out, the woman in white is revealed not to be a ghost, the thief confesses, and Betty and Loys learn the truth about what is really going on in that house with the iron shutters.

Perhaps the story would not have been so hard to read had Heisenfelt not taken literal chapters (and I mean a LOT more than one) to tell the adventure of Betty after she escapes through the attic.  I had to force myself to keep reading, wondering when Betty would quit questioning everything, second guessing herself on every decision, and just bravely move forward.  Usually, the title characters in these books are very strong-willed and determined young women, but Betty Grable in this book comes across in most instances as very timid and weak.  That, coupled with the not-so-fantastic mystery of "who stole the bowl" (which really is not too hard to figure out), led to me not enjoying this book as much as I had hoped I would. 

 

There was one line in the book that did bring a smile to my face, though.  When Betty and Loys are first locked in the shuttered bedroom, Loys voices her opinion that Miss Deeta and Mercy are scared of Miss Cherry.  "Well aren't they?" Loys pursued. "Don't you wonder why the two of them don't grab the old witch and throw her into the oven--?" (p. 115). This nice little nod to the fairy tale story of Hansel and Gretel and how they escaped the witch holding them captive was a cute reference.  Unfortunately, that one moment did not make up for how much the rest of the story lacked.  Hopefully this is an exception to these Whitman Authorized Editions, and other books will prove better.

 

Before I sign off, I must mention the interior illustrations.  The line drawings, by Henry E. Vallely, are beautifully rendered.  Vallely provided illustrations for a number of the Whitman books, and his drawings are very detailed - just look at the wallpaper in the background of page 63, even the ornate frame around the picture on the wall.  And, for the most part, his people are very nicely drawn - but his rendition of Miss Cherry is  - well, there's no polite way to put it.  She looks like a man dressing up as a woman!  Not sure if Vallely did that intentionally to try and define her character in the illustrations, or if he just simply wanted to draw her so drastically different from her sister.  In either event, she is as horrible in the illustrations as she is in the story! It's interesting to note that the end pages (at the front and back of the book) set forth a scene that actually occurs pretty much at the end of the story - thankfully, there is no clue in the picture that reveals the identity of the ghost, the thief, or even the strangers.  I just found it odd that is the scene the publisher would pick to display on the end pages.

RATING:5 genuine Amelung sapphire bowls out of 10 for a half-hearted attempt to put Betty Grable into a mystery, with its saving grace being the interior illustrations.

Whitman Mystery Stories - Bonita Granville and the Mystery of Star Island

Bonita Granville is mostly known to me and my fellow series book collectors as the actress who portrayed Nancy Drew in the four films from the 1930s.  However, Ms. Granville starred in a number of other films for which she is probably more popularly known.  In fact, she was popular enough that Whitman, the book publisher, somehow gained the rights to publish a fictional tale of Ms. Granville wherein, like her Nancy Drew counterpart, she is thrust into an unexpected situation where she must solve a mystery and help the innocent!

As it states on the front flap of the dust jacket, this book (along with a number of others) allowed readers to "(f)ollow your favorite characters through page after page of thrilling adventures."  And thanks to a special friend and fellow series collector, I was given a copy of this book in the beautiful dust jacket showcasing a photo of the ever-smiling Bonita Granville.

I just wish the story inside had held up as beautifully as the dust jacket and the photo did.

I'm not sure what I expected from the story.  I honestly had not heard anything about the mystery prior to reading it - no reviews, no critiques, no bashing or praising.  So, I went into this story with absolutely no knowledge whatsoever.  Based on the title, The Mystery of Star Island, I gathered that somehow Bonita would end up on an island where she would become instrumental in solving a mystery.  And as I began reading the first couple of chapters, it seemed such would be the case.  Bonita bumps into an old friend who is headed to Star Island to serve as a companion to a young girl near their age; but, before she can leave for the island, she is overcome with appendicitis and must go to the hospital.  After much beginning, Bonita agrees to take her place on the island with no on the wiser because - coincidentally enough - she and Bonita strongly resemble each other.  So much so, in fact, that in their younger days, they were known as "Parey" and "Lelle" (for "parallel").

Sounds enough like a typical children's mystery so far.  There's also a mysterious stranger who shows up at the train station, and Bonita feels there is something not right about him.  Yet another coincidence finds him heading in the same direction as her - to Star Island!  All good set ups for a nice mystery - except, at this point, we still don't know what the mystery is, if any.  Bonita and this stranger get ferried to the island, where Bonita meets her new benefactor and the young girl she will be chaperoning, Betts.  Her benefactor, known as "Muffit," has been injured and must leave the island to get medical attention, leaving Bonita alone with Betts and the nervous-nellie housekeeper, Thelma.  There are claims of stranger noises in the night (reminiscent of Gothic-style storytelling), but again - still no defined mystery.

What we do have by this point, however, are countless instances of Bonita's internal turmoil of why she is there.  "Go back while you have the chance!" and "I knew there'd be trouble!" and "You'd better go back - before it's too late!"  Again and again and again the author has Bonita doubting herself, questioning her actions, and warning herself to go back home and forget Star Island.  I'm not sure if this was intended to build drama, but for me, it simply dragged down the story and lessened my ability to see Bonita Granville as a strong protagonist.  Instead, she comes across weak, whiny, and at times, very unlike any female sleuths of her time.

The author, who interestingly enough is not identified on the cover of the book, is Kathryn Heisenfelt,  who appears to have written a number of "authorized" books for Whitman during that period.  If all of her books are written in this vein, it leaves me to wonder how they performed sales-wise.  The book has a number of illustrations by Henry E. Vallely, all of which are beautifully rendered and are one of the saving graces for the book.

The mystery itself is finally revealed near the end, and it is wrapped up not by Bonita, but rather, by some of the supporting characters.  The identity of the stranger at the beginning is finally revealed at the end (after he is pretty much absent during most of the story), and everything is resolved with very little help from Bonita at all.  Definitely not a book I would recommend reading to any fans of the children's mystery genre; however, I would probably suggest it as a collectible for any Nancy Drew completionist, since it does star the actress who first portrayed everyone's teen sleuth.

RATING:  3 missing used bandages out of 10 for at least attempting to give a Nancy Drew actress her own mystery - and providing some lovely illustrations throughout!