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 - 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.