Barbie Lane and the Mystery of the Egyptian Museum - a Triple Nickle Book (No. 5)

This is a book that I had been searching for high and low for a number of years.  I honestly cannot recall when I first stumbled across this, but I think it was when I was doing a search on Amazon for "Barbie" and "mystery" to find some of the old Random House books published about Barbie (the doll) solving mysteries.  I had never seen this before and knew nothing about it, but the title and cover art caught my interest.  Of course, at the time, the book was listed as "unavailable" on Amazon, so I started expanding my search to eBay, Abe, etsy, and other sites.  I later learned from some of the online book collecting groups to which I belong that these Triple Nickle Books are a sought-after item and not easily found.  Apparently the publisher also put out some Power Boys novels in this format, as well as books about Wild Bill Hickok and Davy Crockett.  Well, after several years of combing through auction sites and scouring through used bookstores, I finally found a copy on eBay last year and was able to get it at an unbelievably great price!

Barbie Lane and the Mystery of the Egyptian Museum is the first (and only!) mystery in the Barbie Lane series.  The book identifies "Lucy Carlton" as the author, but I'm guessing that is likely a pseudonym.  I'm unable to find any information about an author by this name, even connected with this book, and since the Powers Boys stories published by Triple Nickel (which, apparently, are unrelated to the later Powers Boys series published by Whitman) were also written under a pseudonym, this seems a likely assumption.  The story itself is 63 pages in length, with twelve chapters with an illustration at the head of each chapter and a few small illustrations scattered throughout the story. The chapters are relatively short, but the pages are formatted with two-columns, like you will find in magazines.  As such, the story moves at a pretty quick pace, and similar to the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and other children's series books of that time, each chapter ends with a cliffhanger to encourage the reader to keep on reading and find out what happens next.

Barbie Lane is a sixteen-year old redhead whose father, Richard Lane, is a "celebrated freelance photographer" (p. 2).  The inside front cover introduces readers to the main character with the tagline: "Meet Barbie Lane!"  Describing her as "the most adventurous teen-ager you've ever known," the introduction explains that Mr. Lane "takes his brave daughter with him ... and the red-headed girl finds herself in the midst of more exciting mysteries than you could imagine."  Surrounding the introduction are a number of line drawings of Barbie's head, which in many instances are very reminiscent of the original Barbie doll (leaving one to wonder if the artist used the doll as a model of sorts, particularly considering the doll and this young sleuth share the same first name).  The illustrations are signed by "Mort Leav" (more on him below).

 

As the book opens, she and her best friend, Joan Webster, who is a year younger, are on a bus headed to Collins City to join Mr. Lane for a vacation.  Mr. Lane is actually there to photograph a new Egyptian exhibit set to open at the Collins City Museum of Art, and Barbie and Joan are anxious to see the exhibit.  As fate would have it, the bus has a slight mishap, and the girls find themselves in the small village of Milltown.  Visiting an antique shop, the girls run into Mr. Wilson, a fellow passenger on the bus - and this is where the strange events begin to take place.  A wiry, red-haired man comes storming out of the back, pushing his way past the girls, losing a button in the process (p. 5).  Then Mr. Wilson accuses Barbie of stealing his wallet, which is later discovered by the shop owner on the floor beneath an old spinning wheel (p. 7).  Because of this delay, the girls miss their bus and have to contact Mr. Lane to come get them.  When he picks them up, Mr. Wilson joins them on the ride to Collins City, as that is where he is heading.  The girls ask excitedly about the exhibit, and Mr. Lane reveals rather reluctantly that it may not open due to some trouble at the museum - which prompts Mr. Wilson to warn him about "the Curse of Rama-Khan!" (p. 10).

The mystery immediately ramps up, as the girls discover that certain artifacts have been stolen from the museum, despite the fact that the museum has been locked up tight, and only a few people have access, all of whom are thoroughly trustworthy.  The girls begin to observe mysterious events, such as Mr. Wilson pushing a veiled woman in a wheelchair; the red-haired man from the antique shop hanging around town; and strange shadows and noises in the museum.  When the girls get accidentally locked inside the museum overnight, they discover how the criminals have been getting in and out to steal the artifacts, and they also learn why the criminals have been vandalizing the left hands of various statues and mummies!  It's actually a fairly interesting tale, and the author throws in a couple of surprising twists (although careful readers will easily spot one of the villains pretty early on).  The author does have the villains manhandle the two girls rather roughly, putting them in some very precarious situations - but, as with any good sleuth, some pure luck and fortunate coincidences lead them to safety and a satisfaction resolution. 

The final page of the book (p. 64) is actually a letter column, similar to what you would find in old comic books or some magazines.  I was surprised to see this, particularly since the letters all refer to either Triple Nickel Books in general, or specifically to other books (such as the two Power Boys books).  Only one of the letter-writers is identified by age (15-years old), raising the question as to whether the other writers may have been adults, or they simply did not include their age when sending their letters.  Since the cover to this particular book has "No. 5" just below the title, it makes me believe this was the fifth Triple Nickel Book published, and that regardless of the main character in the story, the books were simply numbered in the order of their publication.  There is a Davy Crockett book, Danger from the Mountain, that is identified as No. 2, while another titled The Adventures of Davy Crockett has No. 1 on the cover.  I've been able to see the cover to The Life of Wild Bill Hickok, and it shows No. 3 on the cover.  Since I've never seen either of the Power Boys books, I can only assume one of them might be No. 4, and perhaps the other is No. 6. I did notice on the Davy Crockett and Wild Bill Hickok books, they are labeled "For Boys" on the cover, while this book is labeled "For Girls."  They were certainly making it clear the audience they were targeting for each story!

The inside back cover is an advertisement for all of the "Brand New Exciting Triple Nickel Books" available for purchase, including the two Davy Crockett stories, the Wild Bill Hickok tale, and the two Power Boys mysteries.  At the bottom is a preview of titles that were to be "Coming Soon!" - a second Barbie Lane mystery titled The Riddle of the Glowing Marble; a third Power Boys adventure, and a third Davy Crockett story.  I know the Barbie Lane book was never published, so I'm guessing the other two likely never saw publication either (although I could be wrong).  I have to wonder what that second Barbie Lane story would have been about, as I can't imagine a glowing marble making a very exciting mystery!

While the artist is not specifically given credit in the book, the illustrations are all signed by"Mort Leav."  This leads one to suspect that it is referring to Mortimer Leav (1916-2005), who drew comics back in the first half of the 20th Century (including Sally O'Neil, Policewoman stories for National Comics).  His history with comic books can be seen in the illustrations in this book, as the scenes depicted are either heavy on the action or scenes that find Barbie and Joan in some dangerous position.  The cover painting is not signed, so I have no way of knowing if Leav did the art for the cover, or simply for the interiors.

Triple Nickel books are very hard to come by.  Some research online reveals that the Triple Nickel line of books were published by Solomon & Gelman in the 1950s, and they were labeled as "Triple Nickel Books" because they only cost 15 cents.  The back cover to the book guaranteed the stories were "the finest in wholesome adventure novels for boys and girls," and even went so far as to set forth the members of an advisory board who allegedly supervised the writing and editing - a university dean, a director at the National Hospital for Speech Disorders, and consulting psychologist!  Apparently they wanted to make sure parents were fully satisfied that these stories were safe to read.  This could possibly stem from the fact that around this time, the mid-1950s, a psychiatrist by the name of Frederic Wertham was on a warpath against comic books, campaigning for the books to be censored, as he claimed the stories and art encouraged bad behavior in children, leading to juvenile delinquency.  A Congressional inquiry was even begun into the matter, which led to the formation of the Comics Code Authority, which would monitor and censor comics to ensure the material did not depict overt scenes of violence, sex, and other "harmful" things.  Perhaps by advertising the advisory board on the back of their books, Solomon & Gelman were hoping it would help sell the books!

 

Sadly, these pulp-style mysteries for juveniles have faded into obscurity, and while I finally saw a second copy of this sell on eBay recently, they are definitely few and far between.  I did enjoy the story and only wish more had been produced.  

 

RATING:  9 old abandoned sewer tunnels out of 10 for a fast-paced, fun mystery and a great new sleuth that sadly didn't get to experience any more adventures!

Agatha, Girl of Mystery #1 - The Curse of the Pharaoh

Okay, I suppose it was time to finally getting around to reading this series. I bought this book back in 2013, when it was first published here in the States (yes, this is another foreign series that has been republished here in the United States under a different title, similar to the Murder Most Ladylike series that was relabeled the Wells & Wong Mysteries here).  I continue to buy all ten books in this series as they were published, but I never got around the reading them.  Well, I guess a decade of waiting is long enough, so time to read them!  Originally published in France as the Agatha Mistery series, "Agatha, Girl of Mystery" was originally advertised as an exciting new girl detective "with the smarts of Nancy Drew and the charm of Eloise" (from the back cover of this first book).  Obviously, this tagline had me curious - and the fact that each book is set in a different locale around the world (similar to the "Greetings from Somewhere" series I previously read) convinced me to pick up the series.

The Curse of the Pharaoh introduces readers to twelve-year old Agatha Mistery, daughter of globe-trotting parents who think nothing of leaving their pre-teen child in the care of the family's trusted butler, Chandler.  Although barely in middle school, young Agatha already knows she wants to be a successful mystery writer when she grows up (hmmmm, does the name "Agatha" ring any bells?), so she is always ready to turn anything into a mystery.  A mysterious package she receives from her traveling parents would seem to indicate a mystery, but it's actually her cousin, Dashiell Mistery (yet another familiar mystery name, eh?), a fourteen-year old slacker who is studying at the Eye International Detective Academy, who brings her a mystery to solve!  It seems the school has given him a project that he must complete in three days or he will fail the course - so, needless to say, he calls on Agatha to help him solve the case.

What is the case, you ask?  Well, our intrepid sleuths must find out who stole an ancient tablet from an archaeological site, recover the tablet so the archaeologists can locate the missing tomb, and capture the thieves.  Sounds simple enough, right?  Oh, there is one more thing.  They are warned to beware of Tutankhamen's curse!

The story is simple and fun, and the characters are a hoot.  Agatha is endearing, Dash is somewhat annoying, Chandler is the ever-loyal one, Aunt Patricia is fun-loving, and Watson (if you don't recognize that one, why are you reading mysteries?), Agatha's unusually quiet and calm cat who travels with her everywhere she goes, is ... well, he's just sort of there.  More often than not, the reader will not even remember he is there.  The three professors the kids meet when visiting the dig site in Egypt are somewhat stereotypical - each as different from the other as could possibly be.  There's also a fourth man at the site, a local man, who does not quite fit in with the rest.  Agatha quickly discerns that the tablet was not taken by someone outside the dig, and she puts a plan in motion to have the culprit reveal himself, one that, quite frankly, is worthy of the queen of crime herself (you know who I'm talking about here...after all, she shares the same name as our title character here!).

At only 133 pages, with larger font and plenty of beautiful illustrations by Stefano Turconi, the book is a pretty easy read. However, even though it is aimed at young readers, it is still entertaining and has a pretty well-thought-out plot.  If this first book is any indication of what the rest of the series is like, then I have no doubt I'm in from some great reading!

RATING:  8 ice cream pop eating professors out of 10 for a great start to a new little series for young readers with a very likeable amateur sleuth!

Mercy at the Manor Manor - a Gothic parody

There's a reason why, when I go to a used bookstore, I wander around the entire store, looking at books in pretty much every section - even sections that I would never normally buy books (such as the romance section, or the westerns) - and there's a reason for that.  This book is one of those reasons! While browsing through the romance section at the Family Book Store in DeLand, I saw the spine of a book that had a title that didn't make sense - Mercy at the Manor Manor.  I immediately thought this had to be a misprint, because why else would they have printed the word twice like that.  So, I pulled the book out and looked at the cover - with its cartoon-style art and very Gothic-style design, it seemed very much like any typical Gothic romance from the '60s.  Until I read the blurb at the top:

Could a beautiful young bridge, brought to the seacoast of Brooklyn, be completely unaware of - everything? You bet!

Obviously this was not your typical Gothic romance! And that's when I spotted those three small words just below the title: "A Gothic Spoof." Well, needless to say, that book was purchased faster than you could blink an eye.  I love the whole Gothic genre, and I definitely love a good parody, so mix those two together, and it's sure to be a fun read!  And it was!

Mercy at the Manor Manor is the story of Mercy Manor - the happy new bride of Arthur Manor, the heir to the Manor Manor (and yes, that really is the name of the family homestead!), as well as the family curse.  Because this is a Gothic story, after all, so there has to be a family curse.  It's the "Sheepshead Curse" - which I thought would have something to do with a literal sheep's head, but instead it has to do with a fish (which I did not know existed, but apparently does - literal name is "archosargus probatocephalus," which grows to 30 inches, but is commonly only 10 to 20 inches, and normally has dark stripes down its side).  So, it seems there is a stuffed and mounted fish hanging in Manor Manor that has cursed this family for generations, and every time it falls from the wall, something bad happens to someone - including Arthur Manor's previous fiance, who died from a tragic accident while on a parachute ride at Coney Island (trust me - you can't make this stuff up!).  Yet, the memory of Becky Funch (pronounced "Funk," in case you were wondering) still haunts poor Arthur, which really puts a cramp in Mercy and Arthur's honeymoon - although, let's face it, if you're going to spend your honeymoon in the family manor that is supposedly cursed where your ex-fiance's mother remains as the housekeeper, well, you can't really expect that girl's memory NOT to haunt you.

The main character - Mercy - is your typical oblivious blonde.  She's so enamored by her husband, being married, and the idea of living in a grand manor, that she does not really understand much of what is going on around her.  Which is what drives some of the humor in the book.  In Gothic stories, the heroine is usually oblivious to a small degree, wondering what is going on around her - but in this book, poor Mercy accidentally uncovers a hidden room behind the wall of her bedroom and mistakes it for a dressing room with no light!  She thinks little to nothing of the hole in the stairway that later causes her husband to fall down the stairs! And she sees absolutely nothing wrong with the hookah that Arthur's father carries with him at all times.  She doesn't even seem fazed by the fact that she and her husband have absolutely no marital conjugations during the entire length of the book (and remember - these two are on their honeymoon!).  No, she is the perfect, naive, innocent young bride who comes to the dark, foreboding manor that is just filled with secrets...

Reading the book, I could easily picture this as a film in the same vein as the Airplane! or Naked Gun movies.  The silliness, the slapstick, the innuendos and double entendres - this book is just RIPE for a parody film.  I giggled, I laughed, I shook my head - Mundis was definitely able to capture the spirit of the Gothic tale and create a satire while staying true to the source material.  The mysterious husband who is keeping secrets ... the stepmother who seems to be in control of the house ... the housekeeper who doesn't like the new bride ... the handsome young lawyer who seems to have eyes on the bride ... and the curse that holds the family hostage in their own home.  But the sarcasm, the one-liners, and the slapstick are smoothly intertwined with the dark tale to make for a fun, light-hearted read that will definitely have you smiling the whole way through!

The surprising climax reveals, like any good Gothic novel, that the supernatural thought to be real was nothing but a hoax used for the wicked machinations of those trying to gain the property and wealth that comes with Manor Manor.  In fact, the ultimate reveal reads somewhat like a Nancy Drew mystery, which has to be more than coincidental based on references I found within the book:

1.    Mercy is told to stay away from the room with the "green door" (p. 54) - which hearkens back to the Penny Parker mystery, Behind the Green Door, written by Mildred A. Wirt;

2.    Mercy reminds herself that she donated all of her Nancy Drew books to the VA hospital (p. 134), unable to recall Nancy Drew's fail-safe formula for sleuthing - and, of course, Mildred Wirt (Benson) wrote a number of the original Nancy Drew books; and

 

3.    Mercy discovers a number of notes written by various women to her husband, one of which is signed by none other than Penny Nichols - another series of books written by Mildred Wirt (Benson) under the pseudonym of Joan Clark.

 

Now, that has to be much more than a coincidence that this one book, published in 1967 (by none other than Simon & Schuster!), has three references to series written by Mildred Wirt Benson!  For a moment, I wondered if perhaps "Hester Jane Mundis" was a pseudonym, being curious if the real author was a Benson fan; however, I discovered Mundis is, indeed, a real author, and this was one of several books she wrote (some of the others being about vitamins and reincarnation - go figure).  I would be curious to know if Mundis read Benson's books growing up, but then I thought about the fact that in the mid-1960s, I'm not sure if Mundis would have known Benson had authored the Nancy Drew and Penny Nichols books.  Perhaps she had simply read all three series (Parker, Drew, and Nichols) when she was younger and threw in the references for fun?  Who know ... that may be a mystery none of the sleuths will ever solve!

 

Regardless, the book was a truly fun read, and I'm definitely glad I bought it.  When researching information about the author, I was surprised to discover that the book is not easily found.  I'm guessing perhaps not many copies were sold back in the day, so if you want to find a copy, you better start searching!

 

RATING:  10 large helpings of lima beans out of 10 for Gothic tropes and parody zaniness combined to make a FUN-tastic read!