Kay Tracey Mystery Stories No. 1 - The Secret of the Red Scarf

The year was 1934.  The Ruth Fielding series saw her last book published, while the Dana Girls and Beverly Gray both had the first books in their respective series published.  That year also saw the start of another new Stratemeyer Syndicate series - the "Kay Tracey Mystery Stories," written by Frances K. Judd (which, of course, was a house pseudonym used by the Syndicate).  Having finished the complete Penny Parker series, and having read the first four Dana Girls books, our book club decided to branch out and try another series, and Kay Tracey won the vote!  It has been quite a number of years since I had read the Kay Tracey series, so re-reading this first book was nearly like reading it for the first time.  And, quite frankly, I was a bit surprised at how little I enjoyed the book (as I do not remember disliking the series when I first read it).

 

The Secret of the Red Scarf introduces readers to Kay Tracey and her supporting cast, but the book reads much as if this were not the first book in the series (and, in fact, there are mentions in the story that Kay has solved other mysteries, although they are not identified).  This first book in the series was outlined by Edna Stratemeyer Squier and ghostwritten by Elizabeth M. Duffield Ward, who wrote more than 70 books for the Stratemeyer Syndicate (including books in the Radio Girls, Outdoor Girls, Ruth Fielding, and Billie Bradley series, as well as the entire Blythe Girls series).  Ward also wrote a number of books under her own name, apart from the Syndicate.  While I have the Outdoor Girls, Ruth Fielding, Billie Bradley, and Blythe Girls series, I have not read any of those (with the exception of one Outdoor Girls book set in Florida, which was written by Howard Garis and not Ward).  Thus, this is my first taste of Ward's writing, and I have to say - I'm not overly impressed.

 

As one of the members of our book club pointed out - this story was nothing special.  There was nothing particularly different about the title character to make her stand out from all the other sleuths out there at the time; nor was there anything unique or spectacular about the mystery to make it more engaging or more interesting than any of the other myriad of series books on the shelves at that time.  Just like many of her contemporaries, Kay Tracey is a sixteen-year old girl with "light, waving hair that was almost golden in the sun" (p. 4).  She has two best friends (sound familiar), one of whom is Wilma, named after her father, William (gee, is there another series with a best friend who has a boy's name?), and other is Betty, named after her mother Elizabeth (hmmmm, do we know another sleuth who has a best friend whose realy name is Elizabeth?).  Wilma and Betty - funny, as this book was more than 25 years before that first episode of The Flintstones aired, yet they shared the names of the wives from that show! - are twin sisters who grew up with Kay, and the three are inseparable.  Kay lives at home with a widowed parent (in this case, it is her mother), but her uncle Bill also resides with them, and he is a lawyer (wow, that is original - I can't think of any other teen detective who lives under the roof of a lawyer who helps her out all the time, can you?).  Rounding out the cast is Ethel Eaton, a classmate of the girls who seems to have no other purpose than to try and foil every plan Kay has (a nemesis looking to cause trouble for the sleuth - I can hear Lettie Briggs crying out "copyright infringement" right now!).

 

The mystery involves a young boy, Richard Ludlow (referred to by everyone as "Dick"), who is trying to make his own way ever since his sister, Helene, disappeared.  Coincidentally enough (and let's face it, none of these mysteries would ever be solved without the coincidences), the red scarf Kay has on hand for her gypsy costume she is putting together for an upcoming school masquerade is the exact same scarf that Dick's sister wore!  Kay volunteers to help him find his sister, and after he shows her a picture, Kay knows she has seen the girl in town before.  The hunt begins, and it turns out the Ludlow children come from a wealthy family, whose parents are now dead, and a fortune lies waiting for them to claim.  Plenty of fortuitous circumstances lead Kay and the twins to locate Helene, who has been living under a false name while pursuing a career in acting, having run away from home when her father forbid her to take to the stage.  As fortune would have it, Kay strongly resembles the girl, and her gypsy costume and red scarf lead to a case of mistaken identities, which give her the opportunity to not only uncover Helene's true identity, but also reveal the culprit who has been trying to trick her into getting her fortune!

 

Surprisingly, there is only one internal illustration, which depicts a scene from the first chapter when Kay is racing to stop a runaway horse.  It is odd to see a frontis piece that shows a scene from so early in the book; however, considering the lack of exciting scenes in the book, I suppose this was the most exciting one that the publisher could find to be drawn.  The artist is E.A. Furman (1879 - 1965), who illustrated a number of books for the Saalfield Publishing company during the early part of the 20th Century.  In the 1930s, Furman worked part time as a freelance artist while keeping a full time job as a receptionist at a local bank (E.A. Furman, Artist).  I do give Cupples & Leon some credit for the creative cover design, which shows a book opened to a picture depicting a scene from within the book (in this case, Kay in her gypsy costume, peering out from behind a curtain).   It is definitely unlike any of the other series books being published around that time.

 

Despite the mediocre mystery, there were a couple of things about the book worthy of notice.  The poems that were constantly recited by Wilma were not made up by the author; they are lines from actual poems and/or songs - such as the poem on page 12 comes from the hymn, Only Wait; the poem on page 60 comes from an Alexander Pope poem, Windsor Forest; the poem on page 77 is a well-known expression from Sir Walter Scott; the poem on page 115 is from one written by Lord Byron; and so on.  I would be curious to know whether the Syndicate included these in the outline to be used, or if Ward integrated them herself into the story.

 

There is also the subject of Kay Tracey's name.  One has to wonder if the name was not perhaps a nod to the comic strip character that debuted barely three years prior, Dick Tracy.  It is an interesting coincidence (!!!!) that this new young female sleuth comes out with the similar last name to a comic strip detective who was gaining much popularity at the time.  Sure, there's an "e" added into Kay's last name to differentiate it, but c'mon - one does have to wonder...

 

According to Jennifer White's website (Series Books - Kay Tracey), the Kay Tracey series has been republished a number of times.  I have the Books, Inc.paperback editions that were republished around 1960, and while looking through it, I discovered that the story was drastically revised (which would account for the new 1952 copyright date on the inside copyright page).  One of the many revisions included changing Dick and Helene's last name from Ludlow to Corning.  Yes, that's right - that means Helene's name became Helene Corning.  Now, tell me, where have we seen that name before?  Of all the names they could have chosen, they chose "Corning"?  Apparently, all of the other similarities to the Nancy Drew series was not enough, so they thought, "Let's throw in another one, just in case readers missed all of the others!"  

 

Geoffrey S. Lapin indicates the cover art for the Books, Inc. reprints were provided by an artist by the name of "Elaine."   While the cover to this book does not identify the artist, later books in the series published by Books, Inc. have a signature of "ELAINE" (in all caps) - however, there is no way to identify who this artist is.  Some research online does not give credit to the cover artist, nor is there any site that provides information about an artist who signs his/her work with simply "ELAINE."  Even the Stratemeyer Syndicate records at the New York Pubic Library appear to have the color painting for In the Sunken Garden, and it merely states the artist as "Elaine [?]".  Thus, the artist for the Books, Inc. editions is a mystery that, for now, remains unsolved.  Not sure if this Elaine person also provided the line drawings inside the books, or if a different artist assumed that chore.

 

This book was definitely not a great start to this series, and so, I am curious to see how the second book will fare.  It was also written by Ward, but it was outlined by Edna sister, Harriet, so there is a potential for it to be somewhat better. I suppose we shall have to wait and see...

 

RATING:  5 crumpled portions of a torn letter out of 10 for at the very least attempting to cash in on the girl sleuth phenomenon of the 1930s with a new series of mysteries. 

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #24 - The Clue iin the Old Album (Original Text)

This Nancy Drew Mystery Story is a rather unusual one, containing a convoluted plot, tons of characters, and a rather unusual high number of places visited by Nancy and her friends.  Written by Mildred Wirt (Benson) based on an outline by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, the book was published in 1947 - the same year as the final two Penny Parker books written by Wirt.  According to correspondence between Wirt and Adams (thanks for Pam Hancock for sharing these!), Wirt began work on the book in May of 1946 and completed it nearly six weeks later in June 1946.  The correspondence between the two also reveals that Adams was "rather disappointed" with the manuscript, although she readily admits she was not blaming Wirt - she concedes there may have been too much material in the outline to reasonably fit into the story.  And having now read the book (the original text), I would have to say that is likely the case!

The Clue in the Old Album is the twenty-fourth Nancy Drew Mystery Story.  The plot centers around a gypsy violinist, Romano Pepito, and his young daughter, Rose.  The mystery is, as said above, convoluted and not easily described in a few words.  Basically, Rose's mother, Enid, ran away from her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Struthers, to marry a gyspy, of whom her parents did not approve.  Circumstances arose that brought Enid and her daughter Rose back to live with her parents - Enid died, as did her father, leaving Mrs. Struthers to care for her young granddaughter.  Mrs. Struthers did not want Rose to know of her gypsy heritage, and so she worked hard to keep it a secret.  Nancy and her father happen to meet Mrs. Struthers in the first chapter while they are attending a concert by renowned violinist, Alfred Blackwell (p. 1).  At the concert, Nancy observes a pickpocket steal Mrs. Struther's purse, so she chases after him - she ultimately recovers the purse, but not its contents.  Needless to say, Mrs. Struthers has a mystery and asks Nancy to come to her house to help her solve it.

Mrs. Struthers reveals to Nancy that on her deathbed, her daughter told her, "The doll! It's gone! Oh, Mother, you must find it for Rose!" (p. 18).  Now, this is an important plot point, because it turns out Mrs. Struthers is a serious doll collector, having a room filled with them on glass shelves - including some original peddler dolls from the 19th century (p. 15).  Now, here, let's stop for a moment and look at this aspect of the plot.  Throughout the story, Wirt not only mentions a number of various dolls, but she goes into considerable detail to describe them - from the peddler dolls (which are real dolls made between the 16th and 19th centuries, crafted to resemble Old London peddlers) to a doll on a velvet-colored music bos that moves from side to side with the music (p. 16) to dolls made of cornhusk and horsehair (p. 29) to ancient Chinese dolls carved from hard ink cases (p. 29) to even a doll in a quaint evening dress (p. 30) that Mrs. Struthers indicates is Jenny Lind (who happens to be a famous singer in the real weorld, known as the "Swedish Nightingale").  There's a French swordsman doll with a tiny steel saber posed as if to duel (p. 30); a king with a jeweled robe (p. 59); a doll with a violin in its hands (p. 80); Civil War dolls that were hollow, used to carry messages and medicine across enemy lines (p. 95); early American rag dolls with shoe button eyes and faces painted with vegetable dye (p. 118); and even a whole set of mannequin dolls dressed up as a full wedding party (p. 148).  The amount of detail given to the description of the various dolls indicates some level of research, which the correspondence between Wirt and Adams confirms when Wirt thanks Adams for the "doll material," which she found very interesting and used as much as possible (informing Adams she had to let some of it go, as she could not fit it all into the story!).

Getting back to the story itself, Wirt had a lot to work with, some of which is not particularly normal for a Nancy Drew book.  For instance, there's a scene where Nancy is poisoned when she pricks her finger on the point of a doll's sword - and Carson is worried the poison may be fatal (p. 33)!  It's not every day we find Nancy on the verge of death.  But miraculously, the doctor who is called out to Mrs. Struthers' home not only recognizes the poison simply by its smell, but is able to create an antidote in mere minutes right there at the house (p. 34).  That is definitely some doctor!  We also get treated to the revelation that Ned has plans for his future that include his desire to "go into business, prosper, and marry a certain golden-haired young lay named..." (p. 37).  I don't recall any other book where Ned so blatantly reveals his romantic intention to marry Nancy!  There is also a hinted death threat by one of the gypsies, who, when talking with Nancy about Rose, remarks, "when her grandmother dies..." (p. 201).  When Nancy gasps at the idea that they would kill Mrs. Struthers, the gypsy backtracks and indicates that the loss of Rose would leave her with a broken-heart that would lead to her death - but still, that's some pretty terse stuff right there.  Finally, there is also the gypsies' ritual of marrying off their daughters very young - in chapter six, Ned and Nancy are witness to a gypsy wedding, where Nancy sees the young girl is "very frightened and could not have been more than fourteen years old" (p. 43); however, before you get too shocked to read this in a Nancy Drew book, the gypsy performing the ceremony makes it clear to all of the attendees (and the reader) that while their girls marry very young, they "have complied with all the laws of this state" (p. 42).  One can only assume Wirt (or Adams in the editing process) threw in that line to keep readers from thinking this marriage was an unlawful act against a minor.

Two of the gypsies - Anton and Nitaka - play a pivotal role in the mystery, and they make a number of appearances, mostly as thieves.  They are also right-hand helpers of the gypsy king, Zorus (whose name is actually from Green mythology, a Trojan warrior who participated in the Trojan war), and they enforce his will upon all of the gypsies in their group, including extortion of money.  What is sad is that the gypsies, for the most part in this book, are not portrayed in a good light.  The one gypsy who helps Nancy and warns her on several occasions turns out to be not a gypsy at all, but someone who married a gypsy and pretended to be from another tribe so as to not cause trouble for her husband (p. 205).  What surprised me was that when one of the gypsies offers to tell Nancy's fortune, her first question is, "Have you a license to tell fortunes?" (p. 113).  I was not aware that a license was required to be a fortune teller, but some quick research online reveals this was actually the case - and in some instances, fortune telling was outlawed altogether, license or no license!

A couple of interesting tidbits worth noting - first is the mention of the Taylor Department Store, where the mannequin dolls are to be on display (p. 148).  This same department store was first referenced in The Secret of the Old Clock, where Nancy goes to buy a new dress.  It's not often you see continuity of places like that in this early series.  Second, Adams may have been right in her disappointment in the story when it comes to Nancy's character.  Adams tells Wirt in one of her letters that Nancy "does not see like the courageous, untiring person she always has been ... she feels like a defeatist, ready to give up ..." And that is certainly true in some instance in the story.  When Nancy is kidnapped at the end of the book, being tied up and on the floor of the truck "made her feel quite ill" (p. 209).  She then thinks, "If only Dad could have reached me in time..." (p. 209) - and when he does arrive and rescue her, her first words are, "Oh, Dad, I thought you'd never come" (p. 209).  Later, when asked by Bess if she were scared, she laughs, "I'm afraid I was" (p. 212).  These are only a few examples, but they show the frame of mind of Nancy's character pretty much throughout most of the book - which, as Adams says, is not typical of Nancy Drew.  Third, Wirt specifically used a couple of real musical pieces in the book - the Hungarian Rhapsody (p. 38) and The Gypsy Airs (p. 149).  One can assume these pieces were chosen because of the focus on gypsies in the story.  Finally, a couple of plot points are never actually explained - such as "the cause" (p. 198) that Zorus is forcing all of his gypsy tribe members to support, as well as the mysterious "substance" inside of Enid's doll (p. 201), that Romano's father discovered in Bear Claw Mountain.  I suppose with so much going on in this story, those points just sort of got lost along the way.

Russell Tandy provided the art for both the cover and the internal frontis.  The internal scene is from page 186, when Nancy, Bess, and George are in the small town of Aiken, where Nancy spots one of Mrs. Struthers' stolen dolls in a store front window.  The cover scene comes straight from page 195, when Nancy sneaks up on the gypsy camp, hoping to locate both Rose and her father, Romano Pepito.  I did notice on the cover art, as well as on the internal, Nancy has a red bow in her hair, something that one usually sees in Penny Parker's hair on the illustrations for many of her books.  

The book is not bad, but it is definitely a lot to take in - I mean, let's face it, I didn't even mention the whole River Heights Yacht Club sailboat race and all of the trouble that comes along with that - including the purchase of a sail boat, the sabotage of that boat, and the ultimate race.  None of it has anything whatsoever to do with the mystery, so one is left to wonder exactly why that material is in the story at all.  (And in case you are wondering, yes, of course, Nancy and her friends do win the race - which, by the way, is called the "Dixon Cup" - hmmmm, perhaps named after another author name used by the Syndicate for a certain boys series?)

8 poisoned "witch dolls" out of 10 for some rather strange plot elements, unusual characters, and the revelation of Ned's true intentions for Nancy!