Penny Parker Mystery Stories No. 13 - Guilt of the Brass Thieves

People always say that the number 13 is an unlucky number; however, for Mildred Wirt, number 13 is actually a pretty lucky number, as her thirteenth Penny Parker mystery actually got this series back on track after the oddity that was book 12 (Voice From the Cave).  With this book, readers get the Penny Parker and Anthony Parker that they loved so much in books 1 through 11.  Penny is perky, snarky, and downright plucky as she sets about to find the identity of the thieves who are stealing brass from an airplane factory owned by her father's friend, Mr. Gandiss!

Guilt of the Brass Thieves actually takes Penny and her father on yet another vacation (if you recall, they went on a vacation to a nearby beach in the last book!).  I'm guessing Penny must still be on summer break from school, since there is no mention of classes at all in this mystery.  Thus, I supposed it would not be entirely unrealistic for Mr. Parker to take his daughter on another vacation; although, it does beg the question - who is minding the Riverview Star while its owner and editor is away so much?  In any event, this story, like the several before it, features a war-related mystery as someone is stealing brass and copper from the Gandiss airplane factory, which is producing materials necessary for America's war effort.  In fact, Mr. Gandiss indicates that, at the rate the thieves are going, he could stand to lose upwards of $60,000 within one year (p. 29), which, if you stop and consider that this book was published in 1945, would equate to more than $1 million in revenue loss by today's standards!  That's quite a bit of money!  The blatant war references are not abundant, but there are subtle references, such as the fact Mr. Gandiss' factory is made up almost entirely of working girls (p. 30, p. 48), who would have stepped in to fill positions normally held by men when they were called away to fight in the war.

The story opens with Penny and her father waiting for Mr. Gandiss to pick them up in his boat to ferry them across to Shadow Island (p. 2), where he and his wife and son reside.  As it turns out, there is a real Shadow Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada, where it is also known as Prince Edward Island.  (This also happens to be the setting for the children's classic, Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery.)  Instead of Mr. Gandiss, however, the Parkers are picked up by his son, Jack, who they quickly learn is irresponsible and rather headstrong when the boat he is using to ferry the Parkers runs out of gas, and he has no anchor and no oars in it either (p. 7)!  As luck would have it (because what would any series book be without its protagonist always having good fortune?), a large riverboat, the River Queen, comes along and provides them passage.  It is here that Penny meets young Sally Barker, a dark-haired girl the same age as Penny (p. 9), whose father owns the ferry.  One must take note here that there was a real steamer called the River Queen that was used as a ferry back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but which met its ultimate demise when a single lantern on the boat exploded, catching the boat on fire that ultimately engulfed the entire thing (and pay attention to those details, as they actually mirror some events that take place in this mystery...)

While on the steamer, Penny admires a brass lantern that she quickly learns was won by Sally the previous year in a sailboat race, in which she defeated Jack Gandiss (p. 16), for which he is bitter and determined to win it back in this year's race.  "Provided the lantern isn't stolen first," he warns Sally (p. 16), which, to any astute reader, is a clear case of foreshadowing.  When the Parkers finally make it to the Gandiss' home, they finally learn the real reason for their invitation.  "How are you two at solving mysteries?" Mr. Gandiss inquires of them (p. 27).  He proceeds to tell them of the thefts from his factory, and introduces them to two detectives - Jason Fellow and Stanley Williams (p. 28) - who are trying to find the thieves, but have been unsuccessful to date.  Penny and her father agree to help, and Mr. Parker even brings in a prominent detective from Riverview (pp. 72-73), who opens up a faux pawn shop in the hopes of drawing out the thieves who want to sell the brass and copper.  Penny, in the meantime, stumbles upon some clues of her own when she overhears a maintenance man and security guard talking about how "it worked slick as a whistle" (p. 65) after getting Sally fired from a position at the airplane factory where she was trying to earn money for college (p. 66).  This, of course, makes Penny more determined than ever to not only find the culprits, but to clear Sally's name.

There is quite a bit going on in this story.  Not only do we have the thefts at the factory, but there are also the midnight excursions of Jack Gandiss to a rather disreputable establishment owned by Ma Harper and her husband, Claude (p. 104), which Sally describes as the "meeting place of scum of the city" (p. 104).  The brass lantern is then stolen from the River Queen, and Sally feels responsible (p. 111).  Then, thanks to a twist of fate, a taxi ride takes Penny to the Harper residence, where Penny learns Ma Harper is engaged in the selling of black market silk stockings (pp. 138-44).  Penny finds herself in quite the pinch when the Harpers realize she is a snoop, and she spends several chapters trying to escape and evade them so she an report to the police that not only are they selling the illegal silk, but that they also have all of the stolen brass in their basement (p. 147)!   Now, we must stop here and talk about this basement for a moment...

When readers are first introduced to the Harpers' house, it is described as a two-story building "that appeared to stand on stilts over the water" (p. 119), as it was built right on the river side.  Yet, when Penny is inside the Harpers' house after being taken there by the taxi driver, she decides when left alone for a moment, togo down into the basement to see if the brass lantern is down there with the other brass that was stolen (p. 147).  Now, I have to ask - if a house is built on stilts so that it is raised over the water, now in the world could the house possibly have a basement?  By the time she reached this point in writing the story, had Wirt forgotten she described the house as being built on stilts?  Unless, perhaps, a small portion of the front of the house was actually built on solid ground, with only the back on stilts over the water, but even that would be questionable, as the ground so near the riverbank would surely not be sturdy enough to support a basement being built into it.  I suppose this is merely a moment where we need to suspend out disbelief and just move on with the story.

Penny eventually gets rescued by Sally and the River Queen (p. 173), and it is here that Wirt adds a very dramatic, dangerous scene involving an excursion boat that catches fire when the oil tanks explode, causing it to catch fire, threatening not only the lives of the passengers, but also the freight sheds along the shore, which could easily catch fire if any sparks jump from the boat (p. 179).  Sally's father uses some ingenuity to first catch a tow-line to the other boat and drag it away from the shore (p. 181), and after the tow-line breaks, by ramming the other boat repeatedly with the River Queen to force it further away from inhabited shoreline (p. 183).  Sadly, one man, an engineer, does die from the explosion on the other boat (p. 197), but Captain Barker, with Penny and Sally's help, manage to save the lives of everyone else.  

The Harpers and their cohorts are eventually all captured, and Sally does manage to recover the brass lantern, although at a very high cost to her own safety (pp. 194-97).  As a result, she asks Penny to man the sailboat for the upcoming race (p. 203), and not only does Penny win the race, but Captain Barker is awarded a gift of $1,000 for saving the lives of so many people from that excursion boat - a prize that, in today's money, would be approximately $17,000!  He informs Sally this would be the money to pay her way to college, to which she responds, "I only know I'm scheduled for the same place Penny selects! She's been my good luck star, and I'll set my future course by her!" (p. 210).  I believe this is the first time there is any mention of Penny attending college, and hints at the fact that she is at an age where she would be thinking of college, placing her possibly in her junior or senior year of high school.

Wirt uses a considerable number of sailing and nautical references throughout the book, once again affirming her love of the water and all sports related thereto.  In fact, Penny is even described in the story as an excellent swimmer and as someone who enjoys sailing and all water sports (p. 4).  Wirt makes reference to the centerboard of the sailboat (p. 45), the jib sail (p. 79), the tiller (p. 81), and the ultimate description of the sailboat race (p. 205), all of which are provided in detail with the assumption that the reader would be at least somewhat familiar with the terms (or, perhaps, that the reader would look them up and learn more about them as a result of reading the story - such as I did!).  Multiple times in the story, Wirt refers to the boats' inability to land near certain areas of the islands due to the existence of "shoals," which she does not specifically define.  Looking them up, I discovered that "shoals" are naturally formed ridges or bars that are just below the surface of the water and pose a danger to boats attempting to cross that particular area of water. 

One final thing I just have to make note of is the fact that the Gandiss' family has a made by the name of ... wait for it ... Effie!  One has to wonder if this is Wirt's way of poking fun at the Syndicate, since Effie was the substitute housekeeper for the Drews in Nancy Drew's Password to Larkspur Lane (1933, Walter Karig), but more recently in Nancy Drew's The Secret in the Old Attic (1944, Mildred Wirt).  Perhaps since Wirt had just used the character in a Nancy Drew book published one year prior, she used the name in this book as a quick jab at the Nancy Drew series she was writing for the Syndicate.

 

And before I sign off this post, I do want to mention the dedication at the beginning of the book.  On the page prior to the table of contents,  there is a short and simple dedication to Asa Wirt, who was Mildred Wirt's husband at the time this book was written.  At first, I wondered if the dedication was a result of Asa's passing, but upon a bit of research, I learned Asa Wirt did not pass away until 1947, two years after this book was published.  However, he did have a stroke in 1940, and suffered several more thereafter, until he was forced to leave his position with the Associated Press in 1943.  After this, Mildred Wirt took on a job at the Toledo Times in 1944, meaning she was working and taking care of a sick husband at the time this book was written.  This, perhaps is part of the reason why Wirt only had two books published in 1945 - this book and the Nancy Drew title, The Clue in the Crumbling Wall. 

Overall, this book was a far cry better than the previous one, and it definitely re-establishes the character of Penny Parker that Wirt had created and been writing for the previous six years.  I was glad to see her back on track, and it gives me high hopes for the remaining four books in the series.

 

RATING:  9 small couplings of brass out of 10 for another well-written, exciting mystery that proves just how great Penny Parker is as a series detective!

Janet Hardy in Hollywood - Book One of the Janet Hardy Series

I've had the second book in this series for quite a while, but it was some time before I finally picked up the first book (I was looking for one reasonably priced in a pretty good dust jacket).  I managed to find a great copy at an estate sale last year, so I bought it and am finally just getting around to reading it.  Now, I will admit that prior to picking up this series, I had never heard of Janet Hardy.  I knew that Whitman did quite a few "Authorized Editions" based on various actors and actresses from Hollywood, and based on the two titles in this series, I though perhaps Goldsmith had jumped on the bandwagon.  This, clearly, was not the case.  There was no actress named Janet Hardy back in the early 20th Century, although I did find a book by famed author Nora Roberts, in which the main character has a grandmother in the book named Janet Hardy who was a legendary actress.  Makes one wonder if Nora Roberts perhaps read these two books... (I should note there were two actresses named Janet Hardy who did films in 1971 and 1981, respectively, but those were obviously well after this book, so it could not have been based on either of them!)

Janet Hardy in Hollywood is the first of this two book series written by Ruthe S. Wheeler, the same author who wrote another book from Goldsmith that I reviewed a while ago (Helen in the Editor's Chair).  Although, from what I have learned since reading that book, apparently Ruthe S. Wheeler was actually author Graham M. Dean, who wrote these books for Goldsmith under his wife's maiden name.  I suppose at the time, it did not seem appropriate to have male author's names attached to series books intended to be read by girls,  In today's world, that would not matter in the least, but the 1930s were definitely a different time (in fact, stopping to think about it, that would be nearly 100 years ago - a century ago!).

The story centers around Janet Hardy and her best friend, Helen Thorne, two young ladies who are getting ready to graduate from high school in their mid-western town of Clarion (the state is not identified, but there is a Clarion, Iowa, which would fit the Midwest setting).  Helen's father is a successful film producer in Hollywood, and Helen is anxious for him to come home in time for her graduation.  In addition, Janet and Helen are auditioning for the lead parts in the senior play before graduation - and Helen wins her part but Janet ends up as a light technician and stage hand.  Of course, as fate would have it, when the opening night of the play arrives, the other lead actress is injured in a freak accident, and Janet has to step into the role at the last minute!  She and Helen do such a magnificent job, Helen's father decides to take the girls to Hollywood for the summer so they might have an opportunity to act in some western films his company is producing.

Despite the title, more than the first half of the book actually takes place in Clarion, with all of the events leading up to the girls taking their trip to Hollywood.  The girls face a pretty dangerous scenario when the bus taking the seniors to a skating rink for an evening gets caught in a horrific snow storm on the way home, trapping the students and their teacher in a blizzard with no heater and no help in sight!  Janet and Helen (along with the boys they like, Jim and Ed) manage to keep everyone safe and warm, and the bus driver eventually returns with help to get everyone back home for hot drinks and a roaring fire.  They also face some difficulties from the girls against whom they compete for the lead roles in the play, as the rumor is spread that Helen only got her part because of her father's fame in Hollywood, while another rumor begins that Janet caused the accident that injured the other girl so she could get her part!  No real mysteries involved in these events, but they do make for some enjoyable reading.

It's only after Janet and Helen arrive in Hollywood with Helen's father does the mystery begin. Janet and Helen audition and win small parts in a western film being made by Mr. Thorne's production company. From the get-go, it is pretty clear that the leading lady in the film is not overly fond of the girls, feeling they got the parts solely because of their connection to Mr. Thorne.  Sure enough, Janet has a mishap with a saddle she is using while riding a horse during the filming of a scene, and while recovering from the fall, she learns that someone purposefully cut through the saddle girth, so that it would slide loose during the ride!  Janet does not like to think someone would purposefully injure her, so she lets it go.  But when they are selected to be in another film, albeit small parts once again, they see firsthand how deep the sabotage goes - because it is not Janet the saboteur is after; rather, someone wants to ruin Mr. Thorne's production company!  A kidnapping, some aerial battles, some burning sets, and a deadly explosion threaten to close down the film - and Mr. Thorne's company! - if someone doesn't figure out who the saboteur is and fast!  (And I'll give you two guesses who cracks the case...)

Sadly, this book does not have any internal illustrations (I don't know why, exactly, but I really do love seeing internals - I guess having had them in the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Bobbsey Twins books I read while growing up has spoiled me!); however, it does have some beautiful art on the dust jacket, featuring the scene where Janet and Helen first arrive in Hollywood, where they are greeted with a horde of photographers as they step off the plane.  Interestingly enough, you even see "NBC" on one of the large microphones, which I'm surprised they were able to get away with using a national broadcasting company like that.  The book does not identify the artist, although next to Helen on the cover is the phrase, "Two Taylors" - I'm not sure if that is a signature of the artist or some other obscure reference.  I tried researching the question online, but came up empty-handed.  

One odd thing I did find while reading the story is that these people always seem to be up late, and they have no issue with eating meals at midnight or later.  What is odd about that is that they refer to these meals as "lunch."  I've always thought of lunch being the mid-day meal, usually around noon or so.  Looking online, I saw reference to a "midnight lunch" or "late night lunch" on a message board, referring to a term used in Canada to describe meals served in the middle of the night (for late night parties, wedding receptions, etc.).  Although, if I were awake at midnight, I probably would have no problem eating a "midnight lunch"!

Overall, this book was just as enjoyable to read as Helen in the Editor's Chair - not exactly heavy on the mystery side of things, but a well-written story that is nicely paced and easy to read and enjoy.

RATING:  8 heaping platters of celery, olives, and pickled onions out of 10 for a tale of two midwestern girls who make their dreams come true in Hollywood!

The Best of Jane Bond - a Collection of Mike Hubbard's Female Spy

Up until I bought this collected edition, the only two people I knew with the name "Jane Bond" were the managing partner at the law firm where I work and the series of parodies written by Mabel Maney (parodying James Bond).  So, imagine my surprise when I was paging through a recent Previews, looking at the comics coming out soon, and came across a book titled The Best of Jane Bond.  Needless to say my curiosity was awakened, and I wanted to know more.  Was this Jane Bond perhaps a lawyer, like my boss?  Or a spy, like the Maney character?  As it turns out, she is [was] a spy for a fictional organization known as Worldpol (which makes me think of a home appliance every time I read that name...).

The Best of Jane Bond collects five of the super spy's stories, which were originally published in the British periodicals for girls, Tina and Princess Tina back in the 1960s and early '70s.  Based upon information provided in the introduction to this book, as well as what I could find online, it seems Jane Bond appeared in the British title, Tina (February 25, 1967 through September 16, 1967), and then that title merged with Princess, forming the newly titled Princess Tina.  The Jane Bond strip ran in Princess Tina from September 23, 1967 through February 28, 1970, after which, the character made a few appearances in a Princess Tina Giftbook for Girls, a Princess Tina Annual, and a Tammy annual.  She appears to be one of the few strictly adventure stories in those publications, as they normally featured mystery stories, horror tales, and schoolgirl related stories.

Readers only get a very brief introduction to Jane Bond with her first strip, which appears to be the only three-page strip (all the remainder strips are only two pages in length).  The caption merely reads:

Meet Jane Bond, Secret Agent.  As cool as an early morning rose and as deadly as nightshade.  Born in the United States, educated in Italy, dresseed by Zior of Paris - and hated by every crook in the world.

With that caption, we get an image of a very beautiful Jane Bond holding binoculars, while behind her lay a collage of passports, cameras, cash, blueprints, operation files, wallets, and other sundry items that every good spy might need.  That first story opens at the Pasadena Grand Prix in Los Angeles, California, where the driver of Car 13 manages to barely avoid a crash and win the race!  Of course, that car happens to be driven by none other than Jane Bond, super-spy extraordinaire!  Receiving a message from Worldpol headquarters, she gets her next assignment - to locate the western world's greatest scientist, John Simm, and the formula he has been working on!  In this first 12-part story, Jane faces off against a number of hired assassins, a class of deadly female agents, and an oversized dog; but none of them can stop this determined young beauty, and by the end of the tale, she not only finds the missing scientist, but keeps the secret formula from falling into enemy hands.

The next assignment in this collection finds Jane battling wits with the notorious Theodore Leopold, a villain otherwise known as "The Lobster."  Worldpol has discovered Leopold is installing some "very odd equipment" in his house, and it's up to Jane to find out what it is and whether it poses a threat to the free world.  In this 13-chapter story, Jane is forced to deal with some extremely unusual circumstances, the strangest of which is fighting off a gigantic metal lobster being controlled by Leopold himself - all to stop him from releasing a deadly serum that would result in the starvation of millions of people around the world!  From this tale, readers leap right into the next adventure, which is much shorter with only 6-parts, as Jane joins a circus to track down and capture an escaped enemy spy known simply as Konrad.

Apparently, the publisher had determined that shorter stories would fare better, as the next adventure collected here is an 8-parter in which Jane travels to the freezing regions of the Arctic to stop a group of people blackmailing the world's governments or they will cause a complete meltdown of the icy region, creating massive flooding around the globe.  Jane attempts to infiltrate their ranks, but she is soon discovered and nearly left behind to die when the massive bomb is detonated! Of course, she wiggles her way out of certain doom and saves the day, as always.  From here we move on to her last tale collected in this book, a short 5-part adventure in which Jane finally gets the tropical getaway she's been wanting - only, her vacation takes a turn towards work when she finds she was tricked to going to the tropical island in order to help one of the richest men in the world by keeping his daughter safe.  Needless to say, the daughter is kidnapped, and Jane must do some quick work (in a bikini the whole time, nonetheless!) to save the girl and stop her captors from getting away.

Unfortunately, the publishers did not give credit to anyone involved with the strip during its run, so while it is known Mike Hubbard was the artist, the writer remains unknown to date.  Hubbard's art, though, is magnificent.  His use of detailed backgrounds, shadowing, and perfectly defined faces and expressions makes the strip a fantastic visual experience, nearly thematic in nature.  Since the stories are not lengthy (even the 13 and 12-part adventures do not feel that long), they move along at a quick page, with plenty of action to keep it going - and to keep Jane constantly moving!  In the early strips, only the first panel featured some grey washes of paint, with the remaining panels strictly line drawings.  Later (in the middle of "The Lobster" adventure), the magazine added some red tones to the first page of the story.  Finally, though, Hubbard was able to use his grey washed art for all of the panels in the strip, which gave the story a bit of a darker feel than the simple line drawn panels did.  I can't say I like any variation better than the others, as I think they all added something to the strip, although the red duo-tone pages would have been better had they done both pages with the red, instead of just one.

Overall, a fun read and, by far, this is my favorite "Jane Bond" of all the ones I know!  I'm glad Rebellion Publishing reprinted these tales, and maybe one day, they can reprint the rest!

RATING:  10 spring-loaded fur wraps out of 10 for female spy adventure in the tradition of Emma Peel and Black Widow, with fast-paced, full-filled, action packed stories that are well worth the read!

Summerhaven - a Zebra illustrated gothic

I did not even realize when I bought this book that it was illustrated - fancy that! I bought the book mainly because the cover was reminiscent of the original cover for Nancy Drew #75 - The Emerald-Eyed Cat Mystery, with the cat's eyes staring straight out ... the spooky mansion in the background ... the young woman in the foreground, her hand raised to her mouth ... there was enough similarity to intrigue me, so I picked it up.  It has taken me a number of years to finally get around to reading it, and I can honestly say, it was worth the wait.  While the story is a bit more mystery-focused and not so much ghost or supernatural related, it was still a pretty good read.

 

Summerhaven, written by Linda Masterson, was published in 1979 by the Kensington Publishing Corp. under the "Zebra Illustrated Gothic" banner.   The book has 15 internal illustrations, beautifully rendered in pencil drawings, which I find interesting, because most adult books do not have internal illustrations.  Although, around this same time, Zebra was also publishing a series of mystery novels under the banner, "A Zebra Mystery Puzzler," in which the last chapter was sealed, and readers had the opportunity to guess the identity of the killer by finding the clues in the story as well as clues in the cover art and in the internal illustrations throughout the book.  Thus, Kensington Publishing Corp. was obviously testing the waters to see if adult readers would enjoy the illustrations, since both their Zebra gothic and mystery lines had them. Speaking solely for myself, I love them!  I've always been a fan of internal illustrations, because for me, it adds something to the story.  But, let's look at the story itself, and then I'll discuss the art a bit later...

Tiffany Chaplin is the main character of the book, and as the story opens, this young writer finds herself arriving on Gull Island to join her new husband, Derek Chapin, as they move into his family's homestead, known as Summerhaven.  The first person she meets on the island turns out to be her new husband's brother, Jason, who also happens to live at Summerhaven.  Soon enough, readers meet Maggie, the Chapin's housekeeper and cook, as well as Teri Manchester, a vivacious young woman who grew up with Derek and Jason, living at the cottage on the Chapin's rather large estate.  And, of course, we quickly discover that Summerhaven has its own mysteries - Derek and Jason's grandfather was allegedly a rum runner who stashed a secret treasure somewhere within the halls of Summerhaven, but no one has ever been able to find it; Derek and Jason's parents died under mysterious circumstances when the two of them were still children, and they were raised by their grandfather, with Maggie's help; their grandmother had a mental illness, which could have been passed down to her descendants; and Derek's first wife also died more than a decade ago under somewhat questionable circumstances.  For Tiffany, a mystery writer, all of these questions lead her to begin looking into the Chapin family history ... and, as anyone who has ever read a gothic novel knows, that is definitely going to lead to some major trouble!

Tiffany gets tangled up (quite literally) in some dangerous situations - from nearly drowning when she finds herself wrapped up in a net under the water (a net that she drags to shore and mysteriously disappears afterwards...), to having a heavy barrel of wine come crashing down on her (luckily she ducks out of the way, but not before splinters from the shattered barrel cut open her arm...), to discovering a dead body under the dock leading to the boathouse (thus eliminating one of the suspects...), to being locked in an underground tunnel, where she quickly discovers she is not alone!  The story definitely has its suspenseful moments, but none of them supernatural; rather, the story focuses more on a realistic terror and a realistic mystery that has to be solved before Tiffany can find the security she hopes to discover in her new home.

At times, I felt like I was reading an adult Nancy Drew novel.  The foibles are there, the red herrings are there, and at one point, Tiffany even gets a blatant warning, telling her that if she knows what is good for her, she will leave Summerhaven at once!  How many times did Nancy Drew get warnings like that?  And, just like our favorite teen detective, Tiffany refuses to budge; if anything, the warning just bolsters her courage to uncover the truth of what's going on.  She suspects it might be her husband, who has been rather indifferent to her since coming to Summerhaven and who has been showing an inordinate amount of attention his childhood friend, Teri.  She suspects Teri may be wanting to get her out of the way, so she can have Derek all to herself.  She suspects Jason may have inherited some of his grandmother's mental illness, taking out on her the resentment he has over Derek inheriting the Chapin fortune.  She suspects Maggie may simply be too overprotective of "her boys," seeing Tiffany as a threat to their well being.  When she uncovers an old diary hidden away in a secret drawer of Grandfather Chapin's desk (gee, doesn't that sound like a Nancy Drew gimmick as well?), she hopes it will provide her with all the answers she needs to get to the bottom of this before she becomes the next victim of the curse that seems to be hovering over Summerhaven!

Now, as promised, let's discuss the art for this book.  Starting with the cover, I have to question why the publisher chose this image.  Tiffany is clearly described in the book as having short, curly dark hair - yet, the woman on the cover has flowing blond hair.  The foreboding house in the background is rather nondescript, so it could potentially represent Summerhaven.  But the cat's eyes glaring out from behind the woman - what in the world are they for?  There is not one cat in this story at all, so I'm at a complete loss to figure out the purpose of this cover art.  I'm aware that many publishers during this time period were slapping covers on books that often had no relation to the story inside, but I think this one goes a bit too far in that direction.  And what's even more odd is that this same cover was also used for another gothic novel titled Witch, by Barbara Michaels.  That book was published in 1977 (by Pan), and this one was published in 1979 (by Kensington / Zebra), meaning Witch used the cover first and this book is basically recycling that cover art.  Very interesting...

As far as the interior illustrations go, they truly are beautifully rendered pencil drawings (and, oh, how I love pencil sketches).  They allow for much more use of shading, allowing the artist to truly inject some moodiness and darkness into the illustrations. Some of the scenes are rather mundane (such as Tiffany and Jason riding bikes, or Tiffany looking at a book), but others are much more intense (such as Tiffany being grasped by someone from behind, or Tiffany screaming at something looming over her).  For me, the illustrations add a new level of enjoyment to the reading of the story.  Sadly, the book does not provide any credit for the illustrations (neither the interior art, nor the cover art), so I have no way of knowing who provided the art for the book.

That being said, I have to think the publisher did not give the artist the full details for the scenes to be drawn.  In a couple of instances, the illustrations are definitely not accurate portrayals of the scenes in the story.  For example, on page 45, Tiffany is looking at a painting of Grandfather Chapin, and it says "he was simply standing in front of a large roll top desk holding a book open in his hand..."  However, in the illustration on page 44, the man in the painting has no desk behind him, and the book he is holding is closed, being held up near his face.  Worse, though, is the scene on page 107, when Tiffany happens across Jason coming out of his bedroom in nothing but a towel (having just stepped out of the shower).  In the previous illustration, just two pages before, Tiffany is drawn with a dark blouse and a light colored jacket over it; yet, in the illustration on page 106, she is wearing a rather sexy, almost backless dress and Jason is fully dressed with a vest and tie!  I can only surmise that the artist was given minimal descriptions for the scenes, so they did not match up with the final published story.

Despite those discrepancies, I still thoroughly enjoyed the story, and I was relieved that Tiffany was not left to die in the underground tunnel.  The ultimate reveal was not what I would say a huge surprise, but the author did manage to keep me guessing until near the end.  And speaking of the author, just who is Linda Masterson?  I was able to locate an author named Linda Masterson who lives in Florida and has written non-fiction books about surviving a wildfire and living with bears, as well as some children's books based on the Precious Moments figurines.  Thus, I suspect this is not the same "Linda Masterson" that wrote Summerhaven.  Thus, I'm left to wonder if this is yet another one of the many pseudonyms used to write gothic novels of this era, and the real author remains a mystery to be solved...

RATING:  8 not-so-exciting games of pinochle out of 10 for a wonderfully suspenseful tale that provides a great mystery to read!

Friday Barnes, Undercover

If you have not read a Friday Barnes book, then you really don't know what you are missing!  Friday Barnes is a quirky, fifteen-year old girl detective with a Sheldon Cooper-like personality.  Her personal interactions are awkward, her knowledge seems infinite, and her ability to solve mysteries is uncanny.  And her best friend, Melanie Pelly, is just as strange as Friday herself - she is borderline narcoleptic, she is able to know instantly if someone is lying or telling the truth, and she is forever playing matchmaker with Friday and Ian Wainscott, the only boy (young man, I suppose at this point) to ever truly get under Friday's skin.  They are the most unlikely of friends, and yet their partnership has taken them on numerous adventures to solve countless crimes.  And now, here we are at book 10 of the series - and just in case you were wondering, yes, it is best if the series is read in order, as one book leads directly into the next (but thankfully, each book begins with the last few pages of the previous book, so the reader can catch up real quick before the new story begins....).

Friday Barnes, Undercover starts with Friday and her classmates still in Italy, where the class had taken a trip in the last book.  They are preparing to return home, but Friday has been approached by Interpol to become one of their agents, alongside her Uncle Bernie and her (maybe) boyfriend, Ian.  Friday is at a loss to know what to do, and thankfully, she is saved by a fortuitously timed telephone call from Melanie's older brother, Binky, who has found himself in a bit of a quandary.  It seems he is being court marshaled for alleged dereliction of duty, and only Friday can get him out of it!  So, she and Melanie sneak out and head over to Norway (after all, it's only a hop, skip, and a jump away from Italy, right?) to save Melanie's brother from the brig.

It's interesting that these books are beginning to delve more into Friday's personal life and the development of her relationship with Ian, as well as with those around her.  While we still get an over-arching mystery that Friday has to solve (in this case, it has to do with art being stolen from museums throughout the world), the number of smaller mysteries seems to be dwindling to allow more time for the soap opera that Friday's life is becoming.  We do get the mystery of what happened to her teacher's suitcase at the beginning ... and the mystery of who painted the back of a tortoise's shell ... and the mystery of the missing Haakon Stone ... but we also get Friday helping Binky pick out the right engagement ring for him to propose to Ingrid ... and we get Friday meeting a young prince who turns out to be just as awkward as she is in social situations ... and we get Friday wondering why Ian has shown up in Norway at Ingrid's birthday party - with a beautiful girl on his arm!

However, we also get the fun and adventure that always follows Friday on her mysteries - which ends up being at the Seed Vault in Svalbard (which, by the way, happens to be a very real place that happens to do the very thing explained in the book!).  The lights go out, something is stolen, and Friday is kidnapped and taken out into the freezing cold weather by some dastardly criminals.  And, of course, Ian is the only one who can save her.  And did I mention we also get a polar bear or two (along with some adorable polar bear cubs!)?

I think I'm enjoying the evolving storytelling and characterization as the series progresses.  Yes, Friday is still awkward and still an unrepentant know-it-all, but she's always becoming a teenager who recognizes her own idiosyncrasies and who is willing to apologize when she steps outside of society's accepted norm.  Plus, the growing relationship between her and Ian has been fun to watch as it develops, and I'm looking forward to what future stories have in store for these two.

I can't finish this posting without making mention of that cover - what was the artist thinking?  She's striking a very Macaulay Culkin pose there, right out of Home Alone!  Not sure it has anything to do with the story itself, and it certainly isn't in character with Friday.  I'm guessing the artist simply want to give Friday a different pose than she's had on any of the previous covers to date.

As always, Friday Barnes is a great read, and I'm glad to see the series is still going (I have yet to get books 11 and 12, but believe me, they are on my Amazon watch list to buy next!).

RATING:  9 well-read copies of War and Peace out of 10 for keeping the awkwardness, keeping the fun, keeping the mysteries, and keeping the adventure coming!

So Cold the River - a supernatural thriller

This book came as a complete surprise to me.  It was given to me by a friend who lives in French Lick, Indiana.  At first, I turned down the offer, but she insisted, indicating the book was set in her home town, and she even drove me to see the hotel where a portion of the book takes place.  I conceded and brought the book home.  I put it up on my "to be read" shelf with the intention of never pulling it down to read.  It just is not the type of book I normally read.  Recently, though, I was trying to decide what book to read next, and I saw this massive hardcover sitting there, overpowering all of the paperback novels around it, and so I figured, "What the heck.  I'll take it down, read a couple of chapters, and tell Dina that at least I gave it a shot."  So, I opened up this 503-page story and sat down to read it.  Three days later, I finished it!

So Cold the River, written by Michael Koryta, is the story of Eric Shaw, a cinematographer with a failed Hollywood career, a failing marriage, and a dead-end job video-taping weddings and putting together video-taped collages for funerals.  An assignment to put together a video for a recently deceased woman finds him focusing on a photograph of an A-frame cottage painted deep burgundy.  No people in the photo, but something about it draws Eric, forcing him to include it in the shot film of this woman's family and children.  It seems innocuous enough; but after the wedding, he learns the photo holds some important secrets that only the deceased woman's sister knows.  A woman who then hires Eric for a job - to head out to French Lick / West Baden, Indiana to research her father-in-law's life to produce a video about his childhood and history as a gift to her husband.  You see, her father-in-law is on his death bed, and no one - not even his own children - know anything about his life.  Eric declines until the woman offers him literally thousands of dollars to do the work.  So, Eric packs up and heads to Indiana, having no idea what is in store for him there!

If you are thinking that this does not sound overly exciting at this point, guess again.  That feeling Eric has about the A-frame in the photo - well, that is more than just a feeling.  And that bottle of spring water the woman gives him - the only thing her father-in-law has from his past in Indiana - it holds some very dark secrets.  Secrets that Eric begins to learn when he takes a sip from the bottle that has been closed for more than fifty years.  And then takes another sip.  And another.  It becomes an addiction, because the more he drinks, the more he begins to see things.  Glimpses of the past.  Glimpses of Campbell Bradford, the man he was sent to research.  Glimpses of the evil surrounding this man.  It becomes clear pretty quickly this is more than just a regular thriller.  There is a supernatural side to the story that turns dark really quick.  And a book that I had no intention of reading suddenly drew me in just as quickly as that bottle of water and the secret history of West Baden / French Lick draws in Eric.  

The characters in the story are superbly fleshed out, and as a reader, you find yourself drawn to each of them.  There's Kellen, the young college student working on a thesis about his grandfather's life running a speakeasy back in the day.  And his grandfather had told him some unbelievable stories about the town and about Bradford - stories that he begins to realize may not have been the imaginations of an elderly man.  There's Annie, the old woman who has been around long enough to know pretty much everyone in the town - and who has her own stockpile of bottled spring water from back in the day that has its own secrets to tell.  There's Josiah, the descendant of Campbell Bradford who is always getting into trouble - and who might very well be Campbell's path back to the real world.  There's Danny, the dimwitted best friend of Josiah who has always been loyal to Josiah - and who begins to realize that loyalty may come with a price.  And there's Claire, the spurned wife who still loves her husband despite everything - and who comes to Indiana in hopes of saving him from himself, only to find she is the one who needs to be saved!

The book is a definite page-turner, with so much tension building and so much suspense, you won't be able to put it down.  I give Koryta credit - he writes a very powerful story that will keep even a non-interested reader like me on the edge of his seat, waiting to see what is going to happen next and how it will all turn out!

NOW - all of that being said, I will give you one warning.  If you are thinking about watching the film adaptation of this book that was released back in 2022, I've got one word for you.  DON'T!!!  Under no circumstances should you watch the film if you've read the book.  I don't know what the filmmakers were thinking, but the movie is so far removed from the book, all it will do is drive you crazy and make you wish you could get back that hour-and-a-half of time you wasted watching it.  I made the mistake of watching it on a streaming channel, and throughout the entire movie, I'm screaming, shaking my head in disgust, and complaining at how much destruction the filmmakers did to this amazing tale.  The characterization is WAY off, and the story is so butchered, it's almost unrecognizable.  So, if you are thinking about watching the film, again - DON'T!  You will regret it!

Stick with the book - it is a million times better and well worth the read!

RATING:  9 tubs of sulfur-smelling spring water out of 10 for a shockingly great thriller with some unexpected twists and backstories that will leave you breathless by the end!

Whitman Mystery Stories - April Kane and the Dragon Lady (a Terry and the Pirates Adventure)

I have, of course, heard of Terry and the Pirates over the years, but honestly, I've never read it.  I know that Terry and the Pirates was a newspaper comic strip created by Milton Caniff.  Looking it up online, I see the strip ran from October 1934 to February 1973.  Caniff left the strip in 1946, however, as Terry and the Pirates was owned by Chicago Tribune New York Times Syndicate and lacking any creative control over the strip, he went on to create his own work with a strip called Steve Canyon.  Terry and the Pirates went on under other writers and artists until it ended in 1973.  In recent years, I became aware that Whitman offered up a book in its line of "Authorized Editions" based on the comic strip, so when I found a copy in dust jacket, I picked it up.

April Kane and the Dragon Lady was published in 1942, just a few years before Caniff left the newspaper strip.  As with the other Whitman Authorized Editions that are based on comic strips, the book does not attribute any writer or artist to the book; however, on the copyright page, it does indicate the internal illustrations are "adapted" from the comic strip itself.  This might hint at Caniff himself being the artist and, possibly, the writer; or, it could be that the story is taken from one that ran in the newspaper strip and the illustrations are simply panels from that ongoing tale.  Having never read the comic strip, I cannot say for sure one way or the other.  The cover makes Terry and April appear to be children; the interior illustrations, thankfully, give them a somewhat older appearance.

I was not really sure what to expect from the story.  I had always assumed the "and the Pirates" portion of the name of the strip meant that Terry had a group of pirates that he went around with; but, I quickly learned this is not the case.  The "pirates" are actually the villains he fought against, with his trusty gang: his trusted friend, Pat Ryan; his Chinese helper, Connie; his silent strongman, Big Stoop; and, of course, his love interest, April Kane.  While the title of the book is April Kane and the Dragon Lady, the story would actually be more aptly titled "Terry and the Dragon Lady."  Based on the title alone, I had expected April to be the main character of the story, but, alas, that is no the case.  Terry is actually the main character - it is he who meets up with the Dragon Lady; it is he who takes dancing lessons in secret from the Dragon Lady so he can take April to an important ball; it is he who rushes to the aid of the Dragon Lady; and it is he who gets gravely injured during a battle on behalf of the Dragon Lady.

That's not to say April is not in the story.  But she is mostly a supporting cast member who is there to play nursemaid to Terry after he is hurt, and to help Pat recover after he defeats the villainous Klang during a cliff side fight.  It was disappointing not to see more of April, and more particularly, not to see her portrayed as a strong-willed heroine who is not dependent on the men to rescue her.  In fact, it is the Dragon Lady who seems to made of sterner stuff, and while she teeters between good and evil, it is clear that she is not dependent on anyone and can handle herself in any situation.  The way she handles the men who serve her, the way she confronts the enemy, and the way she does not hesitate to punish anyone who disobeys her - she is a definite leader, not a follower.  I almost wish the author had given us readers a bit more of the back story with her and Terry's gang, as it is evident Pat is familiar with her, as he speaks so comfortably with her, like no one else would dare.  

The one character in the story who kept me guessing was Deeth Crispin III.  The son of an important businessman, it is Deeth who ultimately takes April to the ball, albeit for the sole purpose of making Terry jealous (just as Terry takes the Dragon Lady to the ball in the hopes of making April jealous!).  Deeth ends up getting sucked into the adventure, as the Dragon Lady takes Terry, April, and Deeth hostage, flying them to a distant land where she plans to abandon them.  Deeth seems to lack courage at every turn - but when the final battle takes place, it is Deeth who sneaks away in the hopes of finding a way to save April, Terry, and the gang.  And it is Deeth who takes a bullet that potentially costs him his life - the only problem is, we never find out!  The book leaves so many things unfinished - does Deeth die?  Do Pat and April reunite with Terry and the gang?  Where did the Dragon Lady go?  A very unsatisfying ending to the story, that's for sure!

For an adventure story, I'd say the book was a fairly good read.  It was not a mystery, so if that's what you are looking for, you can pass by this one.  Not one of the best Whitman stories I've read, but by far, not one of the worst.

RATING:  6 glasses of poisoned punch out of 10 for not being afraid to put these characters in some very life-threatening situations and giving them the courage to make it through!