Harlequin Gothic Romance Series No. 32011 - Shadows Over Briarcliff

"Her visit vividly brought back the unhappy past - and with it an unknown evil presence..." (cover blurb)

 

I finally reached the first entry into this series by Marilyn Ross (a/k/a W.E.D. Ross, best known for his series of Dark Shadows novels based on the successful television show of the '60s and '70s, as well as his countless other Gothic novels written under various pseudonyms).  Ross wrote a number of series (the Dark Shadows tie-in novels, the Fog Island series, the Dark Harbor series, and others), but he also wrote a few books in various other Gothic series, such as the Birthstone Gothics for Beagle Books, as well as the Gothic Romance line for Harlequin.  This is the first of only two books that Ross wrote for the Harlequin line, and while he captures the Gothic feel of the story perfectly, the ending was somewhat of a disappointment.

 

Shadows Over Briarcliff (I suppose he had to sneak the work "Shadows" in there somehow, eh?) is set in 1884 and features a rather dark mystery surrounding the death of the main character's sister. Jessica Rice's sister, Ann, married well when she wed Stephen Briar.  But something was amiss, and when Jessica leaves London to visit her sister at the somewhat isolated Briarcliff manor, she can sense her sister is worried about something.  Before she can uncover the truth, there is a horrific carriage accident, and Jessica awaks to learn that her sister plunged into the ocean, her body never recovered and presumed to have been washed out with the tide.  Jessica returns home, ultimately leaving her unscrupulous guardians and moving in with a friend's family who help her regain the wealth her guardians had been stealing.  A note soon arrives from her brother-in-law, asking her to come back to Briarcliff, as he was still grieving Ann's death.  Jessica decides to make the trip, but she soon discovers there is evil awaiting her at Briarcliff!

 

In true Gothic fashion, Ross weaves a tale of intrigue, secrets, and possible ghosts that will leave you guessing at the truth.  Is Stephen's stepmother conspiring to regain control of Briarcliff taken from her when Stephen's father died?  Is the neighbor's daughter plotting to marry the grieving widower in the hopes of becoming the new mistress of Briarcliff?  Is Stephen, himself, looking to remove anything and anyone that might reveal the truth about his indiscretions?  Is Adrian Swift, the son of Stephen's stepmother and a flippant gambler, causing problems as a way of getting even with Stephen?  Or is it something far more sinister and far more supernatural - has Ann's spirit returned to the world of the living to stop Jessica from becoming involved with her former husband?   Plenty of questions, plenty of motives, and plenty of suspects ... but so few answers ...

 

The story follows poor Jessica as she must not only cope with her sister's death and Stephen's grief, as well as her own growing attraction to her sister's husband - but she must also face the various attempts to scare, injure, and even kill her.  Plus, there are the mysterious appearances of a ghostly woman in a shawl, wearing the same perfume that Ann wore.  Is her sister's spirit really come back from the grave, or is someone simply trying to make Jessica think that so she will leave Briarcliff and never look back.  

 

There can be no doubt that Ross knows how to build suspense and tension (he certainly had plenty of practice!).  Unfortunately, he spends so long building up the mystery that when the resolution comes, it is a bit of a let down.  For 200 pages of great Gothic storytelling, Ross resolves the mystery, has Jessica face off against her adversary, and gives her a happily-ever-after all within the last four pages of the book!  I don't recall ever seeing a story wrapped up in such a short amount of pages before - I would have preferred to see a more dramatic confrontation, with lots of dramatic fighting and scares before the truth is revealed and the villain ultimately vanquished.  I think this is the first Harlequin Gothic that did not give me full satisfaction with the read, which is surprising, since Ross is one of my favorite authors.

 

The cover art, depicting the scene where Jessica awaits to not only smell the scent of her dead sister's perfume, but also finds one of her sister's handkerchiefs on the floor (p. 99), was pained by Len Goldberg (a/k/a Leonard M. Goldberg), who also provided the cover art for two prior Harlequin Gothics:  Castle at Jade Cove and The Blue House. A superb artist, Goldberg is an expert at capturing terrified expressions on the faces of his women, and it's almost a shame he did not provide the covers for all the books in this series!

 

The next book in the series is also by Ross, so we will see what that holds in store...

 

RATING:  8 large carriages careening off the side of a cliff out of 10 for a psychologically thrilling tale of ghosts, mystery, suspense, and moments of terror!

A Ted Wilford Mystery, no. 14 - The S.S. Shamrock Mystery

With this fourteenth Ted Wilford mystery, I have reached the penultimate book in this series.  I have to say, when I started reading this books, I certainly never thought I would make my way to the end of the series, but here I am, just one book away from finishing it.  For the most part, the stories have been much more enjoyable than I ever expected.  Sure, some have certainly been better than others, but I think I like the fact these mysteries are more cerebral and less about adventure, as most boys' series are.  I also like the fact that Ted and his best friend, Nelson Morgan, have aged and matured through the stories, going from high school to college and expanding their knowledge and experience in the world of newspaper reporting.  The particular story definitely took the boys in an unexpected direction, and not necessarily for the better (in my opinion).

 

The S.S. Shamrock Mystery opens with the boys being hired, more or less, by one Mrs. Dundee, who runs a rather successful shipping company.  One of her ships, the Shamrock MI, has been having a number of small incidents happen lately that, by themselves, do not mean much, but when added all together, it raises the question of whether someone is trying to sabotage the freighter and keep it from completing its deliveries on time. Mrs. Dundee is afraid it is a competitor who is vying for some very important shipping rights, which, if she were to lose, could cost her company considerable money.  Ted and Nelson readily agree to assume a new role as sailors for a few weeks during the break from college and see if they can uncover anything while on board.  They are told only the captain and one crew member will know who they are and why they are really on board, so the must be discreet in their investigation.

 

Thus, within the first few pages of the book, author Norvan Pallas sets up the mystery that Ted and Nelson will be trying to solve.  The only problem I had with the story is that Pallas gets sidetracked way too often with his descriptions of the water routes taken by the Shamrock.  Not only do we get overly detailed descriptions of boating regulations in the shipping lanes, but explicitly outlined routes taken by the ship as it traverses the rivers around the Great Lakes.  Harriet Stratemeyer Adams could have taken a cue from Mr. Pallas when it comes to providing readers with some real-life facts about the setting of the story.  Unlike most of the other mysteries, Ted and Nelson do not take a very active role in solving this mystery.  Instead, they just seem to constantly ponder the things that happen around them - the missing crew member, the boat that appears without lights in the middle of the night, the seemingly random stolen items on board the ship, the false directives given to the communications officer, and so on.  Rather than taking the initiative to hunt down clues and ferret out information, they basically go over the same questions repeatedly until the answers fall in their lap!

 

Pallas does scatter a few obscure clues throughout the story to help the reader along, but the first three-fourths of the book reads more like a boys' adventure tale of life on the sea rather than a mystery.  It is not until the final quarter of the book that things start to really come to a head, and the mystery finally moves to the forefront.  At least then we start to get some excitement, as Ted and Nelson finally begin to do more than question everything and start to put the pieces together regarding the mysterious night boat, the missing crewman, and all of the other strange occurrences.  There is a rather clever misdirect involving a criminal that one crew member's father is investigating, as well as some doubt regarding another crew member's real identity.  The saboteur's true identity eventually comes to light, and Mrs. Dundee's ship and her contract are saved by the end (as if there were ever any doubt).

 

Interestingly, the scene depicted on the cover never actually occurs anywhere in the story.  I'm assuming the two boys are meant to be Ted and Nelson, and if so, at no time were they watching the Shamrock from a distance when they spot to mysterious boat making its way to the bigger ship. Every time Ted saw the night boat, he was aboard the Shamrock, looking out over the water.  Thus, I'm not sure why the cover artist drew the scene this way, but I suppose one can chalk it up to artistic license.

 

I was not overly thrilled with this story, and I hope the next, and final, book in the series gives readers a much better mystery to sign off on!

 

RATING:  6  tales of the Lake Superior sea serpent out of 10 for, at the very least, providing a uniquely different type of mystery for a series book like this.

The Manor House School - a "Book for Girls" from Blackie's List

This was a book purchased for me by a friend who was at Half Price Books in Marietta, Georgia earlier this year.  He was browsing through the vintage book section, showing me (via FaceTime) what books they had on their shelves, and I happened to notice the spine of the dust jacket, so I asked him to pull it out.  He showed me the book, and for only $5, I thought, "Why not?"  The cover depicted a rather odd scene of two girls being turned out of their canoe into the water, and the title seemed to hint at something a bit unusual (after all, how many schools are actually in a manor house?).  I finally decided to the give the book a read, and I was pleasantly surprised that the story offered up a rather good mystery!

 

The Manor House School was written by Angela Brazil (1969 - 1947), who was considered "one of the first British writers of 'modern schoolgirls' stories' ... intended primarily as entertainment rather than moral instruction" (Angela Brazil).  She authored more than fifty books for girls between the years of 1899 and 1946, with this particular book first being published in 1911 - Brazil's twelfth published novel.  While the story involves all of the girls at Winterburn Lodge and their temporary relocation from the boarding school in London  to the country manor owned by the Courtenay family for their summer term, the author does narrow down the focus to two particular girls - Lindsay Hepburn and Cicely Chalmers.  These two make an interesting pair - while the set up seems similar to the Stratemeyer Syndicate's Dana Girls mysteries, the title characters could not be more different (and, remember, this book came out twenty-some years before the Dana Girls ever appeared on the scene!).

 

Lindsay Hepburn is described as "a short, plump, fair, jolly-looking girl of twelve, with a very energetic disposition" (p. 22).  I found this rather unique, since I cannot recall any American children's books which featured a "plump" lead character - normally the overweight characters are regulated to the main protagonist's cohorts and friends.  Cicely Chalmers, who is said to be six months younger than her friend, is described as "much more quiet and steady on the surface, though her twinkling brown eyes belied her demurer manners, and proclaimed he ready for anything in the shape of fun" (p. 22).  Lindsay definitely has the stronger personality, with Cicely, more or less, being her "toady" (similar to Ina Mason's relationship with Lettie Briggs in the Dana Girls' series).  While Lindsay and Cicely are not troublemakers by any means, they do certainly wind up in some precarious situations and find themselves being scolded or punished time and time again for their rather rambunctious adventures.

 

The first few chapters of the book give it the feel of a typical British schoolgirls' story, as the thirty girls under Miss Russell's tutelage are forced to relocate from their city school due to problems with the drains throughout the school and must take up residence in a country manor home rented from one Mrs. Courtenay, who takes her daughter to stay in a nearby town.  The daughter, Monica, makes her appearance at the manor house, as she will be taking some classes while dividing time in town taking care of her ailing mother.  There is also Mrs. Wilson, the overly gruff housekeeper who remained at the manor house to help cook and clean for the girls, and her disagreeable nature earns her the nickname "The Griffin" by the girls.  In addition, there is a groundskeeper named Scott, who seems very secretive and who appears to be in cahoots with Mrs. Wilson about something.  The girls explore the great house and learn some of the history regarding its ownership, and along the way discover that Monica's great-uncle, Sir Giles Courtenay, supposedly had a fortune when he did, all of which was left to Monica in a will - the only problem is, no one has ever been able to find the fortune!  And this is where the mystery a/k/a treasure hunt begins.

 

Brazil (pronounced "brazzle," by the way) provides some rather tense moments for the two girls as they search for Monica's missing inheritance.  At one point they are trapped in a church and must climb a steep staircase to the top of the bell tower in order to ring the bell for aid; another time, they explore the attics to discover a small staircase (there seem to be staircases everywhere they turn!) that leads to an empty room above the attic - a room where Mrs. Wilson disappears, where they hear strange groaning sounds, and where they uncover a secret door that hides a dark, ominous chamber beyond!  There is also the moment near the end when they are playing hide and seek, and the two girls hide inside a settle (which is a long wooden bench, which, in this case, has a storage box beneath it) and unwittingly discover it has a false floor that drops them into a hidden room beneath the house!  There are also a number of mishaps, such as the overturned canoe (which is their own fault for "borrowing" a boat that was not their own!); the unfortunate cloud that descends and leave the girls and their friends unable to find their way off the hilltop where they are picnicking; the small island they discover that turns out to be just a growth of plants above the water, nearly plunging them into the muck of the river; and the moment when one of them nearly falls throw the floor of the attic into the floor below!

 

As can be expected from a book such as this, Lindsay and Cicely manage to find the missing treasure and enable Monica to get the help her mother needs to save her life.  The book has gone through a number of editions throughout the years, offering a variety of covers - from the very simple girl sitting in a chair holding a book to a scene of Lindsay and Cicely looking up at the great house to the girls getting ready to hide in the settle to the unfortunate overturning of their boat on the water, and even one with the scene of the girls trapped in the bell tower.  It seems most of the editions were published by Blackie & Son Ltd., although at least one edition (paperback) was published by Armada.

 

One odd tidbit I noticed while reading the book was the notation that appeared at the bottom of certain pages:

 

            Page 11 at the bottom had "1*            (c 191)"

            Page 35 at the bottom had "2              (c 191)"

            Page 43 at the bottom had "2*            (c 191)"

            Page 67 at the bottom had "3              (c 191)"

 

and so on.  The final notation is found on page 235, which has "8*          (c 191)" at the bottom. From what I can gather, these were some form of marks or codes used in bookbinding to indicate where certain sections of the book began - "signature marks," is what I was able to find they are called.  It is interesting the publishers would leave these marks on the final product which is to be sold to the public.

 

While this is by no means a piece of great literature, it is a fun little story with an enjoyable mystery - worth the purchase!

 

RATING:  8 paintings of a young woman holding a bunch of red roses out of 10 for a quirky little girls' school story with two very likable protagonists! 

Short(est) Lived Comic Series #30 - On Stage (Dell Comics)

It is with shock and surprise that I reach this 1,000th post for my blog!  When I started this blog back in 2015, I don't think I ever imagined I would still be writing it 10 years later, nor do I think I ever expected to have read as many books, short stories, and comics as I have read in that time.  It has been a fun journey, and (for the most part) I have been fortunate to have read so many great stories over those years.  So, it is fitting that for this special post, I review a comic that I have had for a number of years but have been waiting to read.  This one-off comic from Dell Comics (issue 1336 of Dell's "Four Color" series) is based upon Leonard Starr's very popular newspaper strip that ran for 22 years, from 1957 to 1979.  I have the full collection of comic strips in collected editions by Classic Comics Press, which I have been reviewing on this blog, and I never even knew this comic existed until I happened across it at a local comic convention one year.

 

Dell's On Stage comic was published in 1962, with an "April-June 1962" date listed in the indicia.  While the cover gives credit to Leonard Starr, the creator of On Stage, Starr did not actually work on the comic.  While no actual credits are given with the comic itself, which was standard in those days, the Grand Comics Database (Dell Comics - On Stage) indicates the cover art was provided by Robert Williams Meyers, while interior art was provided by Mike Sekowsky/Frank Giacoia (inside front cover); Frank Bolle and Mike Sekowsky/Frank Giacoia (main story); Frank Giacoia (inside back cover); and Mike Sekowsky/Frank Giacoia (back cover).  The script for these stories is credited to Ken Fitch, based on information in the "Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999."  Despite Leonard Starr not being involved, I have to give the publisher credit for finding an artist who was able to mimic Starr's style when drawing Mary and her supporting cast.  Sadly, the one thing that is missing from the comic are the extremely detailed backgrounds that Starr provided in nearly each and every panel of his comic strip.  While the panels in this comic do have some backgrounds, there are quite a few panels that simply have basic, one-color backgrounds against which the characters stand.  For me, though, having only seen Mary Perkins in black and white in the reprint collections, it was exciting to see her brought to life in full color in this 32-page comic!

 

This story takes place during the years collected by the fifth volume of Classic Comics Press' reprint volumes, and it brings back not just one, but two recurring characters from Mary's newspaper strip.  When Mary is asked to take a role in a new play about Shakespeare's life, supposedly based upon diaries found that reveal missing years of his life, she must convince fellow actor and friend, Maximus, to come to the States and take a role as well.  The director's difficulty in finding a backer suddenly disappears when an attorney shows up indicating he has a backer who wishes to remain anonymous.  This is when Mary happens to run into Johnny Q, who warns her about the attorney and his reputation.  So, here we have two mysterious men from Mary's strip who swoop in to help her uncover the truth, not only behind the mysterious benefactor for the play, but also the reality behind those alleged diaries of Shakespeare.

 

There's not quite as much drama in this comic as there is in the daily strip, but it does have its moments - particularly when Frank Stewart, the playwright, is brutally attacked when he refuses to allow the financier to take credit for his script.  Maximus steps in and shows the hoodlums that he is more than just a "pretty face" (and if you have read the On Stage newspaper strip, then you'll understand that pun!).  Between Mary, Pete, Maximus, and Johnny, they manage to turn the tables on the crooked producer and save the play from having any unsavory connections.  And, surprisingly, in the end, Maximus reveals to Pete the truth about his appearance, a revelation that I cannot recall has ever been made in the newspaper strip (at least, not up to the point where I have read).

 

The cover art, by Robert Meyers, depicts the very dramatic moment when Maximus shows the producer's hoodlums that he can fight back and take them down - although, in the story, there is no woman in the background watching.  I am not sure if the woman shown on the cover is supposed to be Mary Perkins, but if so, then it is an inaccurate portrayal, as this woman is a blond, and Mary has dark hair.  And since Dell Comics of that period did not have any advertisements, the inside front cover, inside back cover, and back cover all feature short stories that give readers a bit more inside information, to to speak, about theater life.  "Angels Without Wings" on the inside front cover provides some details about investors, while "The Drama" on the inside back cover gives an abbreviated history of how drama has been depicted on the stage over the years. The back cover provides a color presentation of the "Arts and Tricks of Make-Up," and how strong make-up, simple techniques, and the use of rubber masks are used to hide blemishes, accentuate features, and sometimes change the appearance of actors on stage and screen. 

 

Overall, I would say this issue is a very nice tribute to the characters and stories of Leonard Starr, and it definitely does Mary Perkins proud.  Of course, only being one issue, the story is a bit faster paced than the daily strip, which had stories that lasted weeks, seven days each week, so had plenty of time to build up suspense and drop sub-plots that would come to fruition later.  Also, with just 32 pages, the writer did not have a lot of time for character development, so any readers who were not already familiar with the characters would likely have a lot of questions about who they are and how they are connected.  I wonder what we would have seen if Dell had decided to do more On Stage comics?

 

RATING:  9 electronic door locks out of 10 for keeping the drama in Mary Perkins' life and providing an interesting new theater story centered around the bard himself!

The Haunting of Drumroe - a Fawcett Gold Medal gothic

This is another one of those gothic novels that I bought some time ago because the cover image resembled the cover of a Nancy Drew mystery (in this instance, the cover to The Secret of Red Gate Farm).  It has been sitting on my shelf with the other books whose covers are similar to Nancy Drew books for years, so I figured it was time to dust it off, pull it out, and actually read it.  When I bought it, I had not even bothered to read what it was about, so imagine my surprise to find it is set in Ireland!  Having visited there just a couple of years ago, I was thrilled to read a book whose setting would bring back some great memories of my trip there.  Plus, it was fun to see how many places in the book I had actually visited, and how many were fictional settings created by the author.  And speaking of the author, as with so many, "Claudette Nicole" is a pseudonym for Jon Messmann, who wrote several Gothics under this name, but also wrote some men's adventure books as "Nick Carter."  It still amazes me how many male authors wrote these romance and Gothic titles back in the day under female pseudonyms.

 

The Haunting of Drumroe was first published in 1971 (with a date of March 1971 on the copyright page) and features a rather dramatic cover, painted by Jeffrey Jones (1944-2011).  Jones was a rather prolific artist, who not only provided cover art for gothic, horror, and fantasy novels in the '60s and '70s, but also contributed to a number of comic book publishing companies with art for DC, Charlton, Marvel, Gold Key, Pacific, Warren, and a number of others.   I was actually surprised to discover that I have a number of comics for which Jones painted the covers (such as Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love, Wonder Woman, Heroes Against Hunger, Heroes for Hope, to name a few).  Jones' art, as can be seen on the cover to this book, is haunting and definitely Gothic in nature.  One can almost hear the drums and feel the wind blowing through the woman's flowing gown as she hides from the hooded figures in the background (which, again, is very similar to the cover of Nancy Drew's The Secret of Red Gate Farm, which has the young detective doing the very same thing!).  

 

The story is not only one of Gothic suspense, but it is one of almost erotic terror.  This is the first Gothic novel I've read where the author makes repeated references to the title character's breasts, and the number of times Eileen Donegan lies naked in her bed could be the target of a drinking game.  It is scenes and descriptions like these that make it clear the author was a man - the constant focus on Eileen's body reads more like a men's adventure tale than a Gothic romance.   However, when you ignore those scenes, the book actually has a really great plot to it.   Eileen is called to Ireland by her aunt, who insists she must come and sign documents that would make her heir to Drumroe should anything happen to her aunt.  Immediately upon arriving, Eileen begins to feel a sense of dread and foreboding - and she realizes her precognition ability is warning her of danger!

 

I like the fact Messmann a/k/a Nicole gives his title character a form of psychic ability, as it adds a new dimension in terror to the story.  Eileen has these visions, but she cannot make sense of them, and the more she tries to fight them, the more insistent they become.  A falling tree, a crash into a lake, a collapsing bridge, and the disappearance of her aunt without explanation make for a very suspenseful read, and the standard trope of two men vying for Eileen's attention leaves the reader tottering back and forth, questioning which one is good and which one is bad - honestly, it could have gone either way!  And when you throw a mysterious devil worshiping cult into the mix, as well as a rather frightening handyman, it seems poor Eileen is not safe no matter which way she turns.  Thankfully, the author provides one steady rock in the story with Molly, her aunt's cook at Drumroe.  Molly is introduced as a caring, very welcoming member of the household - the only one, in fact! - and as I read the story, I kept waiting for the shoe to drop and some revelation to occur that she was not as good as she seemed; yet, it turns out Molly truly was a good person, the only true friend Eileen was able to make and depend on while trying to make sense of the danger around her.

 

There are some ingenious plot twists that make the story well worth the read (so long as you can get past the very strong sexualization of the main character).  The mystery surrounding the missing aunt, the devil cult, and the attempts on Eileen's life, as well as the bitter hatred the townspeople have against the Donegan family, make for a suspenseful story.  One thing I did find rather odd was that at the back of the book, there is a glossary which provides readers with the definitions of many of the Irish terms used throughout the story.  This is the first time I've ever seen such a thing in a Gothic novel; usually, the reader is simply left to look up the definition of any words on his or her own.  And even more surprising is the recipe on the very last page of the book for "Irish Green" or "Erin Sauce," which is a sauce cooked up by Molly for one of the dinners she makes for Eileen within the story.  I have to wonder what prompted Fawcett (the publisher) to include the glossary and recipe into the book!

 

I am definitely intrigued with Messmann a/k/a Nicole's writing, and I am already on the haunt for more of his Gothic novels!

 

RATING:  9 beds of violets turned away from the sun out of 10 for a story filled with plenty of dark mystery, dangerous romance, and deadly Gothic terror!

The Virginia Mysteries, Book 12 - Conspiracy at the Launch

When I picked up the first couple of books in this series years ago, I never expected it to actually last as long as it has. It has been nearly 10 years since I started reading this series, and we are now up to book 12, which in today's book market, is quite an accomplishment.  Most series I see on the shselves, particularly "mystery" series for young adults, never seem to last more than three or four books, possibly five or six if they are lucky.  So, for a series to make it to book 12 is an achievement for which author Stephen K. Smith should be very proud.  He has created a series with some fun, engaging characters, some great mysteries grounded in a lot of historical fact, and some stories that are entertaining for audiences of all ages.  Plus, I have enjoyed that Smith's characters have been aging, maturing, and learning as the series progresses, and I hope he has the opportunity to continue beyond this 12th mystery.

 

Conspiracy at the Launch takes the kids into some dangerous territory,  and takes readers into some new areas of Virginia.  This has been a huge plus about this series, in that Smith sets each of the books in a different part of Virginia, so those readers unfamiliar with the state and its history (such as me!), it's an opportunity to learn some geographical and historical facts about Virginia while enjoying a great fictional mystery.  Such as Wallops Island Space Center.  I was not aware, before reading this book, that Virginia had its own space center from which rocket were sent into space - yet, it is a real place (Wallops Island Space Center), found on Virginia's eastern shore, not far from the Virginia/Maryland border.  Surprisingly, there have been more than 16,000 launches from there since it was founded back in the 1940s!  So, as with all of his previous books in this series, Smith manages to integrate real Virginia history into the story, while still providing readers with an exciting mystery for young readers to enjoy.

 

This time around, Sam, Derek, and Caitlin find themselves entangled in a rather topical mystery for this day, involving conspiracy theories, whistleblowers, and tech billionaire who believes the ends justifies the means, no matter the cost to human life!  It is definitely a dangerous adventure, as the villain is pretty clear from the get-go - the question is, how can the kids go about proving that Aiden Hart is more concerned about getting a government contract than he is about the safety of the people involved in the space project.  But did he really kidnap a whistleblower to keep him from revealing the insufficient safety protocols?  Did he threaten a former partner in order to keep her quiet?  And what will he do to three kids who just happen to be in the wrong place at the right time to overhear the truth about what is really going on?  

 

Now, as is the usual thing with these mysteries, one must suspend their disbelief that adults would allow children this young to have such unsupervised freedom, or that they would allow them to go off with total strangers to solve a mystery - otherwise, there is no way they would be able to make their way stealthily past security and into a billionaire's private tent or  sneak into a billionaire's private estate in the hopes of getting the proof they need to prove their theories.  Setting that aside,it is a fun ride, and I am enjoying watching the kids grow and mature - Sam no longer takes his brother's ribbing, Derek is not so childish in his antics (and he is actually starting to consider what he wants to do when he grows up!), and Caitlin is becoming somewhat more adventurous in terms of digging to the bottom of the mystery.  Smith writes the children with a bit more growth with each book, which must come from his own experience in watching his own children grow and mature.

 

The climactic scene in Washington, D.C. as the kids, with the help of a young reporter, make heir way into a closed Senate hearing on whether the government will contract with Aiden Hart's company feels almost cinematic as they create an outburst to stop the proceedings, with the proof they nee to convict Hart showing up at the most appropriate moment!  I could easily visualize the scene in my head, and I must say, it would make for a great conclusion to a movie or television episode.  It's a shame Smith can't option this out for the small or big screen. 

 

One thing I must mention is Smith's reference to the Challenger explosion back in 1986.  That was truly a sad day, and like Colonel Banks in the story, I remember sitting in my science class at school, as we all watched the lift-off, and the shock everyone felt when the shuttle blew apart.  I remember the teacher immediately turning off the television, and we all just sat there, trying to comprehend what we just witnessed.  It is a bit hard for me to imagine that even took place nearly 40 years ago and is now considered just another piece of history... 

 

I was a bit worried when the book started that this would become another soap box (especially when the term "conspiracy theorist" was thrown around when their neighbor started talking about drones and the government watching him), but Smith took it in a different direction, for which I was grateful.  The book was a very satisfying read, and I hope we don't have to wait another two and a half years for the next book!

 

RATING:   8 silver pins in the shape of a rocket out of 10 for a good mystery that explores a different part of Virginia and offers up a new kind of mystery for the kids to solve.

Meg and the Secret of the Witch's Stairway - Mystery #2 in a series

This particular book (the original hardcover version) has special meaning to me, as I purchased it at the estate sale of a very dear friend of mine - Judith Weaver.  She was a wonderful woman who amassed a large collection of mystery novels (adult, young adult, pre-teen, and juvenile) in order to open a mystery bookstore.  Unfortunately, the local government persisted in putting up roadblocks that prevented her from ever opening the store, but that did not stop her from selling the books online, by word-of-mouth, and to her friends who would come by and visit.  When her health declined to the point where she needed constant care, her daughter moved her up north and all of those books were sold at an estate sale.  This is one of the books I obtained at the estate sale, and it will also be a treasured memory of Judith Weaver, a woman with more stories in real life than all of the books in her house could ever hold!

 

The Secret of the Witch's Stairway is the second Meg Duncan mystery, first published in 1967 (the same year as the first book).  The book is not written by the same author as the first book (which was written by Gladys Baker Bond), but the story is just as enjoyable as the first.  Having helped an elderly neighbor in the first book recover her stolen diamonds, Meg and her best friend, Kerry, help a pair of elderly neighbors search for some hidden family heirlooms in this mystery.  When Meg's Uncle Harold Ashley (her mother's cousin) visits, he tells her a story about the alleged missing Ashley silver, that was hidden away back during the Civil War and never seen again.  Many believe the silver is buried somewhere on the farm owned by Clara and Jenny Ashley (even more distant cousins of Meg's mom), but no one has ever found it.  Meg and Kerry, of course, are anxious to put their detective skills to work and help Miss Clara and Miss Jenny find that the treasure that would help them save their farm!

 

The book has a number of elements that remind me of some Nancy Drew mysteries.  First, the two elderly sisters who are trying to save their farm is similar to the plot of The Hidden Staircase, where Nancy helps two older women who are being frightened into selling their estate.  Second, the Ashley sisters have a rather unique doll collection, which reminded me of The Clue in the Old Album, where an older woman Nancy is helping has a large doll collection.  In fact, both collections of dolls include a peddler doll, which comes with an assortment of tiny objects - for the Nancy Drew book, it was musical instruments, ribbons, and laces (p. 15, Old Album), while for Meg, it was a bunch of keys, a lace handkerchief, and a tiny thimble (p. 32, Witch's Stairway).  What's even more of a coincidence is that the dolls first appear and are described in the second chapter of each book - "The Doll Collector" in Old Album and "The Doll Family" in Witch's Stairway!  And, if that were not enough, it turns out that dolls hold very important clues to solving the mysteries in both books.  This leads one to wonder if the author was a fan of the Nancy Drew series, as Old Album was published some 20+ years prior to the publication of this book.

 

The mystery turns into a rather fun adventure, as the girls begin their search with the help of a young boy named Glenn who turns up with a diary of the Ashleys' ancestor that gives them clues to the location of the silver.  Some of the clever poems written by their ancestor are actually rather ingenious clues, with double meanings and secret codes that ultimately lead the youngsters to the "Witch's Stairway," a seldom used path that leads down to the river.  Meg and Kerry and their new friend fall into some unexpected danger in their final effort to find the missing treasure, and it is only with the timely help of Curly, their four-legged friend, that they are able to escape what could be certain doom!  (Funny how both this mystery and the last feature a dog that plays a pivotal role in helping the girls' solve their case!)

 

Meg's Siamese cat, Thunder, is nowhere to be seen in this book, and while Mr. and Mrs. Wilson make a brief appearance in the first chapter, they are not seen for the rest of the book.  Kerry's little brother and sister are also noticeably absent from this story, but one can assume that is because we already have a helper in the form of Glenn, who turns out to be a relative of the Ashley sisters and finds a home with his new relatives by the end of the story.

 

The internals are once again provided by Cliff Schule, who I am assuming provided the cover art for the original hardcover version as well.  As with the first book, the cover to this book is not mysterious at all and gives no hint as to the mystery itself.  In fact, to me, this original cover reminds me of a Disney-type movie poster, what with Uncle Hal driving Meg and Kerry (dressed alike!) in his old roadster (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, anyone?).   For the paperback reprint, Olindo Giacomini again provides the cover art, which is definitely much more in-line with the mystery!  Showing an elderly woman, bent over and staring back into the dark woods where Meg and Curly are watching, the reader gets an instant feel that this mystery is going to be creepy!  This scene is pulled from the end of Chapter Six, where Meg spots an old woman with scraggly hair staring down at her from the top of the Witch's Stairway (p. 77).  While not an exact representation of what takes place on the page, it is definitely much more mysterious than the original cover art!

 

I found it somewhat amusing that Uncle Hal works in Washington, D.C., since Meg's father also works there.  Hal work in a museum, however, while Meg's father works in the government.  Of course, since Hidden Springs is said to be in Virginia, it should not be much of a surprise that they work in Washington, D.C.; it simply means that Hidden Springs must not be far from the state line.  In fact, the girls take a short trip with their Uncle Hal into the capital to search for information on an old Thomas Jefferson desk that once belonged to the Ashley sisters, hoping to find more clues as to the lost silver.

 

The story definitely holds up well and was an enjoyable read.  Simple, yet fun!

 

RATING:  9 broken wooden dolls out of 10 for an adventurous mystery filled with treasure-hunting, riddle-solving, and fortune-finding!