Cherry Ames at Spencer

    (While cleaning out some old notebooks I found this review I had written years ago.)

    Cherry is back at her old nurse training school to work in the new children's wing. She has to take care of a little girl named Dot 'Mouse" Jepson. Dot's father, Jep Jepson, was convicted of robbing a pawnshop, sent to prison, and recently broke out. Cherry thinks that not only is he innocent of the robbery but that he's secretly working at the hospital. She sets out to prove both these theories.

- It was nice reading a book taking place at Spencer again. At first old teachers/nurses and incidents are mentioned but Spencer related things quickly stop being mentioned.

- A small side story is that two new doctors are competing for a position. Rumor has it that one of them is dating the chief doctor's granddaughter to get an advantage. After Cherry meets him for the first time and exchanges two sentences of conversation she says "He's just about the nicest doctor I've ever worked with and easily the best looking. I don't care what anyone says, he's not a backslapper." She's judging his content of character by attractiveness.

- The word flibbertigibbet is used twice, such an awkward word.

- On page 121 the chief doctor complains that Cherry and Dr. Lane don't hang out at the hospital after work. Toxic boss alert?

- Page 207 has a strange paragraph: "Cherry touched her lips to Midges wide, shapely mouth, whispering, "Of course not, darling. But don't you think you should great my feminine guest now?" What is going on? Why would she whisper into Midge's mouth and not her ear?

Image credit: eBay

Barbara Ann: Mystery Across the Boarder

 

    When Barbara Ann's father has to take a business trip to Mexico City Barbara and her best friend Beverly join him. Barbara's unofficial boyfriend Bob and his friends, Mort, Jerry, and Jimmy, all decided to take a trip to Mexico City too. 

    As they're driving through Texas on their journey Barbara's father allows her to take the wheel and do some driving. Unfortunately Barbara ends up in a minor bang up with a car parked on the side of the road. This car belongs to Mr. Stedman who begins to bawl out the teenage girl. However when he learns her name is Barbara his attitude completely changes to kind and friendly. 

    Once across the border the group of Americans stay at a quaint Inn suggested to them by Mr. Stedman. It is owned by Mr. Sweizer who tells Barbara about Stedman's tragic life; 

    Stedman, a widower, had lost his only daughter and son-in-law in an automobile accident. His only remaining family was his granddaughter, Barbara, who he had custody of and doted on shamelessly. One day while at the beach with her nanny the three year old child went missing. It was ruled that the child had drowned but as her body had never been found Stedman holds onto hope that she is alive. She would now be 16 years old. 

    Once in Mexico City the party pays a visit to Mr. Stedman and meets his nephew, Gordon. Barbara senses a coldness between the two which is enhanced when Gordon makes it clear to Barbara that he does not approve of his uncle's hope that little Barbara is alive. 

    I'm going to stop my summary here because when it comes down to it the book is mostly filler. Barbara Ann of course finds little Barbara in Mexico, completely by coincidence. The nephew, of course, organized the child's kidnapping, and grandfather and granddaughter, of course, are reunited. 

    Mexico was a very popular place for books to be set in and I have read numerous ones taking place there, specifically in Mexico City. However I've never read one in which Mexico is looked down upon so much. The food is described as disgusting and inedible, the women as fat, the children as dirty, and the locations are picked apart. Almost all these old books in Mexico include a trip to the floating gardens of Xochimilco and this one is no exception but instead of describing the beauty of the place and the thrill and excitement of mingling with floating musicians and merchants who pass by the place is called "beautiful from a distance" and a complaint is made about Mexicans tossing their food waste into the water as well as complaints about it turning into a floating market where natives make money off of tourists. 

    To me it appeared as if no one in their tourist party was enjoying the experience of a different country. So it felt very ingenuine when Grosby writes the characters as being sad to leave Mexico. From their reactions throughout the whole book I thought they would be happy to leave. 

    I don't have much to say about this book. It's a typical Barbara Ann book in that the mystery doesn't take up much space and there's plenty of filler events. I did however find it less tedious than I did after my first reading and I think it is a step up from the last book in the series. 

The Mystery of the Tolling Bell (Original)

    "Nancy becomes involved in another mystery when she accepts an invitation from Mrs. Chantry, a client of Mr. Drew, to vacation at her cottage in a picturesque seaside town. Carson Drew has promised to join his daughter, but fails to arrive. The alarming disappearance of Mr. Drew and the odd circumstances surrounding his rescue are only the start of a series of highly dangerous adventures for Nancy and her friends Bess and George. Mrs. Chantrey's story about a nearby cliff side cave reputedly inhabited by a ghost intrigues Nancy and she decides to investigate. Several frightened townspeople claim to have seen an apparition and heard the weird sounds of a tolling bell just before water rushes from the cave. Will Nancy discover the true cause of these mysterious occurrences?"

- Yet again Bess who is often described as simple minded and cowardly saves the day. She rescues herself and George from drowning.

- Too much goes on when Nancy goes to see her father at the hotel; being told to come, being told to not come, the note in the lobby, finding him, losing him, Ned losing Nancy, Ned getting false information. It was just too much misdirection going on while also trying to move the story forward.

- It seems that everyone in Candleton was very eager to give their life savings to a stranger traveling through town selling stock. Surprised these people haven't been duped before.

- Nancy and Ned drive to Yorktown in Ned's car yet Nancy grabs a map "that she always kept in the car". Clearly the writer forgot whose car they were in.

- If I were Nancy I would have been absolutely livid at the fisherman who tries to "rescue" her from the back of the cave by tossing a fishing net over her and hauling her up the cliff. If Nancy hadn't something to grab onto at the last minute she would have died because of this idiot.

- A dwarf man is compared to an elf many times and the villain of the book is physically deformed which is all a bit ableist. Also the other culprits are described as darker skinned, larger features, and all those racial villain stereotypes.

- I really like the names Sweet Chimes and Mon Coeur and the heart-shaped compact. Not hard to see why people would buy it, good packaging is so important with make-up.

- Nancy and George staying in the cliff house after Ned leaves for the police department is so dumb. They should have waited for him to return.

- George going down the tunnel after Nancy instead of going for help was also extremely dumb. She should know better by now.

- I think the culprits happening to be the one to rear end Ned was not necessary. Why did every unfortunate incident have to be them? That's too much coincidence.

- At the end when Ned and Nancy find the bell in the cave it says Nancy opened the door and walked back into the cliff house yet when they went down the tunnel it says they made sure to prop the door open so they wouldn't get locked in.

- I've never heard of the tired swimmers carry that Bess uses for George. I looked it up and could only find an old video from 1933. Not sure if it's an outdated technique or not.

Source: Dissolve

    This book is very coincidence heavy and most of it involves Nancy happening to be at the right place at the right time. I do enjoy the seaside setting and Ned's presence as well as the lack of Nancy getting a concussion or being caught and bound by the bad guys. I think it's a bit unethical of her to keep the bell at the end however.

    Overall it's one of the better Nancy Drew books and significantly better than the re-written version. The cover is also stunning.

Connie Blair: The Puzzle in Purple

    Connie has just enrolled in a local art night school and on her first day she meets two boys who take an interest in her; handsome and cocky popular boy Roby Woodward and shy and awkward Eric Payson who is Mr. Woodward's protégé. 

The school is having a fancy dress ball in two weeks. The art school is located inside of an large, old residence and the Fairy Tale Ball is to be held in the ballroom. Some of the senior students have been tasked with painting murals of fairy tale scenes to hang in the room for the event. Eric is creating a Rapunzel mural and for reference has borrowed an expensive purple cape from Miss Catherine, an elderly woman who admires Eric and so happens to be Roby's aunt. On Connie first day the cape goes missing from the model's locker which causes Eric worry.

    A week later Eric musters up the courage to ask Connie to the ball and she decides to go with him and invites her twin, Kit, to come too. The next day Roby asks Connie to the ball but she informs him she already plans to go with Eric. Roby laughs and insists he'll deal with Eric and Connie will go with himself instead. Connie gets furious at Roby's conceit and tells him off.

    Kit arrives and the two girls dress as Snow Queens for their ball costumes. They are so identical in looks, voice, and costume that no one can tell them apart. As the dance is about to start the ballroom doors are opened and inside stands a skeleton, used by the school for anatomy reference, draped in the missing cape and all the murals, with the exception of Eric's, have been covered in purple X's.

    Despite the act of vandalism and queer prank the ball goes smoothly until everyone is walking home. Feeling playful in the snow Connie begins a game of tag with Eric which results in him stepping on a broken grate and breaking his leg.

    The twins go to visit him in the hospital the next day where they meet Roby's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Woodward. Eric lives with them and works at Mr. Woodward's factory. It appears they are sort of parent figures to the boy. While there Mr. Woodward complains that Roby has not yet come to visit Eric and that he is probably sleeping in till noon as usual. Miss Catherine also arrives for a visit and invites the twins to tea the following day.

    As they are leaving the hospital Roby arrives and gives the girls a ride home. He says Eric is his parents favorite child and that he only came to visit because it was expected of him. He also joyfully says Uncle Francis doesn't like Eric either but the subject is changed before Connie can respond.

    At tea the following day Connie learns that Eric is an orphan and Miss Catherine had met him when he was a small child and she was doing social-service work. "Uncle Francis" then arrives and turns out to be Mr. White, the superintendent of the art school building (a glorified janitor as Roby describes it). He, almost happily, states that the school has Eric as their number one suspect of the mural vandalism which could result in his expulsion.

    Eric asks Connie to bring him his sketchbook from his school locker. Roby brings her the locker key from home and inside Eric's locker she finds the purple paint which was used for the purple X's on the murals. Eric returns to school and is instantly informed he is the main suspect.

    Five large paintings worth $5,000 each were loaned to the school from Reid and Renshaw's to be used as decorations for the ball. With that over the paintings are packed up and shipped back to the advertising company. Connie is there when the paintings are delivered and opened to reveal they've all been slashed with a large X. With this serious crime in the mix an investigation is started by two detective from the insurance company. Eric is still the main suspect and being questioned constantly.

    Kit comes into town on a buyers trip for the hardware store and while at lunch with Connie she talks about her experience with Roby at the ball; Roby, mistaking Kit for Connie, shares the information that Miss Catherine has made Eric her sole heir and with the suspicion of vandalism she is likely to change her will now. 

    Connie makes an impromptu visit to Miss Catherine and supports Eric's innocence. The older woman informs Connie that she has never liked her brother Francis much and that he was a disappointment to the family. She confides to Connie that she is concerned over a knife she had gifted to Eric, that it may be used as evidence against him.

    Connie spends time with Eric on the weekend and, learning that the knife is in his school locker, she decides it would be best if they go remove it. They sneak in through the cellar and dig through Eric's locker but can't find the knife. Francis White and Mr. Jenkins, the school dean, arrive and the two young people try to sneak back out but Eric realizes he's forgotten his jacket in the locker room. They attempt to sneak back to the room and retrieve it but Mr. White discovers it first. Then the two come face to face with the detective who have been monitoring the school and saw them sneak in. Eric's coat is brought to the detectives who find the knife in a pocket.

    At this point Connie has realized that Mr. White is the real culprit and is able to explain her theory and get Eric off the hook. The book ends with them at Connie's family house for the weekend.

- I read my old review before starting this book and I'm afraid it blinded me a bit. In it I had said that the culprit was obvious from page 40. With this reading I assumed that meant Roby who was written with every sign pointing to him as being it. Much like how Eric could not be guilty because the clues point towards him to a suspicious degree, Roby could not be it because Betsy Allen has given the reader clues that point towards him to a suspicious degree.

- Fritz was just...not necessary. I didn't include him in my summary because his inclusion in the book is pointless. He is a obvious red herring. He is only included in the story at times where Connie needs to be suspicious of someone other than Roby. 

- Roby is the reddest red herring to ever herring. There is so much written just to make Roby look guilty in every single way yet not a single person suspects him, including Connie. As we learn more and more about him throughout the book we find he is not a good person yet at the end of the book when he's no longer needed for misdirection he is suddenly described by the other characters as a really great guy. This is quite annoying.

- Eric is described as being awkward and shy but instead of these being flaws Connie actually finds them endearing. Meanwhile smooth, confident Rob gets on her nerves. I thought this was nice. Normally characters are likeable despite their awkwardness but never for it.

- This book reminded me of the Nancy Drew Files with how the three suspects were laid out and all had their moments that make them look suspicious.

To continue on with examples of how the Connie Blair series is in fact not sexist:

• Connie is working fulltime and going to school. She supports herself with her job and she earned her school tuition through her work in the last book.
• Kit is still running the hardware store and going on buyer's trips alone despite her young age.
• Miss Catherine is a strong, independent woman and described as being "made of iron".
• Roby is good looking and charming yet Connie does not fall for his smooth talking and chooses for herself who she wishes to attend the ball with.
• Yet again no mention is made about Aunt Elizabeth being single and childless.

Connie Blair: The Riddle in Red

    With her temporary modeling job at Champions over Connie has gone back home to wait on the results of her job interview at the advertising agency Reid and Renshaw. Although Connie's life path was suppose to include college she decides she would rather head into the working world. Her father's unfortunate and unexpected heart attack drains the family financially and her parents consent to her taking a full time job.

    With her letter of employment Connie heads back to Philadelphia to continue rooming with her 28-year-old aunt Elizabeth and begin her job as a receptionist.

    On her first day she finds that the former receptionist was fired for using Angela Murray makeup products. Cleo Marville, who owns Cosmetics by Cleo, is the agency's biggest client and so the employees are subject to her eccentricities, which include using her makeup exclusively.

    Connie is asked to deliver an envelope to Cleo directly and when she arrives at the cosmetic factory she find an employee, chemist Mr. Paul, heatedly yelling at Cleo and throwing things around the office. It is Connie's arrival that deescalates the situation.

    Back at Reid and Renshaw the copy writers are struggling to create an acceptable advertisement for Cleo's new revolutionary nail polish created from a top secret formula. Connie mentions to her co-worker that the research department should conduct a survey with test samples to find out how the customers feel about the product. This idea gets passed along and accepted and Mr. Renshaw offers Connie the job of distributing the samples.

    After picking up the samples from the factory Connie goes to Cleo's glamorous house where she is told who to distribute the samples to; a stenographer, a homemaker, a college student, a wealthy women, etc. 

    Upon leaving Connie stops at a random house in the wealthy neighborhood to give a sample to the woman of the house. The home turns out to be occupied by Baron Von Glekin, the scientist that created the nail polish formula. Connie doesn't know who he is until later but gets bad vibes from him. While in the house she notices letters written on Angela Murray's stationary.

    Later while in a taxi with a chatty cab driver Connie learns that Cleo had a previous falling out with her sister. Connie checks with an edition of Who's Who to verify her belief that Angela Murray is Cleo Marville's sister.

    A conference meeting with Cleo is scheduled for the first work day after Thanksgiving. When she does not arrive at the advertising agency Connie is tasked with calling around to try to get a hold of her. However Cleo Marville seems to have suddenly disappeared. No one knows where she currently is and her last known whereabouts had been a football game the previous evening. The friends she had attended with said she left for an appointment but no one knows where or with who. Suspicion of foul play grows once the police find Cleo's car parked at the train station with the keys still inside. All her associates are questioned with the exception of the Baron who is suddenly out of town.

    One night after work Connie and Ken, a co-worker she occasionally dates, drive out to view Cleo's house. As they pass the Baron's house Connie sees a light flash in one of the windows. She notifies the police who put a watch on the house and catch a man running in through the back door, he is the same man as the butler Connie met on her first visit there and she finds him suspicious.

    The police decide to search the house and Connie and Mr. Renshaw come along. All three floors are fully searched with the exception of two padlocked rooms which, for some ridiculous reason, the police don't insist on searching. Connie is the only one taking Cleo's disappearance seriously and when the search does not turn her up Mr. Renshaw and the police act exasperated by Connie, perceiving her as a meddling child.

    Back at the office Connie has been given a new responsibility of opening and sorting all the mail. When she opens a package of advertisement proofs she finds one for Angela Murray has accidentally been included; it's for a new revolutionary nail polish made from a top secret formula. Guessing that the Baron has sold the same formula to both sisters Connie believes more than ever that Cleo has been abducted by him.

    Connie and Ken sneak out to his home in the late morning and climb a trellis to enter through a window. With the aid of a metal file they saw through the padlock on the locked room upstairs and find Cleo bound and gagged. She instructs Connie to run downstairs and call the police. Just as Connie has done this the butler returns but the police arrive before he discovers the couples presence.

    With the mystery solved Connie asks Cleo to reconcile with Angela which she does. A private lunch is thrown in which it's announced the Baron, fake Baron as it turns out and con man, has been captured, that Cleo and Angela will be combining their companies, and that Cleo wants to finance art classes at night school for Connie as a reward.

- I don't like Mr. Renshaw. He seems like an idiot and quite rude sometimes.

- Combining cosmetic companies is a stupid idea. The women have feuded for years then they get along for an afternoon and decided to combine companies.

- After Cleo is found Connie really becomes a busybody the way she tries to make Cleo reconcile with Angela. Connie doesn't know about the situation between the sisters. She's invested herself way too much in their private affairs.

- The police were dumb not to search the padlocked rooms and I have a very, very hard time believing they wouldn't. If you think someone is being held prisoner in a home obviously the locked rooms will look suspicious. I feel like Cavanna, or Allen as she's credited here, could have come up with something better.

- We never find out the Barons real name and that bothers me a tiny bit, I'm curious.

- I have no idea what the "red" in the title refers to. Nothing was especially mentioned as red. Cleo's hair is auburn but it's barely mentioned.

- Like I said in my last review, Connie Blair has been falsely dubbed as "sexist" when it is in fact the most feminist of all the female detectives series. Here's the example from this book, check my last review to see examples from the first book.

• When Connie thinks about her career goals it says "Connie was always seeking new worlds to conquer".
• After their father has a heart attack the girls take over being the providers for the family; Kit takes over the hardware store and Connie gets a job in an office. Kit is fully running the hardware store, including going on buyer's trips, and she's only 17. Connie is working as a receptionist and in her first month already gets opportunities to work on a large advertising campaign. She also plans to work her way up to higher position such as art department or copy writer and is willing to work hard to achieve her goals such as by going to art school at nights.
• Miss Cameron is an executive at Reid and Renshaw. She is well respected and Connie admires her for her business skills.
• Cleo Marville is a very successful business woman, as is her sister, and called a legend in her own time. She is always cool, collected, and in control even when being held prisoner.
• The men of authority like Renshaw and the police don't take Connie seriously because she's a young woman but Connie makes fools of them all by being right.
• And just like the last book there is no mention of 28-year-old Aunt Bet being single and childless.

Connie Blair: The Clue in Blue

    Twin sisters Connie and Kit are excited over the arrival of their young Aunt Elizabeth. Elizabeth is a stylist for Champions department store in Philadelphia and has agreed to help the twins and their friends put on a fashion show, including borrowing outfits from the department store.

    After her arrival, as the girls begin fitting the outfits, Elizabeth realizes one item is missing; an expensive beaver fur beret. Although she tries to appear relaxed Connie can tell her aunt is very worried about the missing item. She later confides to Connie that this isn't the first time something in her care has gone missing.

    The fashion show goes well and Connie loves the experience as a model but Kit does not. So when Aunt Elizabeth mentions that she's short one model for the department store everyone agrees Connie should take it and that night the two women head back to Philadelphia.

    Elizabeth is still concerned over the missing hat so she goes to the closed department store on Sunday to search her office. Connie wanders around the empty store and stops in the mirror-lined hat shop to browse. With the sudden feeling of being watched she looks up into the mirror and sees a man disguised in a large women's hat behind her. Before she can scream he knocks her unconscious.

    She awakes with Elizabeth and George, the watchman, with her. They don't believe her story of the man in the hat and tell her she must have simply fainted from the summer heat and knocked her head on a display counter.

    Back at Elizabeth's apartment Connie is introduced to Larry Stewart, a boy who works in the window dressing department at Champions. He listens to and believes her story.

    Monday is her first day of work. Her job consist of walking around the store wearing clothing from the College Miss section. When she goes into the empty model's dressing room at lunch she finds a stock girl named Grace in the room crying. Connie tries to console her but upon learning Connie's aunt is the store stylist Grace flees the room.

    Towards the end of the day Connie is approached by floorwalker Mr. Kurt who is also new. Connie finds something off about the man and mentally describes his manner as "oily".

    After work Connie and Larry go out a date to the movies and while walking home they talk of Connie's career goal of working in advertising. Larry says him and Elizabeth have advertising contacts through work. They go up to the apartment to discuss this with Elizabeth but inside they find the place in disarray and some mysterious person fleeing through the backdoor. Strangely enough nothing has been taken.

    The next day at work brings another missing item, this time from the jewelry department. Mr. Champion believes the items are being stolen by an inside person and hires a private detective who is to stay unknown.

    Connie runs into Grace on the way home and learns that her little sister is a recovered invalid who has no desire to leave her house. Again, at the mention of aunt Elizabeth Grace flees.

    The next day at work the missing necklace from the jewelry department is discovered in Elizabeth's bag. Connie becomes more eager to find an answer to this mystery, especially after she learns the necklace was found immediately after Grace had fetched the bag for Elizabeth.

    Connie visits Grace's home where she learns that Grace borrows items from work to show her sister but returns everything she takes. She had returned the fur beret in the display department hoping someone would find it but no one has yet.

    The next day Connie arranges a plan for her and Grace to retrieve the hat after hours and return it to the hat department, then confess her borrowing to Elizabeth. Once down in the display department they dig the hat out from behind a pile of display props that have since cover it. 

    Just as they find it Mr. Kurt enters the room with one hand suspiciously in his jacket pocket. He menacingly demands they hand over the hat but Grace tells Connie not to give it to him because, as she later learns, Grace had given him the necklace which then showed up in Elizabeth's bag. 

    Connie manages to hook her foot around the leg of a small display table and kick it at him while Grace uses this confusion to run and turn off the light. The door swings open and in comes George and the undercover detective, Mrs. Morton. Mr. Kurt then leaves while the detective sits down and listens to the girls' story. Connie begins thinking and comes to the conclusion that Mr. Kurt was the man in the mirror who knocked her out.

    Knowing that Mr. Kurt will sneak back into the store to take the fur beret the detective, Connie, Elizabeth, Larry, and a policeman hide in the store and catch him in the act.

    It turns out Kurt was working with a hat maker in Paris to sneak out stolen jewels which were hidden in the designs and Kurt was to retrieve them.

    Just as the book ends Larry tells Connie he's gotten her a job interview at an advertising agency.

- The fashioned mentioned in this book fascinates me. The book was written in 1948 but this copy was published in 1966. The suit that Connie models in the fashion show would look very different depending on which edition of the book you're reading. Here's an example of a fashionable suit for each time period:

Left: PenelopesHopeChest Right: CustomStyle

- I've always pictured Elizabeth's apartment as looking like Mary's from the Mary Tyler Moore show.

- I like Larry. I think it's intriguing the way he's in between Connie (17) and Elizabeth's (28) age and originally is romantically interested in Elizabeth. She's not interested in his affections, I assume because he's younger, and pawns him off on Connie.

- I think that the whole story of Kurt and a Parisian man's plan to smuggle stolen jewels into the country is kind of dumb. It's too elaborate and not believable.

- An author of a book discussing feminist female examples has tried to claim that the Connie Blair series is sexist. This makes me extremely frustrated because I would absolutely argue that Connie Blair is the most feminist of all the female detectives, much more so than Nancy Drew who is regarded as a feminist icon. Here are some examples in this book alone to support my claim:

• Elizabeth is 28 and is a proud career woman. She is successful at her job and very respected. There is not a single mention in this book about her lack of a husband or children. She is someone who Connie and Kit admire.
• Kit enjoys her family's hardware store and is ecstatic when her father offers her a job working there. She doesn't just love it because it's her family's business but because she finds genuine interest in hardware equipment and the work it does. Kit dreams of someday running the store.
• Mrs. Morton is a female detective. She's very good at her job and when she gives orders to a man it says "her voice held authority he couldn't help but respect". She is also a "Mrs" so we can assume she is both a wife and a detective, something that Nancy Drew claims is not possible.
• Connie herself insists she doesn't have any current interest in boyfriends, love, or marriage as she's too interested on a future career to focus on any other large life decisions. Although she has a job as a model, and is successful at it, she dreams about working in the advertisement business rather then just wearing pretty clothes all day.

- Not only does this book show independent and strong women it also speaks out about gender stereotypes. Larry Stewart and Chipper White are men who works in the display department, they have to create visually pleasing displays and advertisements which includes styling outfits. Connie remarks she didn't think men like Chipper (i.e. manly) would do this kind of work. He counters back that its unfair that men who did this are stereotyped as "sissys" and gives Christian Dior as an example of men working in fashion.

    Overall this is a good book. I think old fashion department stores are very fascinating. They use to be so much more glamorous and magical so that setting was fun, especially with a character who also gets to be behind the scenes. Even though this is a good book it's also slightly bland when it comes to the mystery. The beginning with Connie getting knocked out is quite spooky but the ending kind of fizzles out. I thought this the first time I read it as well but I was very happy to see the rest of the series, especially after book three, gets stronger.

    Oh! I almost forgot to mention that the title isn't ideal. After giving it some thought I believe that the Clue in Blue is referring to a blue thread found on the missing necklace which helps Connie realize Grace was the one to take it. It's a very small and weak part of the story and not worthy of the title.

Barbara Ann: The Mystery at Mountain View

    Barbara Ann is on a 3 week class trip through Colorado. The group is spending one week staying at Mountain View Resort, where Barbara's friend Bob Allen is working for the summer. Strange things begin to happen to drive all the guest out of the resort. Together Bob and Barbara decide to get to the bottom of thing.

- One night at Yellowstone everyone is heading to their cabins for the night and the boys offer to open the cabin door for the girls because they assume the girls will be scared since it's dark inside. The girls are offended that the boys would think them so timid and frighten and the boys promptly mock them for being so "independent". The girls then head to their cabin very peeved at the boys. When they open the door a giant bear is in their cabin and they have to run screaming to the boys to protect them. The boys then rub this in their faces. Let this be a lesson to all you women out there; if you try to be independent you will be accosted by a wild bear in your home.

- The answer to the strange occurrences at Mountain View are almost all attributed to a radio broadcast. The lights going on and off, the telephones ringing, etc are all done with a radio broadcast which just isn't accurate. I don't know if Ruth Grosby knew this or not but I found it a little annoying.

- Similar to the last book Barbara, and Bob in this case, reveal all their evidence to the culprit while they are alone in an isolated area with them. Barbara learned nothing from her last kidnapping.

- When the forest fire is first spotted it is look upon as a nice, exciting thing. One of the boys calls it a "swell forest fire".

- The group of students and the teacher go to the forest fire to look for Bob and Barbara. They don't even call authorities first. Once at the site the fire is already out and they see Bob's scout pin and a charm from Barbara's bracelet and decide they're dead and all head back to the resort. Why would they not keep looking for the two in the hopes they are either alive or injured while one person goes back for the authorities. It's weird behavior.

- The three criminals get away and no ones cares. They don't complain about it or even mention it again. This bothers me so much because the bad guys are always suppose to be punished for their criminal actions. Even in books such as The Missing Formula the bad guy goes free but that's after he's been caught and the good guys have decided to let him go.

    The mystery is crowded in at the end and the majority of the book is more about Barbara Ann's fun school trip which was extremely boring. The only scenes I really enjoyed were the ones where Barbara was out in the woods. Everything taking place inside the resort and before they got to the resort was terribly boring.

    I didn't end up writing a full summary for this book due to a combination of feeling burnt out on writing summaries and because I kept setting this book down for long periods of time. 

Joyce of the Secret Squadron

    Captain Midnight is the chief of the Secret Squadron, a secret military force consisting of the best aviators and agents. Their base is located on a small camouflaged island in the pacific. One day he is visited by a man who gives his name as Mr. X. He says a new experimental and highly secretive plane called the Flying Wing has gone missing on it's first test flight. Capt Midnight is being tasked with searching for the plane around it's last known location out in the pacific.

    Meanwhile on another island not too far away is the base for The Barracuda and his "swarm" of cutthroats. The Barracuda is a sadistic outlaw whose allegiance lies with the highest bidder which happens to be Japan. He is aware of the Flying Wing's disappearance because it was him who made it disappear. His men managed to capture the pilot but the plane went missing when one of his swarm was flying it back to their base. It's current whereabouts are unknown to him. The Barracuda has hired Carla Rotan, a beautiful spy, to make contact with the squadron and discover the planes whereabouts so the Barracuda can swoop in and steal it after it's discovery.

    While young Joyce Ryan and Chuck Ramsay, both members of the squadron, are out for a pleasure flight, Carla and her pilot Jack Carson make contact with the two. Carla claims to be out searching the pacific for her lost brother but is in need of supplies. Joyce and Chuck reluctantly take the two back to the secret base where Capt. Midnight gives them supplies then orders them to be escorted to the mainland.

    The next day just as the group of searchers finishes loading their plane the noise of the Barracuda and his swarm flying into the vicinity can be heard. Midnight, Joyce, Chuck, and Ichabod Mudd, a mechanic and code maker, jump in the sky ship and take off along with Carla and Carson, and several other Squadron planes. A fight ensues in the air with the squadron losing one plane and the Barracuda many.

    Once it is over the four head to their destination area and after night has fallen they find an island they believe the Flying Wing might have landed on.

    The next day Carla and Jack show up at the same island and Carla attempts to get on friendly terms with the group who remain suspicious of her. They also discover a schooner with rough sailors anchored by the island. They assume they're pearl fishers and decide to stay away and try to stay unknown to the sea men.

    The next several days focus on a new code being made as it's clear the Barracuda has gotten hold of the squadron's old codebook. A new code had been locked away at the squadron base for just such an incident but Ichabod must remember how he created the code and recreate it or else the group will be left on the island with no means of safe communication back to their base.

    While he does this Joyce and Chuck venture around the island a little bit and find the area of a very old crash landing. They discover a 1920's airplane that has been destroyed and turned into a makeshift home, presumably by the surviving pilot. As they head back to their camp to inform the Midnight of this they hear their plane starting up and upon reaching their camp they see the castaway pilot attempting to steal their plane. He crashes it and is pulled out of the cockpit unconscious by Midnight and Ichabod. In his pockets they find a pilots license for Bill Madison, a famous flyer who went missing during a 1927 flight.

    Upon regaining consciousness Bill is terrified and speaks of a Capt. Burley who is trying to kill him to gain possession of a bag of pearls, a gift Bill had received from the native people of the island.
Capt. Burley soon arrives with armed men demands Bill be handed over to him. As the group is out dealing with these sailors Bill slips away.

    He returns the next night and the squadron promises Bill they will protect him and get him home. The sailors show up again and the squadron barricades themselves in the plane which the sailors then surround and are just about to unload their ammunition into when Bill uses a special call to bring his native friends to his rescue.

    The next day Carla is visited by the Barracuda who is losing patience with her. She is then visited by a desperate Capt. Burley who asked for her partnership in getting the pearls. She agrees to do this after the Flying Wing is discovered but Burley doesn't trust her so he goes to the Barracuda with the offer instead. Like Carla, the Barracuda agrees with the intent of double crossing him and keeping the pearls. All these events are being observed by Bill, Joyce, and Chuck who have climbed up an overlooking rock formation.

    Borrowing Bill's gun Joyce runs down to the beach where the schooner is anchored. She lights a small fire in the jungle to bring the Capt. on land then holds a gun on him while discussing a deal. She'll get Bill to give him half the pearls in exchange for use of the schooner. With Bills help the group has deduced that the Flying Wing crash landed on a nearby island but with their plane damaged by Bill they have no means of getting there. The Capt. enthusiastically agrees to this once Joyce informs these men, who have been at sea for a year, that the world is at war and the Barracuda and Carla are working against the United States.

    The group plans to sail out under cover of darkness which is quickly approaching. Capt. Midnight radios for more squadron members to meet him at the nearby island and just as he finishes sending the message the Barracuda flies over, dropping a bomb on the recently evacuated plane and spitting machine gun fire at the fleeing men and woman.

    They trek through the jungle and come to the anchored lagoon. A boat comes to the shore to meet them and on it is Carla and Jack. They order the group to give up the bag of pearls and location of the Flying Wing while pointing a sub machine gun at them. 

    After refusing Carla pulls Joyce out of the group to be executed first. Joyce, preying on Carla's womanly vanity, asks to powder her nose first. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out Bill's gun which she shoots at Jack. 

    The sight of the gun sets everyone in motion: Jack begins shooting, Midnight tackles Jack, and Chuck tackles Joyce. Midnight manages to beat Jack unconscious while Carla is restrained by Ichabod and Bill. The schooner is boarded and heads to the nearby island.

    They reach it as dawn approaches and as they are dropping boat for land the Barracuda approaches from air in a full out attack. Midnight is able to carefully aim and fires at the ammunition on the plane causing it to explode in air. The Barracuda's swarm arrive just as the requested Squadron members show up and an air battle ensues while Capt. Midnight finds the crashed plane in the jungle and sets it on fire, destroying it and keeping it's secrets safe from enemy hands. The battle is, of course, won by the squadron and all can head back to the secret base and the USA.

- Carla is said to be in her thirties and also called young throughout the book. I found this extremely refreshing.

- The secrecy of the location of the Secret Squadrons headquarters is stated very clearly right at the beginning of the book but then Joyce and Chuck bring two strangers to it without a second thought.

- I had written down a note about how I wished Joyce was written as less of a stereotyped woman of the time period but then I realize Joyce was not written as a stereotyped woman, she is simply illustrated as one. 

    Through out the book Joyce is described as wearing pants yet she is illustrated as wearing a dress. Even in the scene where Joyce is worried she will be mistaken as a man from a distance and accidentally shot because of her pants, she is still drawn as wearing a dress. In almost all the images of her she is wide eyed with her mouth open in shock or her brows furrowed in worry. Worst of all is the illustration of Chuck helping her climb a rock while she is on her hands and knees looking weak and fragile without the help of a man. This is not how she was written at all so it's quite annoying.

- Speaking of illustrations Ichabod is not illustrated at all, even in pictures of scene he is in and when the rest of the group are pictured he is still not illustrated, why?

- The more I read the more it became clear that Chuck has no business being in the secret squadron. He doesn't believe Carla is a spy cause she's pretty and flirty, he doesn't believe Joyce found a part of an airplane in the jungle because he doesn't want her to be right, and when Joyce sees Bill for the first time he accuses her of seeing things. If he were in charge the whole squadron would have already been captured or dead.

- Bill states that he has seen Capt. Burley kill a ton of natives on the island but once Burley agrees to work with them the squadron decides that he's actually a good guy. They ignore that he's a murderer who's been trying to kill Bill over pearls. And no, the pearls didn't belong to Burley. They belong to the island natives who gave them as gifts to Bill.

- Chuck gets so excited when a sub machine gun bullet goes through his trouser leg but misses his flesh because he can "tell this story for the rest of his life". I thought that was pretty cute.

- Capt. Midnight sets the flying wing on fire to destroy it, ignoring the fact that that's going to cause a huge gasoline fueled fire in the jungle and kill wildlife and possibly native inhabitants.

    Overall this book is so good! I loved it the first time I read it and I loved it this time. There's no boring parts and it moves along really smoothly. It appears this was the only Whitman book written by this author, Russ Winterbotham, and that makes me quite sad. This was excellently written and I would have loved to read more.

Sylvia Sanders and the Tangled Web

    Southern girl Sylvia Sanders has just arrived in Chicago to start her career on the radio. Back home in Carolina Sylvia has already dominated the air waves and if she wishes to have her career grow she has to step up to a bigger city. Her parents have allowed her to go to Chicago for the summer where she can stay with her cousin, Beth, who lives in the city for college. 

    Upon arriving Sylvia shares a cab with Helena Steiner, a sophisticated looking woman who writes and voices a radio advertisement for a jewelry store. She gives Sylvia her card and the southerner is excited to have made a radio connection already.

    Once at the apartment building Sylvia meets Hal Graham, the nephew of Beth's next door neighbor. He's a nice young man who has just started his own recording studio.

    That night over dinner Beth tells Sylvia her heavy accent is going to make finding a radio job difficult. She suggest Sylvia tone down the accent and introduces her to Eileen DeWolf, a voice coach. Miss DeWolf agrees to help Sylvia but when the girls arrive the morning of her first lesson they find the house in a tizzy. A set of antique silver goblets has been stolen from the woman during the night. The lesson is postponed but not for long and Sylvia speech quickly improves.

    Feeling confident she heads out to a radio company. She has a letter of introduction to a man at the company but when she gets there she finds the man has left to work in Hollywood a number of months ago and she is not permitted to have an introduction with his replacement. She then calls various talent agencies but finds they're all filled with girls hoping to find the same jobs as herself.

    Wyman Middlecoff is a young man that Beth often dates and he is eager to have Sylvia come out with the two of them some night. Sylvia does not want to intrude on Beth's love life but she agrees to a night out after she learns that Helena Steiner is Wyman's older sister and she will be coming along. Soon the woman has invited the girls, Wyman, and Hal to visit her home on Lake Michigan where her reclusive husband, Carlos Steiner, lives.

    The home is built hidden among trees behind a hill which blocks off the view of the lake. Once arriving by boat they are greeted by two strange employees; one with a peg leg and one with an eye-patch. Happy to be out of the city Sylvia decides to explore the grounds and is startled to find a large fenced off ravine guarded by watch dogs. Quickly turning to flee the dogs she finds she has been followed and spied upon by Pete, the man with the peg leg. She heads back into the house feeling disturbed.

    That night at dinner she meets Carlos Steiner and finds him intimidating. The next day Hal and Sylvia end up alone while swimming in the cove and discuss their mutual suspicions of the place. They decide to sneak off and explore during the evening which leads them to find a hidden cove with a secret tunnel built into stone.

    In the tunnel they find a door and are unable to open it before a storm erupts and starts flooding the tunnel. They quickly begin retracing their path back to the house when a tree branch comes flying at Sylvia. Hal blocks her from it, fracturing his hand in the process. Wyman drives him back to the city that night to see a doctor and the girls are offered to stay an extra night which Beth eagerly accepts.

    After dinner Sylvia heads back out to view the hidden cove and soon sees Pete heading that way. He meets up with a man who has boated into the cove and takes a heavy suitcase from him. The next morning Sylvia notes the suitcase is sitting by her and Beth's luggage by the front door. When she asks about it Wyman says he's bring some of his summer suits back to the city with him but on the boat Sylvia tests the weight of the suitcase and finds it much too heavy just to contain suits.

    Once back home she visits Hal who is struggling to do his own secretarial work with only one working hand. Sylvia decides to take a job for him as his secretary.

    While at lunch one day with Hal Sylvia notices Pete at the same lunch counter. That night Sylvia gets off work quite late and by the time her cab pulls up to the apartment building it's completely dark. As she crosses the sidewalk a man appears, grabs her purse, and sends a dagger flying at her. Sylvia quickly ducks and it sticks deep into the apartment door. Although shaken she tries to make light of the incident while also being conscious of the fact that Pete was in the city on the same day.

    Sylvia visits Helena at her apartment in the city to receive a script Helena has written just for her. It's custom made to show off Sylvia's acting range. She will make a recording of her performing it at Hal's studio then pass it around to the radio studios in the hope of landing a job. During the visit Helena tells Sylvia her chances of getting a job in Chicago are non-existent and she should try New York instead. When Sylvia refuses Helena admits she's worried for the girls safety and thinks she would be safer if she fled to New York.

    Helena has also hired Sylvia to do some typing for her. When Sylvia shows up at her apartment with the completed work she finds Carlos present as well as Maizie, Helena's sister. Helena looks as tho she's been crying and makes defiant remarks against her sister and husband. When Maizie request Sylvia to deliver a package to Friedman's Jewelry store Helena tries to make Sylvia decline but Sylvia's polite nature holds out and she accepts the errand.

    After leaving the apartment with the small package in hand Sylvia trips running across a crosswalk and is knocked unconscious. She awakes in the hospital with a bad cut and bruise on her forehead. She's disturbed to see the package has been badly damaged and even more disturbed when she sees the contents of the package. While inspecting the damage to the box a paperweight falls from inside with a note reading "So you can't be trusted". Sylvia is greatly insulted.

    With Beth on vacation and Hal holding down the studio alone Sylvia is at a loss who to call. Then she remembers Nat Hudson, one of her father's oldest friends who visits the Sanders every year for a fishing trip. He lives in Chicago where he works for the FBI. The hospital calls him and he arrives quickly and insists on Sylvia staying with him and his family until Beth's return. Sylvia explains everything that's happened since her arrival to the city and he is greatly interested in Carlos Steiner. He is able to replace the damaged box with a new one and requests Sylvia to complete her errand as though nothing had happened.

    Several days later he requests Sylvia to again visit Helena's apartment in the hopes of Maizie giving her another package to deliver to Friedman's . She does and as she is handing over the package two policemen bust in and arrest Mr. Friedman. Inside the package is one of Eileen DeWolf's stolen goblets and a package of cocaine.

    Carlos and his gang are arrested and tried with Sylvia having to testify as a witness. Helena is found to not have been involved with her husbands criminal dealing and her and Sylvia are able to continue their friendship. Wyman, who was a part of the gang, gets a light sentence but thankfully Beth has gotten engaged to an old boyfriend back home in the south so she won't be heart broken over it. And to really wrap up with a happy ending Sylvia and Hal get engaged and Sylvia is offered a part in a new radio show.

- After the receptionist at the radio studio was rude to Sylvia both her and Beth agree the woman was simply jealous because she must be a failed radio actress. This is so delusional and immature. Some people are just rude and assuming it's because they're jealous is just a way to pump up your own ego.

- Sylvia mocks the people who come into Hal's recording studio to make recordings of their singing. She thinks they're conceited to think they deserve to be recorded. I found this extremely rude and unnecessarily judgmental. These people are paying to have recordings made, it does not matter if the person has a good voice or not. Not to mention that Sylvia has no way of knowing why the recording is being made, she just assumes everyone is going to use them to try and get on the radio. Maybe they want them to send to a family member or loved one.

- I can't help but feel that Ruby Lorraine Radford was inflating her own ego when it came to Sylvia's southern accent. Sylvia only gets a job when her natural accent comes out because it is considered so beautiful. Normally I would assume this was a message about being yourself but it's not written that way. Sylvia has been advised to tone down her accent because she's hard to understand. Obviously this will impact her as a voice actress. She is never made fun of for her accent or told it sounds ugly or anything of that sort. So when Radford, a southerner, writes about how beautiful southern accents are I can't help but feel she's complimenting herself. This is the same thing I felt she did with Christianity in some of her other books.

    This book reminded me of Radford's other book, Nancy Craig and the Mystery of the Fire Opal (written under the name Matilda Bailey), because they both are very unique stories which are boring at first but very interesting in the second half.
    I found Sylvia arrival in the city and the stay at the Strikers home a bit boring and really had to force myself to read through it. Things didn't pick up until after Sylvia goes to the hospital. I also did not like how Beth disappears for the last half. It seems strange to me that she would take a vacation to Sylvia's home while Sylvia is visiting her in Chicago. Even stranger that she decides to not come back. It's also a little annoying that a plot is centered around Sylvia getting on the radio just for her to get a job on the last page and not get to experience any of that.

    Overall it's not bad and I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author in the future.

Dorothy Lamour and the Haunted Lighthouse

    When I first got this book I had very high hopes for it. It's part of the celebrity editions Whitman Publishing put out in the 1940's. The majority of those books were written by Kathryn Heisenfelt whose writing I do not enjoy. So I was very happy to acquire one of the books by a different author. This one was written by Matilda Bailey who also wrote the last book I read, Nancy Craig and the Mystery of the Fire Opal. 

    When I had originally read this book five years ago, I read it right after reading Nancy Craig. I remember thinking they were both great books however upon re-reading Nancy Craig I had very mixed opinions, this makes me wonder how I will receive this book.

    Dorothy Lamour is just a typical, non-famous girl who has just taken a job as a typist for Larry Edmunds. Mr. Edmunds is a young ww2 veteran who is writing a memoir about the war and also working as the lighthouse keeper in the seaside town of Pilot Town. 

    After her train arrived two hours late Dorothy takes a bus into town. The woman next to her, Mrs. Parker, tells Dorothy that the lighthouse she will be staying at is haunted and two other typists have already quit the job after their experiences there. Once the bus has arrived Dorothy befriends Kathy and Pat O'Leary, siblings around Dorothy's age who offer her a ride to the lighthouse. They first stop at the O'Leary house for supper where Dorothy is told more about the supposed haunting.

    The former typists claimed they heard a ghost ascending the side of the lighthouse at night. Dorothy is also told Mrs. Parker is the daughter of Vernon Parker who was the lighthouse keeper right before Mr. Edmunds. He was fired from the job for his strange behavior but is still going around town calling himself the lighthouse keeper. He now lives in a small house on the coast not far from the lighthouse.

    On the drive to Dorothy's destination the siblings also tell stories about how during the war enemy submarines had been found in the area with supplies from local stores meaning that traitors had been in the town and were helping the enemy, they were never caught and their identities are unknown.

    Upon arrival Dorothy is warmly greeted by Larry and Eleanor Edmunds and all get along famously from the start. Dorothy's room is on the second floor while the Edmunds and their baby sleep in a room on the first. That night Dorothy hears the ghostly sounds, a noise that sounds as if someone is climbing the wall right behind her bed. Although shaken she resigns herself to keeping her composure and not telling the young couple about this experience.

    The next day she begins her job as typist then has a picnic supper on the beach with Larry, Eleanor, and Kathy. She tells Kathy of the previous nights happenings and together they decide to find out the cause of the ghostly sounds.

    Several days later Dorothy joins the O'Learys for Sunday dinner. They've also invited Captain Tupper who tells of some interesting happenings in town; there is a river in which ships come in from sea, at the river opening a tugboat meets the ships and pulls it to dock. Several nights ago, sometime between when the ship entered the river and arrived at the dock, $50,000 worth of jewelry was stolen from the passengers. After a meticulous search of passengers and ship no jewelry was found and the culprit remains unknown. This is the third time its happened in six months and the belief around the dinner table is that the mysterious criminals may be hiding in the vast marshes on the other side of the river. A cabin was recently discovered somewhere among the many islands. Pat is interested in finding and visiting it and the girls wish to come along so plans are made for the next day.

    Once they get into the overgrown jungle-like place they hear the motor of a boat. Stealthily they are able to spy of the occupants of the boat; Vernon Parker and his son Jerry. After the Parker's have left Pat guides their boat in the direction the Parker's came from. There on an island they find the extremely well hidden cabin. Pat, who aspires to be a member of the FBI, uses dust marking to build a theory that the cabin is being used to move goods from one party to another.

    The following days Dorothy spends at the lighthouse working. The longer she's there the more she becomes curious about Larry and how he has extended absences during the day. He will often take off for the evening or even the whole day and Eleanor never says anything about it nor does anyone tell Dorothy where he goes or what he does during these times. Soon Dorothy hears the ghostly noises again in the night. She decides to write down when each strange occurrence happens as well as record when other things happen, such as seeing the Parker's in the marshes.

    Soon Larry has to go to new York for several nights to meet with his book publisher. While Eleanor is busy with a sick baby Dorothy becomes responsible for lighting and extinguishing the lighthouse light everyday. When the light needs polishing she goes into a storeroom in the back of the tower looking for polishing cloths. It's a strange triangle shaped room built in between the curved wall of the lighthouse and the straight wall of house, specifically the addition to the house that Vernon Parker had built quite awhile ago. 

    Dorothy notices that one of the walls is crooked when it should be straight and she deduces that there must be a hidden passage way somewhere in the storeroom. She begins looking through the items in the room, things that Mr. Parker is still storing there according to Eleanor. She examines a large trunk and finds its bottomless and concealing a trap door in the floor. She descends a latter in the trunk and finds a latter mounted to a concealed wall of the lighthouse tower. Climbing up it she finds another secret entrance that leads to the top of the tower and halfway up the latter there is a nook with a camouflaged door. Inside this nook is a cedar box containing the jewelry that was stolen from the ship.

    After examining it Dorothy decides to put it back in it's place. She fears if the culprit finds it missing she, Eleanor, and the baby would not be safe alone in the house with Larry gone. She then realizes that it's possible Larry put the jewelry there and him and Eleanor could be using the lighthouse as a front for criminal activity. 

    Larry soon arrives home and Dorothy finds her self struggling with what to do; she wants to report her find to the FBI but fears implicating the Edmunds. Kathy soon calls and invites Dorothy out to go crabbing with her and Pat that night. Once out in the boat Pats reveals that the crabbing trip is just an excuse to be present at the jetties of the river entrance when a ship comes in. He believes the jewelry thief is working with an off-ship collaborator and hopes to catch them in action.

    The group decides Kathy and Dorothy will stay hidden on the north jetties while Pat stakes out the south. As the ship comes in the three see someone toss something from a porthole and a boat stealthily come out to pick it up in the cover of darkness. Pat quickly makes after them on his boat and the criminals speed away. A chase ensues out of sight of the girls but soon they hear a gun shot. They're left in suspense over the fate of Pat for several minutes until his boat comes back. The mysterious men had shot at him but thankfully missed.

    They hurry back to the lighthouse to call the FBI and report what's happened. There they find the house absent of occupants and fully locked along with the lighthouse tower. Pat calls the FBI and while they wait for them to show up Dorothy and Kathy go upstairs to change into clean clothes. Once in Dorothy's room they hear the ghostly footsteps; someone is in the secret passageway but how if the tower is locked?

    Soon the FBI shows up and Larry is with them. Dorothy leads the men to the passageway and shows them the secret compartment, however it's empty. The girls are then sent into the house while the men stay and search for another entrance to the passage. Eleanor, who has been at the O'Leary is then brought home by Mr. O'Leary and the three girls sit up until early morning when Larry shows up saying that Vernon Parker, his sons, and accomplices have been caught and the jewelry recovered. 

    Dorothy learns that Vernon Parker had been using the secret passage to hide money, plans, and goods for the Nazis he was aiding during the war and flashed coded messages from the lighthouse to the enemy subs. Larry, although not a member of the FBI, has been working closely with them to solve these cases.

- I found myself greatly annoyed at the mention of the Edmunds attending church and Dorothy's happiness over going. This is because in the last book I read by Matilda Bailey, Nancy Craig and the Fire Opal, Christianity was used to show superiority of believers over non-Christians. Christianity was used as an example of an educated person while traditional religious beliefs of the area were to show how uneducated and ignorant the South Americans were. It was written offensively and has clearly left a bad taste in my mouth that is still lingering on with this book.
    At one point Dorothy looks around at the church-goers and wonders if the criminals operating in town were among them because, she says, some bad people will use church to hide their evil deeds. To me this looks as if Matilda Bailey was saying people who do bad things only use church as a disguise because no one who is a Christian would do bad things, as if being Christian makes you a good person by default.
    I think it's clear that Matilda Bailey was a Christian and that she held some ignorant beliefs about people involving religion.
    For the record I don't have any problem with Christianity, I simply do not like how Bailey used it to insult non-Christians as ignorant.

- Many times throughout out the book it is mentioned that Dorothy is so happy to have found young people her age to be friends with. Pat and Kathy's ages are not given but they're continuously described as young and Pat is in college so I assume he is in his late teens or early twenties. Kathy is younger so I believe she is in her late teens. Mrs. O'Leary also mentions that she is happy Kathy will now have a young friend her age.
    The Edmund's ages are also not mentioned but they are said to be young and close to Dorothy, Pat, and Kathy's age. Also since their child is only two I assume they're in their twenties. When Dorothy goes to the O'Leary for supper an uncle, Don O'Leary is there. He is thirty and not considered young. All this got me curious how old Dorothy Lamour actually was so I looked it up and to my amusement I learned that Dorothy Lamour was 33 when this book was published.

- Before Dorothy goes into the storeroom Eleanor tells her not to touch anything in there because it's not the Edmunds stuff. But when Dorothy goes in she wonders why tidy Eleanor would keep so much junk piled in a storeroom. Dorothy completely ignores that Eleanor just said it's not hers. Did Matilda Bailey forget what she wrote?

    Overall I think this book is quite good. No where does it get boring, drag, or feel like filler. It has a good storyline and good characters. I definitely think it's one of the better books in this series, miles ahead of Kathryn Heisenfelt's editions.

Nancy Craig and the Mystery of the Fire Opal

    This book is somewhat of a mystery itself. Years ago when I was looking to buy Whitman editions of the Polly Brewster set I purchased a book lot on Ebay, this was one of the books included. I had never heard of this book before which was surprising because I am fairly familiar with Whitman titles. This book also seems to have three different titles; Nancy Craig and the Mystery of the Fire Opal is printed on the cover, Nancy Craig and the Fire Opal is printed on the spine, and Nancy Craig and the Fire Opal of Guatemala is featured through out the book. "Authorized Edition" is printed on the spine, indicating that Nancy Craig is a pre-existing character outside of books but, try as I might, I can not find out who she is. She does not appear to have been a celebrity, a character in a radio show, or a comic strip. Who is Nancy Craig?

    When reading this book previously I recall finding it wonderfully adventurous but at the end I realized there was one problem with it; the main character did not have to be present for the actions of this story to happen. With or without Nancy Craig present the results of the story would have happened the way they did. I will talk more about this later.

    Fifteen-year-old Nancy Craig is on a plane piloted by her father heading for Guatemala. On the plane is her friend, sixteen-year-old Dannie Marston, who is heading to Guatemala with his father, archaeologist Dr. Marston, and a group of other research men. 

    Nancy is jealous because, unlike Dannie, she does not get to participate in the archaeology expedition into the Guatemalan jungle. She is going to visit her cousin, Kathy Wilson, who moved to the south American country a year ago when her father, uncle Ronnie, went into Foreign Service and was assigned there.

    Once they arrive Kathy tells Nancy about Maria Paso, a Guatemalan girl who boards with Kathy's family during the school year. She has invited the girls to visit her at her family's home during the current summer holiday. Kathy tells Nancy that Maria's family owns a vast amount of land, part of which is called the Forbidden Valley. Superstition says it's a dangerous place that no one must step foot onto. Nancy is instantly eager to visit it, brushing off superstitions as nonsense.

    After Nancy's father leaves Nancy, Kathy, Uncle Ronnie, Dannie, and Dr. Marston all head to Kathy's family's home where they meet Maria. As everyone is getting settled in their rooms Nancy and Kathy hear Maria talking rudely to two men who have come delivering produce from her family's farm. After the men leave Maria explains to the girls that the men are North Americans who are renting a hut on her family's land, right outside of the Forbidden Valley. They claim to be there to catch butterflies and locate flowers but Maria is suspicious of them because they've offered her father such a large sum of money to rent the hut.

    Ted, Kathy's younger brother, has been collecting rocks while living in Guatemala and is eager to show them to Dannie. One in particular catches Dannie's eye; he believes it to be an opal, possibly a fire opal which Dannie is very interested in and eager to find one for himself. Ted is excited by this possibility and agrees to have the stone taken to a member of the archaeology group who can cut it open to verify.

    Nancy and Kathy later join Uncle Ronnie when he goes into town to run errands. While the girls wait in the car they see the two North American men and feel they are up to something suspicious.

    Soon the archaeology groups heads out on their expedition. Dannie will be tasked with coming into town occasionally to get mail and supplies. His first trip is set for Wednesday but when the day arrives Dannie does not. Nor does he the next day. Uncle Ronnie insists there's nothing to worry about because, he says, Dannie is smart enough to take care of himself.

    Nancy and Kathy then head to the Paso's house where they will be guests for a week. During supper Maria talks about Dannie stopping by their house on his way to town Wednesday. Nancy and Kathy becomes instantly worried, Dannie had evidently started on his journey but never reached his destination. Mr. Paso follows the route Dannie had planned to take and asks everyone along it if they've seen him; no one has.

    That night an earthquake shakes the house. The Paso's and Kathy are use to them but Nancy has never experienced one and has been living in fear of them since arriving in South America. The experience leaves her quite shaken.

    As a distraction from worrying about Dannie the three girls and Tomás, Maria's brother, go for a picnic at some old ruins. The trail there leads past the rented hut and Maria once again voices her dislike of the renters. Tomás remarks that the men and their horses are gone every single day but he doesn't know where. 

    The ruins are close to Forbidden Valley and Nancy is eager to catch even a glimpse of it. Maria and Tomás vocalize their fear of the valley and share the legend that anyone who goes into the valley will never come out alive. Nancy brushes off this superstition and persuades the hesitant Kathy to walk up a bluff that over looks the valley. They notice hoof-prints and upon investigation find more prints going both toward and away from the valley. Evidently someone has been going into the valley and coming out alive, could it be the men renting the nearby hut?

    On top of the bluff they admire the beauty of the valley and persuade Maria and Tomás to join them. The two are shocked at seeing how beautiful the place is, they had believed it to be a barren wasteland. Trying to take advantage of the opportunity to rid the family of their superstitions Nancy says she's going to walk down the bluff into the valley to gather a flower. But as she descends down the rough slope an earthquake begins and she is tossed down and covered with debris. 

    On the whole she is fine but her leg has gotten cut and she's bleeding badly. She manages to climb back up the bluff and the Guatemalans, believing the evil spirits attacked her for entering the valley, are shocked she is alive. By this time Nancy has become woozy from blood loss and the two girls are having to carry her. 

    Tomás never stopped running after the earthquake began and has told the renters what happened as he ran past their hut. The men, Pearson and Conners, come find the girls and begin berating them for being so near the valley. They don't lighten up until Maria threatens to have them removed from her father's land. After this they lend the girls a first aid kit to bandage Nancy's leg, then lend a horse for her to ride back to the Peso's.

    Nancy spends the next day keeping off her leg and the Paso's prepare to take their produce and wares to market the following day. Around dinnertime Dr. Marston, Uncle Ronnie, and another man from the expedition show up to inquire if any information about Dannie has been found. Uncle Ronnie confides to Nancy that he fears Dannie has been robbed and murdered while on his way to town. 

    After the men leave the family discusses Dannie's visit and it is revealed he asked the Paso's endless questions about the forbidden valley. Nancy and Kathy come to believe this is where he had gone.

    The next day the Paso's are headed for the market when Nancy claims her leg isn't well enough to join in and Kathy insists on staying with Nancy. Once the family leaves for the day the American girls pack a lunch, water, and a field kit. They saddle the Paso's old burro and head to the forbidden valley in search of Dannie. The burro is slow and balks constantly which costs them time. As they get closer to the rented hut the girls hear horse steps and hide in the bushes. They see Conners and Pearson ride by heading to the market which releases them of the anxiety of running into the men in the valley. 

    Once in the valley they rein the burro by a stream then continue on foot. The valley is filled with lush fruit trees, mahogany trees, and what the girls believe to be opal stones. It's not long before they find a blazed trail which they assume the two men have made. They follow the trail calling for Dannie at intervals. 

    By the time they sit down to lunch Nancy's leg wound has opened and is bleeding. She's determine to carry on tho. Not long after they continue their trek through the jungle an earthquakes erupts causing a tree to fall and their packs become trapped under it. Kathy has a brief moment of weakness where she wants to run back to the mule but upon realizing Dannie has been in the jungle for multiple earthquakes and could have met the same fate as their packs, they continue on. 

    The farther they go the more lost in the wilderness they become and Nancy's leg gets worse and worse and she's soon struggling to walk. The girls discuss finding a sturdy tree to sleep in for the night, once they find one Kathy climbs it and from her viewpoint she sees an ancient pyramid and temple in the near distance. Finding this a safer place to sleep they head to it and climb to the top of the pyramid. They call for Dannie from this height and get a response; he's under the temple. 

    Once in the temple Dannie instructs the girls on how to unbar and lift a stone from the floor that works as the dungeon's entrance. Dannie is freed from his prison and reveals he was put there by Conners and Pearson. He tells his story of being curious of the forbidden valley and venturing in on Wednesday. He begins finding opal stones when Conners and Pearson appear. Enraged that the boy has found the natural treasure they have been stealing, they keep him prisoner so he can tell no one of it.

    By now Nancy is not able to continue on the journey and it's too dark to safely navigate the jungle so they spend the night in the temple. In the morning Nan's leg is worse and showing serious signs of infection. They decide that Dannie will go back through the valley for the burro so Nancy can ride out. The girls are placed into a caved-in nook on the side of the pyramid where they are to hide for several hours until Dannie's return. They figure here they will be safe if Conners and Pearson arrive. 

    The men do arrive and it's clear by their packed horses and attire that they are about to flee the country, they are just setting Dannie free first. The girls sneak down the pyramid and into the temple. One man goes into the dungeon after receiving no reply from their calls to Dannie, Kathy then sneaks up on the other and shoves him backwards into the dungeon opening. They secure the entrance then soon hear horses. A rescue party including law officials, Dr. Marston, Uncle Ronnie, and Ted appear with Dannie who they met in the jungle. The rescue party had been formed the previous night after the Paso's returned home to find a note from Kathy telling of their plans.

    The two men are arrested, Nancy's is given medical treatment, Dr. Marston has a new archaeological find with the pyramid and temple, and the Paso's are free of their superstitions and will now find great wealth with all the natural resources the valley contains.

- The way Guatemalans are looked down upon for their cultures religious beliefs is kind of annoying. I try to be extremely open-minded with old books, I know it was a different time when reliable information was not as easily available and so stereotypes, myths, and misinformation were taken as fact but this book was so rude. 

    It constantly talked about how Guatemalans who believed in their countries traditional religion were ignorant and uneducated. It mentions how Christian leaders were working to educate the country so they will adopt Christianity. I found it especially laughable when Nancy observes how the "ignorant and uneducated" people light incense on the church steps to their gods while the "educated modern" ones light candles in the church. Matilda Bailey clearly did not see how laughable this comparison was.

    Not only that but the savior theme of this book got on my last nerves, I've never come across a more intense version if it. For example there's a scene when Uncle Ronnie stops at a villagers house on the side of the road to purchase melons from the owner. Inside the home a young woman has sprained her ankle. A medicine man is there waving herbs over the ankle and all the natives are confused as to why this has not instantly cured the ankle. Our savior Nancy then comes in and mystified these ignorant and uneducated people by teaching them that hot water can ease pain.

    And it's not just that Nancy happens to help these people with basic knowledge but she actually sees it as her duty. When Dannie first goes missing Mrs. Paso tries to comfort Nancy and Kathy by saying she'll burn an offering to protect Dannie from evil spirits. Instead of being thankful for this act of kindness and empathy, Nancy feels guilty for not immediately trying to convince Mrs. Paso that offerings and evil spirits are not real.

- To make things even worse Nancy's cut leg is later treated with a poultice of herbs by Mrs. Paso to ease the pain. Even though they work and do ease Nancy's pain she does not change her opinions of people using them in the traditional healing practices.

- There a definite plot hole with how much destruction happens with each earth quake. For example when the earthquake happens when Nancy is descending the bluff to pick a flower. Rocks, dirt, trees, etc. all fall down around and on top of her. But if there was a large earthquake the night before and regular earthquakes every few days how was all that not dislodged previously. The same happens when the girls go into the jungle; there's no note of fallen trees from previous earthquakes but after one happens while they are there suddenly trees have fallen blocking the paths.

- The same meal is mentioned over and over; albondigas, tortillas, and boiled corn. I think this is the only South American meal Matilda Bailey knew of.

    Overall I feel conflicted about this book. I really enjoy the part that takes place in the valley and, to a slightly lesser extent, at the Paso's. I think the premise is good and it makes a wonderfully adventurous story but the judgmental overtones of the whole book really ruin the majority of it. I also found the parts taking place at Kathy's house and that surrounding area quite boring. 

    I'm not sure if their are any other girls books from this time period set in the Guatemalan jungle as it seems like a unique setting but if so then I would really love to find them and see if they got it right where Matilda Bailey got it wrong.

    Now as for what I mentioned at the start of this review about Nancy and Kathy not needing to be present for the actions of this book to turn out the same. I am going to copy and paste what I wrote about that from my previous review years ago:

    "Dannie had been kidnapped by 2 men and hidden in the dungeon of a temple in the jungle. The girls find and release him but it's then too dark to venture back so they sleep there. The next morning Nancy's leg wound is too painful/infected for her to walk back so Dannie goes to get the burro the girls left yesterday to carry her back. While they wait they hide and then the 2 men show up. The men were going to release Dannie that morning and then immediately leave the country, saying that by the time he walks out of the jungle they would already be gone. It's stated that it would only take a couple hours to get out of the jungle on foot. Well starting that morning the police had started looking for men who they had been suspicious of for sometime. So if the men had then left the jungle after releasing Dannie they would have been apprehended and Dannie would have walked back to the city or been found on his way back. Not only that but Ted had already told the authorities he had found the opal Dannie was interested in, in that jungle so the authorities were already on their way there looking for Dannie and thus would have ran into the 2 men. Regardless of if the girls had come the day before to find him, Dannie would have been on his was home and the 2 men would have been arrested on that same day around the exact same time."

    So as you can see the girls did not need to go into the jungle to save Dannie. The whole point of them going alone was that they claimed it would take too long to contact Dr. Martson or Uncle Ronnie to have authorities go but this is proven false. Therefore the girls endangered their lives and Nancy may have gotten blood poisoning for nothing.