13) The Mystery on Cobbett's Island
Time to belt out any old sea shanties we know. The Bob Whites get an opportunity to stay at The Moorings; a quaint beach retreat on Cobbett's Island, four hours from home. Trixie discovers a forgotten letter written by a guy who signs himself simply as 'Ed' with directions to a homemade treasure map. If Ed is for real and a buried fortune exits somewhere in their vicinity, they'll have to crack all the obscure clues on both the letter and map to find it. Meanwhile, a vandal is smashing lifebuoys along the coast. Can Trixie and the others unmask the crook, learn who Ed was, and discover the treasure all within their ten day visit?
* Oh dear, the time compression has started! The dudes are complaining that summer is stretching before them with not much to do, while we readers know they've just returned from back-to-back holidays to the Ozarks and New York. Granted they only spent a short time at each destination, but surely it's enough excitement to satisfy even restless Trixie. At least each incident is short enough to make the compression somewhat feasible. This getaway at Cobbett's Island itself will be only ten days.
* Wealthy chaps like Matthew Wheeler must make frequent sacrifices to maintain their high-flying, globe-trotting lifestyles. He'd planned for a bit of decompression himself at Cobbett's Island with his wife and kids, but it ain't happening. Work demands trump quality family moments, even though he probably hasn't had a fraction the time he'd like to get to know his adopted teenage son better. The quote, 'You can have anything but you can't have everything,' springs to mind. For the first time, I feel a bit sorry for him. Even though he's prosperous enough to book holiday venues at the drop of a hat, his downtime is too scarce to take advantage of them.
* His wife Madeleine, who does have the option to keep the family commitment on Cobbett's Island with Honey and Jim, decides to opt out because she's never been where her husband is off to before. Curiosity wins out.
* Brian's medical skills are put to the test the very day of their arrival, when he sets the broken leg of Elmer the caretaker. I'd intended to mention every incident in the series where Brian is on the spot to offer first aid, but soon saw it would get repetitive, for it happens such a lot. It's more remarkable to come across a book in the series where Brian doesn't offer any first aid. This time is worth mentioning however, because he's so chuffed about the praise he receives from the local island doctor. Good ole Brian.
* How the Bob Whites would have appreciated having Google at their fingertips! They have to search the room of their guest house for a physical dictionary to look up 'bunker boats.' If they hadn't found one, they would have been stumped that night.
* The potential treasure is buried in some obscure spot partly because Ed's father lost his savings when a bank crashed in 1929 and now Ed doesn't trust banks. This hearkens back to an apparently casual conversation Trixie has with her dad, who tells her why banks are far more stable in modern times. It also dates the story. For if Ed had lived, he would have been young enough to have a son in his early twenties. He met his demise only eighteen years earlier. So for Ed's own father to have been around as long ago as the Depression Era, the current time for the Bob Whites might fall around the sixties (which matches the sixties publication date.)
* I really like their new friend, Peter Kimball. That's one of the great things about this series. I'd be happy to see more of every single person the Bob Whites have befriended so far. It's sad that Peter isn't a recurring character, although I believe his Dad later invests in a ski resort with Matthew Wheeler.
* Oh gosh, we get a taste of Diana Lynch at her most irritating. Why she feels the need to ramble on about Peter Kimball's gorgeous eyes in front of Mart is beyond me. Seriously, what's the good of either a) making yourself appear shallow and superficial, or b) making the guy you've had a long term crush on feel miserable and diminished for no reason at all? Come on Di, you're better than this. Even if Peter's eyes are earth-shattering, keep a lid on it!
* Holidays consistently turn out to mean loads of hard work for the poor boys. In the Ozarks, Brian, Mart and Jim were required to help raise new chicken sheds and outhouses for Mrs Moore in one day flat. Here on Cobbett's Island they have storm damage to clear up and a dilapidated gazebo to restore. It gets under Brian's skin to the extent that he actually snaps at his best mate Jim, something almost unheard of.
* We learn a lot about the sport of sailing and the joy of those who make it their passion. Peter remarks that a hundred years wouldn't be enough to learn all the nuances there are about sailing, and it's obvious he's completely sincere about what he's saying.
* Unbelievably, Mart doesn't know what monogamous means! Di is stumped when Peter Kimball uses the word (as we'd expect from her), and appeals to Dictionary Boy to enlighten her. But Mart, whose bottomless vocabulary extends to obscure foreign words, phrases and concepts, meets his Achilles Heel with this unassuming English word. Ah well, it may be good for the pair of them to learn it together sooner rather than later, especially if Diana feels the need to go around batting her famous eyelashes at guys like Peter.
* There's another entry idea for a Bob White cook book. Trixie declares Mrs Kimball's coffee cake to be 'even better than Moms' and pleads for the recipe. But Mrs K. declares that black walnuts from her own tree is the secret, in which case the rest of us have no hope to replicate it.
* There's another guy named Slim. As recently as two books ago in The Mystery at Bob White Cave, we had Slim Sanderson the hillbilly cave guide, and now there's Slim Novarski, the homeless drifter. To add potential confusion, they're both young and uncouth with huge chips on their shoulders. Since it's surely not a common nickname, it may have been more convenient if one of them was called something different.
* Trixie's way of tracking down Ed's family was such a long shot. It proves to be correct, but pure luck on her part.
* Honey is woken from a beautiful dream in which she's dancing with a tall, handsome man who looks a lot like Brian. Ooh la la.
* I swear Jim's infatuation for Trixie has almost reached cold shower stage!
* My quote of the book is from gallant Jim, who quotes Shakespeare. 'He is well paid who is well satisfied.' That sums up the hours I'm devoting to this re-read and recap of the Trixie Belden books. Bring on more.
14) The Mystery of the Emeralds
It's Gone with the Wind mode for the Bob Whites, in both time and place. Trixie accidentally uncovers a long forgotten secret in her own attic. Just before the Civil War, a woman named Ruth from an estate called Rosewood Hall down south wrote to her sister Helen about the whereabouts of a valuable emerald necklace. Trixie and the others grasp the opportunity to travel to Williamsburg, Virginia with the Lynches. Maybe if they're able to set foot in Rosewood Hall they can use the vague clues in the letter to track down this heirloom to return to Ruth's descendants. It's just a matter of getting in past the hostile new owner.
* Talk about instant deja vu! It's the exact same theme as Mystery on Cobbett's Island. The discovery of a tucked-away old letter suggesting the whereabouts of something valuable. I'm not complaining though, since I enjoy the concept of peeling back layers of time to discover what took place.
* Wow, Crabapple Farm is a really old place. Sure, we've been told that it's been in the Belden family for several generations, but it's just sunk in for me that this encompasses the Civil War, when we find out about Rufus the runaway slave with his canteen and contraband letter, hiding in the hidey hole. The unassuming Crabapple Farm was part of the Underground Railway. Lucky Belden family, to live in a place which could be heritage listed. There is talk about ghosts at other places throughout the series, but it seems to me they more than qualify to have a few of their own.
* Brian and Mart share a bedroom. That's made clear when Trixie rushes in to wake them up after shouting, 'Rabbit, rabbit!' I wouldn't mind having a floor plan of the house, and I'm sure the various Kathryn Kenny authors might have benefited to pass one along to each other too.
* Trixie and Honey visit Miss Julie Sunderland, whose father fought in the Civil War. This dates the Trixie Belden series like nothing we've seen so far. For the War ended in 1865, so if Mr Sunderland returned in 1866 and Julie was born some years later (I'll say 1875 to be extra generous, but it could have been even earlier) it'd still have to be around 1965 to bring her to the age of 90. Since this book was said to be published in 1965, that fits perfectly with the author's time concept. But it sure doesn't fit for any of us who prefer to imagine the series taking place a little later, such as the eighties, nineties, or even into the 21st century. All genuine Civil War Baby Boomers are long gone.
* We meet two descendants of Ruth Sunderland Fields, the writer of the old letter. Apart from Miss Julie, her niece, there is Edgar Carver, her wheelchair bound grandson in Virginia, a really nice middle-aged gentleman and new friend.
* Trixie takes an immediate dislike to Miss Julie's young friend Neil, just as she had to Dan. It seems she hasn't learned her lesson about first impressions. Neil even reminds her of Dan back in those early days, yet she still carries her unaccountable grudge.
* Neil must be pretty agile, to jump a fence no-handed with milk in one hand and eggs in the other. No spillage or cracks occur either. Maybe that's why Trixie is suspicious of him. Is the guy super-human?
* Since the Lynches plan to incorporate Diana's birthday into their impromptu visit down south, it must make her a few months younger than Trixie, who had her birthday on May 1st. After all that's gone down since, it must be at least July, especially since Trixie just celebrated the turn into a new month by shouting, 'Rabbit, rabbit.' What an intense June it's been.
* Mr Lynch comes across as a different style of millionaire to Mr Wheeler. He's jolly and matey, and his daughter clearly adores him. He calls his wife 'Mother', suggesting the title extends to Diana's friends for the duration of the trip. Not only is Mr Lynch altruistic about the restoration of old buildings, but his money enables him to lend helping hands to those who may need it. What a nice guy.
* On the road with Mr Lynch, Brian decides to make a classier lunch order than Trixie and Mart's inevitable hamburgers, opting for 'barbecued beef on a soft bun with coleslaw.' Trixie accuses him of breaking their family tradition. Even though Brian might have been a hipster before his time, it doesn't strike me as that radical a lunch.
* All the Bob Whites are sort of reverential about Abraham Lincoln's statue in Washington. The president who would have been in at the time of this book's publication was Lyndon Johnson and it was a few years after JFK's assassination. They were still in the era of hero presidents. Trixie makes a joke about Mart becoming a future president. I'm sure some readers probably think he might have made a better job of it than some of the more recent ones who spring to mind :)
* Jenkins, the current owner of Rosewood Hall, is a nasty piece of work who should surely have been convicted of physical assault after his treatment of at least two people. It amazes me what bullies from years ago could get away with.
* Oh for heaven's sake, Trixie goes totally bonkers after one of Mart's offhand comments and jumps on him with talons bared and fists flying until Jim forcibly restrains her. I wish someone would tell her to grow up and learn to take a joke. As it is, Jim asks Mart to take back what he said. This pattern irks me a lot. Because she has anger management issues, he is forced to apologise and retract. As John Cleese once said, people who can't control their own emotions have to control other people's behavior.
* Sure, her bossiness is based on kindness and altruism, but it's still damn bossy!
* If you're wondering about Mart's comment, which sent Trixie off her nut, I might as well make it the quote of the book. He says, 'We know what you're getting at. You just don't want any of us stealing your thunder. You want to find the emeralds all by yourself, don't you?' And we're even told that he said it in a good natured spirit. I think perhaps she gets so mad because he strikes a little too close to home.
15) Mystery on the Mississippi
* Okay, I've reached the point where I finally throw up my hands and give up keeping track of chronology. It's gone out the window. The dudes are off on another trip; the sixth in succession at this stage. No school break could possibly be elastic enough to fit them all. What's more, Brian and Jim become perpetual seniors at Sleepyside High. Book 10 (The Marshland Mystery) indicates they were intending to progress to college when the others return, but that ain't happening. Poor Brian and Jim. Imagine the horror of Groundhog Day stuck at school! We might as well consider the adventures to be mixed reminiscences of the Bob Whites from here on. It makes more sense than pretending there's any type of timeline. But we lasted until book 15. That's not bad.
* This time we get Dan but lose Diana (who is off on another family holiday with her folks). There seems to be some tacit agreement between Kathryn Kenny authors to not have all the Bob Whites together in one mystery. Drats!
* I think some of the dialogue must have been updated for my oval edition from the eighties. Mart tells Mr Wheeler how badly he'd love to see one of the space capsules that went to the moon, yet the original publication was said to be 1965, before the moon landing took place.
* Jim must have his full driver's license, because his adopted dad puts him in charge of the hire car. But hold on, Brian and others were still giving Jim driving lessons as recently as Book 3, little more than a year earlier. If the process used to progress that quickly, it sure doesn't now. (Sorry, I said I'd given up on chronology, but I guess old habits die hard.)
* Dan and Mart seem to have thrown in their lots as best buddies, yet their styles of smartness are poles apart. Dan's is the gritty, street smart intelligence born of former desperation. He hasn't lost his hard edge, or his instinct. Mart's is wordy, nerdy, literary intelligence driven by pure curiosity. There's a place for both, but it's no wonder they sometimes clash. I'd love to see far more dynamics between these two, but I guess the Kathryn Kenny authors will soon start pulling Dan from holidays again. That's such a shame. BTW, it turns out Dan aspires to be a New York City cop.
* At least we'll never be short of 'almost twin' friction. Trixie and Mart drive each other insane. I think it's because while their priorities tend to be quite different, their approach is identical. Trixie is always single-minded on her mystery of the moment, while Mart is intense about his current interests. They both spout off the second they think of things to say, yet they resent that in each other. I love Brian's eye-rolling management of both of them. He's lived with them all their lives and knows they're essentially the same.
* Mr and Mrs Aguilera! Juan and Elena. How exotic these two are. So Spanish or Cuban or wherever they hail from.
* Once again, the setting of this story draws me in to the extent that I looked up Hannibal, Mark Twain country on internet, as if I'd ever get to visit for real. It sounds as if places in the famous Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn stories were based on actual landmarks, a sure draw card for book nerds like Mart Belden. The Bob Whites saw the white picket fence! Ah, I can only wish.
* Awww, poor Honey's trusting nature takes a severe blow, which I find very sad. Her willingness to think the best of everybody until further notice is one of her most attractive qualities but will it ever be quite the same again? Seriously, I think it's undergone too great a trauma to recover.
* I wouldn't have minded finding out how the boys enjoyed their long-awaited visit to the space station exhibit, but hey, it's totally understandable that got swept aside considering what went down simultaneously. Still, they were hanging out for it so much, especially Mart, that a few words might have been nice.
* Toward the end, several characters argue about whose fault the whole hair-raising fiasco was, each claiming blame. I think the most culpable person was someone who never gets a mention; the slack motel cleaner who left such large traces of the former occupant behind when Trixie and Honey entered their room. Inexcusable, in their line of work. (I've done a bit of domestic cleaning myself here and there and trust me, that's one of the biggest no-nos in the book, for obvious reasons.)
* Oh, and Mr Pierre Lontard (I can reveal his name since he's clearly bad from the start), if you don't want to lose your precious plans, it might be a wise idea not to toss them in the bin.
* Quote of the book is from Dan. 'Mart, is there anything you don't know?'
Catch my last thoughts on Books 10 - 12
And join me next time for Books 16 - 18
Paula, another Trixie Belden review winner! Whoo hoo! I literally waited till the weekend this time to read and savour everyone of your words. They tasted divine!
ReplyDeleteI never had a copy of Book 13 until I was an adult, and I remember wondering if the wife, Madeleine, accompanied her husband because that’s what was expected in those days. Her career was being Mrs. Wheeler.
Look at you getting all Trixie - aligning the dates of Ed and the clues to the date of the book’s publications. And then again with the Civil War and Sunderland/Julie Good one! As a 62 year old boomer, I love the eras these books are actually written in, so I expect it works for some.
I hope you’re keeping track of the recipe/food entries in the book. I’d love to have a go at creating that cook book.
I wondered if the plot of 13 and 14 was so similar because they were both written by Virginia McDonnell. Either way, I enjoyed the process as well. And McDonnell only wrote these 2 according to what I’ve discovered.
Reading your review of Book 15 makes me wonder if I ever read it (I did though) because nothing is sticking and activating my memory. A bonus thank you for that.
Can’t wait for 16-18.
Yay, I can't describe how happy this makes me - chatting with Trixie kindred spirits. And I agree, the cookbook should happen! I'll keep taking notes when delicious things are mentioned. I'm a 52 year old Gen Xer who read them in the early eighties, so I always imagine the action happening then. And it still works in my imagination, since there weren't all that many technology changes between the sixties and eighties.
DeleteI can't help wishing McDonnell had written a third. I'm quite a fan of the forgotten mysterious letter theme.
You've given me food for thought. It would be quite a full-time job indeed for Madeleine to be Mrs Matthew Wheeler, and probably took a lot of the famous tact Honey was renowned for. I'm sure Madeleine was more than just a pretty face.
And yes, I recommend re-reading #15 if you can. It's so highly charged with excitement. The reviews for 16 - 18 are three weeks away :) And all set back in Sleepyside too, after all this travel. I'm looking forward to them.
For some reason I'm not getting your replies and have to go looking for them. I'll keep your page in an open tab.
ReplyDeleteAs a 62 year old Boomer/Zoomer, I started collecting TB books all my life - having only read 'Mystery in Arizona' as a young girl (but over and over!). A part of me knew I needed the whole set before I should read them through. I'm still missing 2 of them - #36 and #39 - but read them through from beginning to end a few years ago. That's why I so love that you're doing this. Instead of imagining they're in the '80s, *I* imagine they're in the 50s! The first one was published in '48 so I guess that's not too far off. (I was born in 1960 so it predates me!)
But yes please to the cookbook! It's one of those things I remember most - LOL - the chocolate cake, the burgers with huge glasses of milk. Too funny.
I didn't know about the reply comments not being instantly visible. What a pain, but I'm glad you can tap into them.
DeleteI haven't got #39 either. It's the only one I'm missing, but I've heard that it doesn't include Di or any of the boys; only Trixie and Honey. I've seen other readers recommend not paying triple figures just to get hold of a rare copy because they think it's far from the best. I guess we'll have to take their word for it.
You were born the same year as my big sister, 1960.
Oh thanks so much for the head's up about #39! I hadn't heard a thing and WAS tempted to pay $$$$ for it.
ReplyDeleteSounds like 1960 was a very good year. ahem. lol