Trixie Belden Series 31 - 33

 31) The Mystery at Maypenny's

Anger erupts from all corners of Sleepyside as the International Pine furniture company plans to expand their operation with land purchased from the Wheelers' game preserve. It becomes a highly flammable issue when supporters of industry go head to head with diehard environmentalists. The Bob Whites themselves are not immune from the tension. Meanwhile an estranged nephew touches base with Mr Maypenny, and poor ducks are mysteriously dying in the game preserve. How will it all pan out?

* Oh dear, we heard some ominous rumblings about the International Pine furniture company way back in The Mystery of the Missing Heiress. Now it's the name on every Sleepyside resident's lips. International Pine bought a slab of cleared swampland for their factory, and now they want even more. The parcel of land they have their eye on belongs to Matthew Wheeler's game preserve, with a fraction of Mr Maypenny's family inheritance thrown in. While Matthew Wheeler is all for the developer's plans, Maypenny won't hear a bar of it. These two are furious at each other, while others claim to see both sides.

* The heated feelings soon spreads throughout town, as the whole community will be impacted. While some people are rejoicing because International Pine will offer 200 new jobs for local residents, orhers believe the cost to local endangered species and potential pollution will be too high a price to pay. 

* A passionate young environmentalist named John Score has driven all the way from Ohio with his beat-up car full of pamphlets, on behalf of Mother Earth. He's trying to get all residents to sign a petition to stop International Pine.       

* The Beldens all claim to be neutral fence sitters on the International Pine controversy. They supposedly see both sides so clearly, all they can do is wait to see what happens. Mart's five point summary of the sticky situation gets the thumbs up from his dad. 'Point One: People need jobs. Point Two: Animals and plants need land. Point Three: These two are sometimes mutually exclusive. Point Four: It's a very emotional issue. Point Five: There are going to be a lot more quarrels before this issue is settled.' 

* If we're splitting hairs, are all the Beldens as impartial as they seem? Helen refuses to sign John Score's petition to protect the slab of land under threat. I'm sure Score might use that to deduce that she's indirectly taking the factory developer's side. It's easy for passionate zealots like himself to conclude that not committing is in effect offering support to the opposition.

* Brian makes a huge stand when he joins his debate team on the affirmative side. (In favour of letting International Pine go right ahead.) He says he merely wants all the information to get a fair hearing, and already knows the negative speakers are thorough and talented enough to do well for that side. But he's treading on committed ground. Can he really be, 'as much on the fence as ever' after spending all the hours putting together his speech? 

* Apparently Trixie's favourite novel of all time is Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. She never tires of reading it. Funny she never mentioned that during Mystery on the Mississippi when the Bob Whites got a chance to visit Hannibal, Mark Twain's own country immortalised in his novels. 

* Mart's hair is said to be cropped, again, yet he'd let it turn curly from as far back as Mystery of the Queen's Necklace. Has he gone back to his old buzz cut again, or just a scissor trim this time? Or did this KK simply forget that he'd resolved to let it curl?  

* Jim and Dan have uncomfortably set up their banners on opposite sides of the fence. The Bob Whites make a pact to keep quiet about the inflammatory topic, yet now conversation between the seven of them feels stilted and awkward. There is always a huge elephant in the room. Brian argued that letting International Pine go ahead would be preserving Sleepyside's way of life? Think again, Brian. It seems even close friendships suffer, and they've hardly even started. 

* Poor Dan's head space seems to be an interesting, teeming place of turmoil during this book. He's too reticent to say much, but we readers sense loyalty to Mr Maypenny, hurt that the old man has kept him at arm's length, and strange ambivalence toward the long lost nephew, David Maypenny. 

* This book makes the interesting point that both sides of the raging argument draw from current events to support their own views. When ducks begin dying, industrialists suggest that it's not much of a game preserve to protect, while environmentalists feel certain the poor birds are merely the first casualties of what has already been started.   

* This book subtly urges readers to consider which side we might swing towards. Even though studies of the environmental impact of industrialisation had started back in 1980, when this book was published, I can't help thinking more recent twenty-first century research might make this a more clear cut issue than it was then. Forty years ago, nothing much was known about Global Warming. Even in 1980, it seems a glib promise from International Pine, that they can confine their pollution strictly to the land they're purchasing. Personally, I'd probably be taking a stand with Mr Maypenny and signing John Score's petition. We are inhabiting the only earth we'll ever have, and once those rare species have gone extinct, we'll never get them back again.   

* Trixie and Honey half expect to find a corpse in an abandoned car. And I get the distinct feeling that Trixie is slightly disappointed not to! We readers aren't surprised, of course. The rest of the series has set no precedence for such a grisly discovery. Phew. 

* The eventual solution to the whole International Pine fiasco seems a bit of a cop-out by Kathryn Kenny, keeping one foot of the Trixie Belden series planted firmly in happily-ever-after land. Yet having said that, it also makes perfect sense. Perhaps we make 'real life' harder than it needs to be. 

* Peter Belden has some wise counsel for his kids, as always. 'Remember, the people who have their minds made up are always the loudest.' But the quote of the book is undoubtedly from Mr Maypenny. 'I'm sorry Jim, I plain forgot that Matt Wheeler was your father. You kids are so nice and reasonable that it just doesn't seem possible.' 

32) The Mystery of the Whispering Witch

This could well be the spookiest book of the series. Trixie and Honey offer to stay overnight with Fay Franklin, an anxious school friend who lives in the town's 'haunted house.' The ghost, Sarah Sligo, is rumoured to be a vicious poltergeist, seeking revenge because she was burned alive in her bedroom, suspected of witchcraft. But is Sarah really still at large? If not, who is causing trouble and playing tricks? And why?  

* For some reason, I found it extremely difficult to get my hands on this book in my teens. It never appeared on the rack of Trixie Belden books for sale, until one day, there it was, and I swooped on it. I remember starting it with extreme trepidation, since I was a suggestible 13-year-old and thought it might give me nightmares. I was frightened of ghosts and witches, and Sarah Sligo, the focus of this story, was said to be both at once. What a recipe for the jitters.  

* Rumour has it that Sarah Sligo was incinerated to death on her own birthday. Whoa, that's rough. And what's more, local legend has it that a person who dies on the day of her birth is doomed to haunt the scene forevermore. And she wears the traditional, stereotypical witch's outfit; black pointed hat and flowing cape. Ultra-creepy.  

* On the very night the spooky happenings start, Mart has been telling Bobby a bedtime story about Sarah Sligo, her haunted house, and the little boys who she turns into frogs that go, 'Ribbet, ribbet.' Trixie is furious with Mart for telling such a hair raising tale, but Bobby laps it up. 

* Sensationalism runs high from the start. The story goes that with her dying breath, Sarah Sligo cursed future residents of her house. That's pretty unfair of her, in my opinion! They aren't the culprits who trooped to her residence, locked her in and burned her alive. Talk about misplaced vengeance. (If she didn't want to attract attention, maybe she should have worn different clothes.)

* Fay Franklin and her mother have been living there as caretakers. When Mrs Franklin falls and breaks her hip, Trixie and Honey offer to spend the night at Lisgard House with Fay. And a horror show is unleashed! What's going on? 

* I wonder where Lisgard House is situated, in relation to Crabapple Farm, since the Beldens' seemed to be Fay's closest neighbours to set off on foot and ask for help. 

* In their panic to shove clothes into a small suitcase for Fay before fleeing Lisgard House, the girls discover that it's full of bathing suits. How many bathing suits could Fay possibly own? It must have been a huge pile to fill a whole suitcase.  

* When Trixie, Honey and Fay arrive at Crabapple Farm in the dead of night, they fling pebbles at Mart and Brian's bedroom window to wake them up. So now it appears the two boys do share a room after all. This chopping and changing between books is getting quite hilarious. 

* Diana is incredibly fearless and brave a little later, at Lisgard House. She tiptoes off by herself for a curious peep in the haunted study, straight after the ghost supposedly commits hostile mischief in front of everyone. Yet in The Mystery of the Emeralds, she refuses to explore a subterranean passageway unless Mart goes with her, because of a vague tapping sound. Why the infusion of courage? 

* Lewis Gregory, the current owner of Lisgard House, introduces them to Simon Hunter, a famous psychic investigator he's hired to get rid of Sarah Sligo. Hunter is a ghost buster. (According to Sleepyside fearmongers, he won't have much luck, seeing she died violently on her birthday.)

* Diana is the person who first recognises a certain lot of antiques as fakes. Even Honey doesn't twig to start off with. At first glance, this seems a bit weird, since Diana is newly rich while Honey was born to it. But perhaps not, since we know Mr Lynch is passionate about art and furniture collections, and Di herself studies art. These factors may be enough to account for her surprising penetration. 

* The boys are putting together a school play for Thanksgiving. It's The Courtship of Miles Standish. Jim is Miles, Brian is John, and Mart is the stage manager. Honey teases Mart that the play has been done to death, since even kindergarten kids are cast in those roles, and he says they will add their special flair to attract Tinseltown. Well, I have to admit that as an Aussie from way across the ocean, I'd never heard of it until now. I had to google it. Many legends go international, but apparently not all of them. 

* I find Fay Franklin to be one of the most poignant characters of the series. The poor girl feels certain she's possessed by an evil spirit, and can't even retreat home for respite from her worry, since her current dwelling is the source of her trouble. Yet she's not taken as seriously as she might have been if her problem didn't involve the supernatural. The boys are sceptical to the point of suspecting Fay herself of either mischief or craziness, and even Trixie and Honey don't really know what to make of her. How sad, when your legitimate worry alienates you from possible friends. 

* The Bob Whites go through the motions of participating in Simon Hunter's seance. Gleeps, watch out, guys. 

* Wow, Lisgard House sure has atmosphere. I got the somber vibe from the dark wood paneling and even imagined a musty odour that wasn't actually mentioned.  

* The quote of the book is from Brian. When Mart wonders what the girls could've been thinking of to pack bathing suits in late November, he responds, 'Probably witches and curses and ghoulies and ghosties and things that go bump in the night.' They were indeed.        

33) The Mystery of the Vanishing Victim

The Bob Whites receive a lovely vintage car as a donation for their rummage sale, but it breaks down in a dark and seamy district as they drive it home. A cynical stranger who helps them start it gets knocked down by a hit and run driver before their eyes. Trixie can't shake the suspicion that collision was intentional, while Sergeant Molinson digs up shady evidence about their Good Samaritan himself. Who can be trusted? And what are they to think when their victim goes AWOL from the hospital?

* The Bob Whites are preparing to host a community rummage sale to raise funds for the Sleepyside Hospital. 

* Mr Burnside offers the Bob Whites a mysterious donation, provided all seven of them come to pick it up together. It turns out to be a beautiful old Model A Ford. This book, if any, is 'one for the boys.' Enthusiasts (including Brian) wax lyrical about the inner workings of antique cars. It comes as no surprise this book was written by the only male Kathryn Kenny of the bunch; Carl Henry Rathjen.

* Mr Burnside is donating his Model A to make room for his latest acquisition, a Stanley Steamer. What a super-generous gesture. Surely any rich antique car fanatic worth his salt would want to hang on to both. But he's grateful for the care he received during a long term stay at Sleepyside Hospital, so that's his contribution. 

* Brian's so irritable during their breakdown that I'm not sure he's thinking straight. He starts off asking Mart to crank the engine for him, then to step out instead and shine his flashlight beneath the hood. The light is so helpful, Brian asks Trixie to take over cranking the engine, which she's reluctant to do, because her knowledge of old cars is zilch. Then Brian basically shouts at her to get a grip and just turn the key. Well, if she feels that nervous, how about letting her shine the flashlight while Mart gets back in and cranks the engine again? Duh!

* Trixie makes a novice assumption when she visits the mysterious stranger in hospital. He mentions his memory blank of the moments directly before his accident, and she assumes he must have total amnesia, as Juliana did in Mystery of the Missing Heiress. Yet it's surely clear to every reader during their conversation that he knows exactly who he is, and chooses to let her assume what she likes. 

* He says, 'I had a Model A once. I bought it for $50 back when they were used cars and not antiques.' Whoa, those must have been the dark ages. 

* Trixie says, 'I always thought of inventors as boring, humourless men.' (Haha, where does she get that idea from? I used to buy into the stereotype that they're wacky and eccentric.)

* We are told that the special feelings Trixie has for Jim are ones she tries to keep to herself. I'm sure he wishes she'd let them out, and is possibly unaware that she even has them. The undercurrents are strong. However, reticence seems to be no problem for Mart and Di. Without officially being called a couple, they seem to be going full steam ahead. 

* The Bob Whites go canvassing in pairs: Trixie/Honey, Mart/Di, Jim/Dan and Brian and the impressive Model A. Jim and Dan were the left-over team, and Jim said that suited him fine. Secretly, I'm sure he would have rather had Trixie as his partner, but I'm glad he and Dan have put their International Pine friction from Mystery at Maypenny's behind them. 

* Trixie and Honey come across some amusing characters during their door knocking collection for the rummage sale. I like Mrs Manning, the compulsive buyer of oddments who never gets around to following through on her grand plans for them. Mrs Manning tells the girls that washstands and wringers were being used not all that long ago. Ah well, I'm afraid that dates the series. I had a secondhand twin tub given to me in the early nineties, and even that felt ancient.

* They also visit Mrs Glenda Maurer, whose college daughter has decided to part with her collection of Lucy Radcliffe mysteries, because she's outgrown them. I feel like warning, 'Nooooo! You'll regret it if you do.' I once had ideas of doing the same thing with my Trixie Belden set, but I'm sooo glad I didn't. I'm enjoying them so much for this re-read project, and I'd never have been able to collect them over again. 

* The biggest glitch in this story is a weird remark from Honey, that Trixie helped Mr Lytell recover his money. I'm thinking, Huh!! When did that ever happen? It turns out to be a spoiler looking ahead to Book 34, The Mystery of the Missing Millionaire. (When I made it to that book, all became clear, and I revisited this review to fix that confusion.) I'm guessing the publishers hadn't yet committed which order they would be, and when they decided to place this one first, they didn't clean up that stray remark. It's a bit sad, but since I'm taking these later books as random reminiscences rather than strict chronology, I don't mind too much.  

* I think the quote of the book can be Trixie's. 'As much as I hate having Beatrix for my real name, I think it could have been a lot worse. My parents could have named me Patience.'   

Catch up on Series 28 - 30

Join me next time for Series 34 - 36