Perry Pierce and Books by Mildred Wirt Benson

Here are two more posts from the Vintage Series Books group.

From July 30, 2006:

I have recently read the Girl Scouts Series by Virginia Fairfax (an awesome series right in line in feel to the original text Nancy Drew books but very hard to find!), and several books by Mildred Wirt Benson such as Pirate Brig, Dangerous Deadline, and Quarry Ghost (also known as Kristie at College).

The three Benson books that I mentioned above are a bit difficult to find and most people have probably not read them. I feel like they are among her strongest works, and it is a shame that they are so difficult to find. I have now read the vast majority of the more than 100 books by Mildred Wirt Benson, and of the ones that I have read, I feel that Quarry Ghost is her best book. How is that for a strong personal recommendation?

Quarry Ghost is extremely rare [bad word alert!—I should have used scarce instead of RARE—shame on me!] in the original U.S. edition, but it is quite a bit easier to acquire in the U.K. edition, titled Kristie at College. I do highly recommend it. It has suspense, mystery, and a little romance. Kristie and her friends have several very harrowing experiences while diving in an old quarry, and well, you just have to read it to appreciate it fully. Just imagine diving at a depth of 25 feet with poor visibility. . . and something goes wrong with your air . . . or a mysterious diver attacks you! It is aimed at a somewhat older audience, as in young adult, than most of Benson's other books.

I should also mention that Kristie at College is the exact same text as Quarry Ghost except that the spellings of certain words are changed to the British spelling.

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From June 19, 2005:

I recently read the Perry Pierce series; in fact, I just finished the last book a few days ago.

I was recently reminded of the series a few months ago when David Farah sold a set on eBay and had it showing in a Nancy Drew search. Leslie McFarlane, Hardy Boys author, wrote the first book, and Walter Karig, Nancy Drew author, wrote the remaining three books in the series.

The Walter Karig texts are among my very favorite Nancy Drew books, so I want to read all of the books that he wrote. He wrote two of the Doris Force books, and I greatly enjoyed those.

I thoroughly enjoyed all four Perry Pierce books, and this is coming from someone who does not tend to like the boys' series as much as the girls' series.

The first book was easily recognizable as being by McFarlane. It has been about ten years since I read any Hardy Boys books, but I remember the style quite well.

The Karig texts are quite good, and I noticed how often food was mentioned, just like in the Nancy Drew books, down to every single dish.

I do recommend this series to anyone who likes either the Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys books.