Boring! That is how I feel about the first half of the book. It is not until page 115 that the girls finally arrive at Sun Dial Lodge. The first half of the book should be called Billie Bradley Worries about Someone Else's Lost Treasure Chest for No Reason. The treasure was found in the previous volume and belongs to someone else. While Billie is supposed to receive a small share, it little matters if the treasure is lost.
In volume 1, Billie's treasure was important since it was the means for Billie to pay for her tuition to Three Towers Hall. When that treasure was stolen (naturally all treasure chests get stolen in Syndicate books), it was vitally important that Billie recover it.
Back to the current treasure chest: Why couldn't the treasure have disappeared near the end of the last volume and then been recovered? Why waste space in this volume with the lost treasure chest? I don't care about the dang treasure chest! It belongs to a man who barely appears in this volume. I mean, really?
The first 115 pages also covers the story of Mrs. Westlock, who is the old lady who was given money near the beginning of the story (see this post) I am just not feeling the story of Mrs. Westlock. She is a pitiful old woman, and she certainly needs help. Why don't I care? Maybe if she actually interacted with the young people, I would care. She is just there, kind of like the missing treasure chest that means nothing to me.
Ah yes, once the young people arrive at Sun Dial Lodge, the book redeems itself. Vi sees a shadow lurking behind a tree and thinks it might be a ghost. The others doubt her, but we readers know that the shadow must have been a very bad person. If I were reading Nancy Drew, I'd know the person must be swarthy.
The house is completely surrounded by trees, to the point that no sunlight shines through the open windows. This is spooky. The description of the herb garden reminds me so much of the description of the grounds of Heath Castle in the Nancy Drew book, The Clue in the Crumbling Wall. I'm liking this portion of the book very much. I like descriptions of overgrown gardens with winding paths. Why couldn't the whole book have been like this?
1 comment:
For what it is worth, the entire Billie Bradley series was ghostwritten by Elizabeth M. Duffield Ward and most of the outlines were by Stratemeyer.
James Keeline
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