Ted Wilford #11 Baseball Mystery and #12 Rainbow Gulch

In Ted Wilford #11, The Baseball Mystery, Forestdale hosts a baseball tournament.  Ted helps run the tournament.  Soon, Ted suspects that some of the players are fixing the results under someone's orders.

The information about baseball was too much for me.  I didn't understand all the descriptions, since I only have rudimentary knowledge of baseball.  The baseball games were not interesting to me, since I am not interested in baseball at all.

This is why I didn't choose to read this book as one of my first few Ted Wilfords.  I purchased Shamrock first, read it, but was not able to determine if I wished to continue.  I was able to purchase this book and Greenhouse Mystery at the same time.  When I chose the second book to read to make a final decision, I chose Greenhouse Mystery because I suspected that a book about baseball would not accurately tell me whether to purchase additional books in the series.

I did enjoy Ted walking from one part of the two to another.  My favorite series books are almost always stories that feature the characters walking and exploring very close to their home or wherever they are staying.

I got a little confused telling the teams and coaches apart.  It would have helped if the name of the city would have been used more often with the name of the team.  I was partway through the book and had forgotten which team was the Forestdale team, which caused my confusion.

The story ends quite abruptly, and I was surprised to turn the page and realize that I was finished.  I felt like at least one more part of the plot could have been resolved a bit more, but I know why it was left loose.  The reader can't get bored with a book when the story ends quickly without excessive explanation.

Even though much of the baseball discussion was over my head, I greatly enjoyed this book.

In Ted Wilford #12, The Mystery of Rainbow Gulch, Ted and Nelson stay at Bob Fontaine's ranch.  As the boys arrive, a plane crashes, and one occupant vanishes.  Meanwhile, a mystery surrounds an old hermit, and footprints indicate that someone has been watching the ranch.

A fire that spreads through the woods towards the end of the book is quite thrilling.  I couldn't be sure how it would work out, since a fire in another book didn't work out well at all.

This is a very good book.