Friday, March 30, 2018

Kay Tracey #2 The Strange Echo

In Kay Tracey #2, The Strange Echo, Kay vacations with the Worth family at Lost Lake.  Many strange events have occurred recently in the area.  The residents have heard strange echos, warnings, and explosions.  They have seen smoke from hidden fires.  Kay investigates and believes that the mystery is tied to the theft of pages about echoes from a valuable book.  A strange foreign woman is involved, and possibly an insane man who worked for a scientific company.

Kay is called "Little Detective" all through this story, which is a bit strange.  She is not called that in other stories.

Cousin Bill likes Elise Conklin, so he wants Kay to find out what her favorite perfume is.  On page 12, Kay calls Elise and gets that information for Cousin Bill.  Kay believes that Elise does not have any suspicions about why Kay needs to know her favorite perfume.  If someone were to call me and ask what perfume I like, I would know something was up.

The villains have hired a farmer's mules and carts.  On page 181, the farmer is upset that the mules and carts still have not been returned.  Kay and her friends "[assure] him that the animals soon would be."  This is a rash promise.  Of course, the plot does get satisfactorily resolved, but Kay and her friends have no idea what will happen at this point.

The last part of the story has some really strange man-made events, including a giant bellows that can create a tornado, and a strong suction that pulls Kay towards a shed.  The suction is caused by some kind of machine that gets turned off just in time, but no explanation is given.

I read only the original text, since the revised text story is very similar.  The revised text is shorter and was significantly rewritten.  However, it follows the same story, and I was not interested in reading the same story again.

I enjoyed this book because of the rural setting, exploring all around in that location.

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