Kay Tracey #18 The Mysterious Neighbors

In Kay Tracey #18, The Mysterious Neighbors, the Traceys vacation in Mrs. Ball's houseboat on the Sharon River.  Ethel Eaton also vacations on the river in a houseboat.  Some strange men, called the "mysterious neighbors," are spending time on the Sharon River in their houseboat, the Ajax.

Bill Tracey is helping Frank Leeson with a case involving his company.  Harry Spicer is after Mr. Leeson and is threatening him.  Mr. Leeson and his daughter also decide to vacation on the Sharon River in a houseboat.  So pretty much everyone in the world is on the Sharon River in a houseboat.

Kay and her friends are on summer vacation, which is the third summer vacation in the series.

Kay's Aunt Harriet sends her a present.  Ah, good old Aunt Harriet.  The Dana Girls also have an Aunt Harriet, named after Harriet Stratemeyer Adams.

This book contains some animal cruelty, but fortunately, the animal is not injured.  Mrs. Ball's cat, Midnight, is lassoed and yanked into the river.  The cat is then yanked around in the water with the rope while it struggles not to drown.  Fortunately, Kay rescues the cat from the perpetrator.

The houseboat catches on fire on page 48.  Later, Cousin Bill is abducted and placed in the hold of a government ship.  Near the end of the book, Cousin Bill's car is stolen.

In the Garden City and Books, Inc. editions, very minor edits were made to the first two pages and the last page.  Otherwise, the texts appear to be exactly the same.

I enjoyed this final book in the Kay Tracey series.

I made some observations as I read through the series.  Wilma's poetry is the worst in the books by Mildred Wirt Benson (#3-12 and 14).  The poetry is also pretty bad in the books written by Elizabeth Duffield Ward (#1 and 2).  The poetry is not as bad in the books written by Anna Perot Rose Wright, because her text often does not include the verses (#15-18).  Edna Stratemeyer Squier has the best poetry by Wilma, because the poetry is kept down to just two lines (#13).

I noticed that chemistry is very important to this series, appearing as an important part of the plot of a number of the books.  I wonder if Edna Stratemeyer Squier was especially fond of chemistry, since she wrote most of the outlines for this series.

Betty and Wilma do not have beaus.  Kay does have a beau, Ronald, but he is often not around.

I have always been quite fond of the Kay Tracey series, and my opinion remained the same upon this reading.  I still really like the Kay Tracey series.