Trixie Belden #29 Mystery of the Velvet Gown and #30 Mystery of the Midnight Marauder

In Trixie Belden #29, The Mystery of the Velvet Gown, Trixie helps with the school's production of Romeo and Juliet.  The drama teacher, Miss Darcy, has borrowed some costumes for the production.  The velvet gown disappears, and Trixie finds Miss Darcy with the costume later.  While Trixie trusts Miss Darcy, she begins to suspect that all is not right.

In the meantime, Miss Darcy's father has been abducted in England, and a classmate is jealous that Diana has won the role of Juliet.

The plot has too many different parts that don't fit well together.  The jealous classmate is not relevant to the rest of the story except that the jealous classmate helps the girls towards the end of the story.

The abduction of Miss Darcy's father is relevant to the plot, but it appears to be inconsequential until late in the story.  In short, the story could have been plotted better.

This book is good but nothing special.  I became bored towards the end of the story.

In Trixie Belden #30, The Mystery of the Midnight Marauder, a vandal who calls himself the Midnight Marauder performs acts of mischief during the night.  Strangely, the vandal warns his victims ahead of time, which is most curious.  Mart is one of the suspects, simply because he will not admit to why he was at the school late one night.  The Bob-Whites know that Mart is innocent but cannot figure out the guilty party.  Trixie soon realizes that the advance warnings hold the key to determining the Midnight Marauder's true purpose.

This story is extremely good, and the plot is quite compelling.  Mart is involved with the school newspaper, and Mart's role in the story is what makes this book so good.  I cannot give any further information without revealing a major plot point.

This is an excellent book.