Dana Girls #16 Mystery at the Crossroads

In Dana Girls #16, Mystery at the Crossroads, the Danas find an old spoon in the woods near an abandoned old inn.  Later, the girls learn that the spoon is said to be cursed.  The girls also speak to a young gypsy girl who has been forbidden to marry Stivo.  Stivo has been accused of stealing a valuable silver platter.  Meanwhile, the spoon is stolen from the Danas' room.  The girls search for both the spoon and the platter and hope that they can exonerate Stivo.

If there had not been a gap in publication of new Dana Girls books, this book could in theory have been published in 1947.  I find that interesting since the Nancy Drew book from 1947 feature gypsies.

On page 67, Ina speaks up against Lettie, which is unusual.

Page 112 begins with "Suddenly a sickening thought came to the girls."  It's odd how the Dana girls are telepathic as times, and each girl has the exact same thought.

On page 151, the Danas' parents are described for the first time.  Mr. Dana had dark hair like Louise, and Mrs. Dana had blonde hair like Jean.

This book ends with the usual late Stratemeyer Syndicate practice of a lengthy question and answer session with the culprit.  This always bores me.

The book contains a lot of educational content about about spoons, gypsies, and other stuff.

The story is very good, but it lacks the punch of the early books.  The Dana Girls series is teetering on the brink at this point, about to descend forever into Harriet Adams' crazy world of chuckles and grins.

Excessive use of "chuckled" and "grinned" is distinctive of Harriet Adams' writing.