The Ski Trail Mystery and Storm Over Garnet by Virginia McDonnell

When I finished reading the final Kim Aldrich book, I wanted to read more of them.  I love suspenseful books like the Kim Aldrich books.  I looked over the list of books written by Virginia McDonnell, hoping that she might have written at least one other book that could be similar to the Kim Aldrich books.  Most of McDonnell's books are nurse stories, which do not interest me at all.

McDonnell wrote a book titled The Ski Trail Mystery, which was published in 1966.  The book didn't appear to be about nursing and sounded like a good mystery, so I purchased it.  I am so glad that I did.

In The Ski Trail Mystery, Chris Murphy is in the Ski Patrol at High Tor.  Chris hopes to be promoted to the leader of the Ski Scouts during the following year, but he must prove himself by doing something distinctive.  Chris' cousin, Suki, is visiting, and she and Chris spot a wolf on a nearby trail.  The young people learn that there is a bounty on wolves captured in their area.  Chris vows to get the reward.  Chris and Suki follow the wolf and discover a trail of red jewels.  The jewels could be rubies or garnets.  A garnet mine run by Chris' father is nearby, and the mine is no longer producing fine garnets.  The red jewels might be a clue to what is happening.

I do not care to reveal many spoilers, and a lot happens that I do not mention.  This book is also deeply suspenseful like the Kim Aldrich books.  The book does not involve murder or grim events like the Kim Aldrich books, but it does have a similar tone.  This is an excellent book.

I found one more book by Virginia McDonnell that I decided to read.

In Storm Over Garnet, Kaki Morrison is feels threatened by the opening of Star Mountain Lodge.  Garnet has been the gathering place for local skiers each day after school, but after the nearby lodge opens, most people go there.  Garnet may soon be forced to close, but Kaki believes that if she wins a ski competition that she might be able to help save Garnet.

This book classifies loosely as young adult and is a coming-of-age story.  The book is not highly suspenseful like the other books that I chose to read by Virginia McDonnell, but it is still very good.

Kim Aldrich #3 The Deep Six and #4 The Long Shot

In Kim Aldrich #3, The Deep Six, Kim witnesses the theft of a Cadillac from the street outside her apartment.  She and a reporter, Colin Ryan, speak to the owner of the vehicle, learning that he left his briefcase inside the vehicle.  The briefcase contained the only copy of the newest will of his wealthy client.

Hours later, the client is killed in automobile accident, and his wife is near death in the hospital.  The couple's daughter is disabled, and the new will makes arrangements for her.  The old will makes no provisions for the girl, so Kim and Colin work on finding the stolen car so that the girl will not be sent to an institution by her other relatives.  It soon becomes apparent that the vehicle was stolen for the will and that certain people will stop at nothing to keep the new will from coming to light.

The child is said to be "severely retarded" according to the author.  At the end of the book, the reader learns that the little girl just needs glasses, which is why she always had what was perceived to be a dumb look on her face and never responded to anything.  This makes no sense.  Even if she couldn't see, she should have been able to respond to sound.

The fatal accident that kills the girl's father was caused by a heavy oil slick on the highway.  The next day, Kim and Andy nearly get into a fatal crash from the same oil slick.  I find it strange that nobody had cleaned up the excessive oil.

This is another outstanding book.

In Kim Aldrich #4, The Long Shot, wealthy Mr. Van Alstyne plans to send his daughter, Robin, to summer camp, but he is afraid that she will be kidnapped and held for ransom.  Kim is hired to be a counselor at the summer camp, and her sole duty is to keep Robin safe.  Unfortunately, Robin doesn't want to be kept safe and constantly causes trouble and runs away from camp.  Soon, the worst happens, and Robin is abducted.  Kim and her new friend, Kevin Clark, who is a counselor for a boys' camp, search for Robin.

On pages 159 and 160, Kim thinks of a girl who was buried alive in Florida.  I assumed that this was a real story, but it would have been before my time.  A quick Internet search revealed the horrifying ordeal of Barbara Mackle, who was buried alive in a fiberglass box.

This book takes a lot longer to get deeply suspenseful, and at first, I expected it not to be as good as the other three stories.  Around halfway through the story, the book hits the same level of suspense as the previous three books in the series, and at times, it is even more suspenseful.  The later part of the story reminds me of the tone of modern young adult horror novels.

After I finished the last book, I was disappointed that I had reached the end of the series.  As of that time, I had read 224 books this year, and the Kim Aldrich books were in the top 10 best books read this year along with three of the Roy Stover books, and a few of the books by Capwell Wyckoff.  In the top 10 best out of 224 books is a rather high ranking.

All four books in this series are outstanding.  I highly recommend them.

Kim Aldrich #1 Miscalculated Risk and #2 Silent Partner

The Kim Aldrich series was written by Virginia "Jinny" McDonnell and was published by Whitman.  The series consists of four books.

1.  Miscalculated Risk, 1972
2.  Silent Partner, 1972
3.  The Deep Six, 1972
4.  The Long Shot, 1974

Kim Aldrich is an insurance investigator.  She is out of high school, but her age is not given.  I assume that Kim is somewhere between 18 and 20 years of age.

These books read very much like the more exciting boys' series books.  One could also say that they are skewed towards young adult.  These are not your typical Whitman children's books.  The stories are deeply suspenseful and involve murder.  In each book, Kim is accompanied by an attractive young man.  Kim's companion is different in each book by necessity, since Kim is attracted to the young man but cannot completely trust him.

In Kim Aldrich #1, Miscalculated Risk, the Madden family is suing the city of Neadham.  Their son, Pete, slipped on rocks on the beach and was crippled.  The family contends that the city had no warning signs about the slippery rocks, while the city claims that they did.

Kim becomes acquainted with the Maddens' attorney, Andy Hill, and she helps him investigate.  Kim and Andy quickly learn that someone is trying to keep them from discovering the truth and that this person will resort to murder to keep the facts hidden forever.

At one point in the story, it is revealed that Pete was adopted.  Kim acts like the adoption could have some huge bearing on the case, like any shenanigans would have something to do with him being adopted.  It is really odd.

This is a rather excellent story.  The entire book is deeply suspenseful.  Kim is quite obviously in grave danger, and someone is murdered.  This a great mystery.

In Kim Aldrich #2, Silent Partner, Kim is on a ski vacation in the Austrian Alps.  While on a ski lift, she becomes friendly with Jim Whitcomb and a young boy named Roby.  Both Jim and Roby fascinate Kim.  Sometimes they are friendly, and other times they seem to ignore her like they are unaware of her presence.

Kim witnesses an attack on a skier where his ski poles are stolen.  The melee results in two deaths, and Jim will not let Kim tell the authorities what she witnessed.  Later, Roby disappears, and Jim gradually confides in Kim what he knows about the mysterious events in the Austrian alps.  As Jim and Kim search for Roby, they must also keep away from some very dangerous men.

Kim does really dangerous things in these books, very much like what the Hardy Boys do in the Hardy Boys Digest books.  On page 199, Kim climbs up to the top floor of a building via the balconies.  Nancy Drew was never allowed to do activities like that.

These books are quite suspenseful and are extremely good mysteries.

Both of these books are outstanding.

Kim Aldrich #3 The Deep Six and #4 The Long Shot