Trixie Belden #33 Mystery of the Vanishing Victim and #34 Mystery of the Missing Millionaire

In Trixie Belden #33, The Mystery of the Vanishing Victim, the Bob-Whites decide to hold a rummage sale.  A Model T Ford is donated to the sale, and the Bob-Whites advertise the sale by using the Model T to pick up donations.  The vehicle is vandalized, and meanwhile, a man is run down by a vehicle.  The man does not know his own name, and he disappears.  Trixie vows to find him.

This book contains too much information about various collectibles, automobiles, and other explanatory information.  It is so boring!  The mystery is uninteresting, and I have never liked this book.

I remember purchasing this book at Target, probably in 1983.  I remember reading it, and I did not enjoy it.  Most of the books I read were from my elementary school library, although my mother did purchase a few of the older editions for me at a garage sale.  This was the only Trixie Belden book that I purchased new and the only title higher than #16 that I read when young.  If I had only purchased a different book than this particular one from Target, perhaps I might have purchased some more of the higher-numbered ones, like the ones that are actually good.

In Trixie Belden #34, The Mystery of the Missing Millionaire, Trixie and Honey find a wallet on Glen Road near Mr. Lytell's store.  The girls turn the wallet over to Mr. Lytell, who gets in touch with the owner's daughter.  The girls learn that the man has disappeared, and his daughter, Laura, is very worried.  Laura needs money to hire a private investigator, and Mr. Lytell loans her some money.  Trixie doesn't like Laura, because Jim pays too much attention to her.  Trixie is quite suspicious of Laura and doesn't know whether she has just cause or is suspicious because of her feelings.

A subplot has Mart falling for a get-rich-quick scheme.  I find it rather hard to believe that Mart, of all people, would fall for a scam.  It would have been more believable for Bobby to have fallen for a scheme, since Bobby lacks all common sense.

This is a very good book.

Trixie Belden #31 Mystery at Maypenny's and #32 Mystery of the Whispering Witch

In Trixie Belden #31, The Mystery at Maypenny's, a factory plans to expand using part of Matthew Wheeler's game preserve.  The factory also plans to take part of Mr. Maypenny's property.  Mr. Maypenny is strongly opposed to the plan, while Mr. Wheeler is in favor of it.  Even the Bob-Whites are divided, with some of them wanting the economic development and others wanting the game preserve to stay completely intact.

Mr. Maypenny's nephew comes to visit, but he doesn't stay long after Mr. Maypenny becomes furious that his nephew is trying to obtain power of attorney.  An environmentalist also becomes involved, and the situation worsens when dead ducks are found in the game preserve.

The story has some flaws, but this is still a very good book.

In Trixie Belden #32, The Mystery of the Whispering Witch, Fay Franklin lives in the old Lisgard mansion with her mother, who is the housekeeper.  Fay's mother has to be hospitalized, so Trixie and Honey spend the night in the mansion with Fay.  The mansion is said to be haunted, and the girls are visited by the witch.  Terrified, the girls make it through the night, but nobody will believe their story.  It soon becomes apparent that Fay thinks she is possessed, but Trixie suspects a more earthly explanation.

This book probably would have scared me if I had read it when young.  Now, it does nothing for me.  I don't find it scary because the story is too strange for a Trixie Belden book.

While the main mystery is explained away, the ending of the story implies that Trixie actually had been visited by the witch's spirit.

This is an overall good story.

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.

The Thrill of Finding Books Online

Many collectors say that they prefer searching for books in stores.  I now prefer to do my searching online.  I get a kick out of finding an impossibly scarce book online.  The process often requires a good bit of creative thinking.

A few months ago, I worked on building sets of books written by L. P. Wyman.  I successfully built complete sets of the Lakewood Boys and Golden Boys series.  The Hunniwell Boys series proved to be problematic.  I placed orders for seven of the eight books.  Two sellers cancelled the orders due to unavailability.  Fortunately, I was able to locate those two books later on eBay.

I was not able to locate a copy of The Hunniwell Boys in the Caribbean.  A few months passed as I read various books.  Finally, I read the Golden Boys series.  After I finished, I wanted to start the Hunniwell Boys series, but I still didn't have that one book.  I searched on Bookfinder and elsewhere, and not a single copy was available.

I have this belief that even if I do not see an online listing for a book that a copy could still be somewhere on the Internet.  It's just like when people visit various stores looking for books.  A copy of any book on the buyer's want list is likely for sale somewhere, but the problem is locating the store where the book is.  Instead of doing that kind of hunting, I work on cracking the secret of where the book is located on the Internet.

After I checked again a couple weeks ago, I still didn't see a copy of The Hunniwell Boys in the Caribbean anywhere online.  I sat and stared at the computer screen for a moment.  I was thinking to myself, Where is it?  How can I find that book?  It must be somewhere.  Then it came to me.  I thought of searching for "Carribean" instead of "Caribbean."  And there it was.  At the top of the search results was a link to an AbeBooks listing.

I clicked on the link to see the price, hoping it wouldn't be extreme.  Thank goodness.

To some of you, $35.00 plus $4.00 probably seems too expensive.  However, this is not too high for a book that isn't available anywhere else and that I want to read now.  I purchased the book, and then I waited, hoping that the order would be confirmed. 

The order was confirmed, and I received the book.  Yay!

In the meantime, I began reading the Hunniwell Boys series.  As I read The Hunniwell Boys and the Platinum Mystery, I discovered that the book has a binding error. 

Oh, no!  Pages 49 through 64 are missing, and pages 65 through 80 are duplicated.  Fortunately, I had a another copy that I thought I had upgraded to the copy with dust jacket that I was reading.  Now I have to keep both copies.  One has a dust jacket but is missing pages, and the other is in rough shape but has the complete story.

All of the books seen in the above photo were purchased from April through September.  Completing my set of Hunniwell Boys sets was difficult and not a smooth process, but at least I do have all eight stories complete in nine books.

Trixie Belden #27 Mystery of the Ghostly Galleon and #28 Hudson River Mystery

In Trixie Belden #27, The Mystery of the Ghostly Galleon, the Bob-Whites spend the weekend at Miss Trask's family home Pirate's Inn, on the Hudson River.  Trixie hopes to solve the mystery of how old Captain Trask vanished from the dining room many years before.  Instead, Trixie finds herself working on the mystery of how Miss Trask's brother, Frank Trask, disappears from the dining room during dinner one evening.  Even worse, Mr. Trask's money has disappeared, and the Trask family may end up losing the inn when they fail to pay back their creditor.

Pretty much everything about this story is great.  I enjoyed Miss Trask's behavior when the Bob-Whites worry about imposing on her trip back home.  The banter between the Bob-Whites is quite good, and the story is quite engaging.

This is a very suspenseful story.  It is excellent.

In Trixie Belden #28, The Hudson River Mystery, Brian begins acting strange.  He is forgetful and uninterested, and he has a car accident.  Meanwhile, Trixie sees a shark in the Hudson River, but no one will believe her.  Trixie asks for help from an author who is staying in Sleepyside, and later, Trixie realizes that the author knows nothing about sharks.

The author of this book outs herself on page 153.  "Lawrence Krull was believed to be the only victim of the boating accident... Kathleen, his ex-wife, stated that Krull hunted sunken treasure."  This book was written by Kathleen Krull.  Clever!

This story is a bit weak.  It really has two unconnected plots that should have been connected.  When Brian gets sick, his illness should have been caused by a contaminant found near the Hudson River, since Brian had been spending his free time there.  After all, the book is The Hudson River Mystery, so it's odd that Brian's illness has nothing to do with it.

The other part of the plot has to do with someone trying to retrieve treasure from the river, and this part is a bit stupid.

All that aside, I really enjoyed the book and still consider it to be an excellent story.

Trixie Belden #25 The Sasquatch Mystery and #26 The Mystery of the Headless Horseman

In Trixie Belden #25, The Sasquatch Mystery, the Bob-Whites and Miss Trask are camping in the woods of Idaho with Hallie, Cap, and Knut Belden.  One evening, the campers spot a very tall creature near camp, a creature that might be the sasquatch!  When Cap Belden vanishes, the Bob-Whites fear that the sasquatch has taken him.

This is a good book, but it isn't as good as it should have been.  I feel that the story could have been more compelling.  Perhaps the problem is simply that I knew that the sasquatch could not possibly be real, so I never felt much suspense.

In Trixie Belden #26, The Mystery of the Headless Horseman, Diana's butler, Harrison, disappears, just before a charity event that he is to help run for the Bob-Whites.  Trixie and Honey follow a trail of clues and discover Harrison locked in the basement of Sleepyside Hollow.  Strangely, Harrison insists that he accidentally locked himself in the basement, when there is no possible way he could have bolted it from the outside.  Trixie begins to suspect that Harrison is guilty of a crime, which puts a strain on her relationship with Di.

This story is interesting since it mimics plot points from Trixie Belden #4, The Mysterious Visitor, as well as some of the other Julie Campbell titles.  In fact, page 149 refers to "Harrison's mysterious visitors."

Like in The Mysterious Visitor, Trixie and Di's relationship is strained because Trixie suspects someone close to Di of being guilty of a crime.  Harrison has a prominent role in both stories.

I also noticed that Trixie and Honey hide in the hayloft of an abandoned barn just like they do in The Red Trailer Mystery.  Last, Reddy causes lots of trouble just like he does in the Julie Campbell books.

This book is excellent.

Trixie Belden #23 Mystery of the Queen's Necklace and #24 Mystery at Saratoga

In Trixie Belden #23, The Mystery of the Queen's Necklace, Honey has a necklace that has been passed down through the Hart branch of her family.  The Bob-Whites travel to England with Miss Trask to help research the history of the necklace.  Trixie soon notices that a pickpocket keeps following them around.  She suspects that the pickpocket is after the necklace.  Trixie is soon suspicious of everyone, including the knowledgeable and affable guide.

In this story, London said to be the sixth largest city in the world, and this was in 1979.  I knew London couldn't be anywhere near that high on the list now.  I checked, and London is now #29 on one list and #42 on another.

As the Bob-Whites visit the sites, they end up on Baker Street at 221B.  I am glad that Sherlock Holmes is said to be fictional, unlike the nonsense in The Mystery on the Mississippi when the Bob-Whites act like all of Mark Twain's characters were real.

The book is good but is not one that I enjoy very much.  The book is too much of a travelogue for me.

In Trixie Belden #24, The Mystery at Saratoga, Regan has disappeared!  He left shortly after the arrival of Mr. Worthington, who races valuable horses.  Trixie investigates and learns that Regan once worked for Worthington and was suspected of doping a horse.  Trixie is devastated, but her intuition tells her that Regan is innocent.  Trixie and Honey stay with the Wheelers at Saratoga as they search for Regan and try to find a way to prove his innocence.

This book has way too much history and information about horses.  I skimmed those parts.

The parts of the story that focus on Regan are pretty good.

Trixie and Honey meet a woman who once cared about Regan.  I find it rather strange that she also calls him Regan instead of using his first name, Bill.

I skimmed the last part of the story.  The book is good, but I do not care for it.

Trixie Belden #21 Mystery of the Castaway Children and #22 Mystery at Mead's Mountain

In Trixie Belden #21, The Mystery of the Castaway Children, the Beldens find a baby in Reddy's doghouse.  The entire family and all of the Bob-Whites immediately fall in love with the baby and take turns caring for it.  The Bob-Whites are distressed that the baby has bruises and are concerned for its welfare.  They begin searching for the family.

I have never liked this book, and I still do not like it.  I read some of it, skimmed to the middle, then I quit reading.

In Trixie Belden #22, The Mystery at Mead's Mountain, the Bob-Whites visit a mountain resort that Mr. Wheeler and a partner intend to develop.  The Bob-Whites are to make a report of what they like and what can be improved.  Trixie is soon involved in a mystery after Honey's watch vanishes.  The lights go out unexpectedly, and Trixie receives several ominous warning notes.

This mystery is set up more like the typical Nancy Drew mystery in that Trixie receives warning notes.  By having the mystery driven by warning notes, it isn't that much of a mystery and more of a case of trying to figure out which residents of the inn are the culprits.

The Bob-Whites plan a New Years' Eve party.  On page 185, Honey suggests that Miss Trask recite some Robert Frost poetry at the party.  Miss Trask doesn't want to do it, but the Bob-Whites "[clamor] so much that she could hardly say no."  Say what?  This sounds a bit strange for a group of teenagers to be so enthusiastic about a poetry reading at a party.

This is a very good book.