In January, I began reading the Trixie Belden series, written first by
Julie Campbell and then by a number of ghostwriters using the pseudonym
Kathryn Kenny. My library served me very well for the first fifteen
volumes, but then I found I had to skip ahead until I get my hands on
some of the later books myself, something I hope to do at the week-long
city book sale that starts on Sunday. The first Trixie book I read out
of order is the nineteenth, The Secret of the Unseen Treasure.
Fourteen-year-old
sleuth Trixie Belden is an ordinary teenager, but she leads a pretty
exciting life, especially in volumes 11 through 15 of the series. In
each of these books, she embarks on a thrilling out-of-town adventure,
along with her best friend, demure Honey Wheeler; her brothers Brian and
Mart; Honey’s adopted brother Jim; and sometimes their neighbors Dan
Mangan and Di Lynch. The last one I read was not only a lit geek’s
delight, as they wandered through areas referenced by Mark Twain in his
books, it featured perhaps the most harrowing encounter yet between the
intrepid detectives and a nefarious criminal.
I took a bit of a
break from the series for most of May as I poked my head in thrift shops
to see if I could find any of the missing volumes, so when I returned
to it, I found it rather refreshing to see Trixie and her friends
enjoying some summer tranquility in their own hometown of Sleepyside.
While the story lacks some of the excitement of their various vacations,
they still find themselves with a puzzling situation before them, and
side characters like Trixie’s parents and younger brother Bobby and
Regan, who takes care of the Wheelers’ horses, have prominent roles in
the story again.
In this book, summer vacation has just started,
and that means having long days to spend with her friends and older
brothers, who collectively refer to themselves as the Bob-Whites of the
Glen. One thing they’ll be doing a lot of is exercising the Wheelers’
horses, and it’s one such trail ride that leads them directly into a
mystery. As they approach the farm of elderly Mrs. Elliot, a
shifty-looking man flees the scene, leaving behind the remnants of what
looks like intended arson. Who would want to set fire to Mrs. Elliot’s
property, and why? And could it have anything to do with the social
security checks that recently failed to turn up in several Sleepyside
mailboxes?
I like the fact that Unseen Treasure allows
the Bob-Whites the freedom of summer vacation and the familiarity of
home. Granted, the kids have responsibilities, ranging from camp
counseling jobs to babysitting and household chores, but there’s still a
lot of free time for fun stuff like horseback riding, picnicking and
swimming. Of course, once Trixie realizes that there is a mystery afoot –
and that solving it could save the livelihood of Mrs. Elliot, who is
teetering dangerously close to bankruptcy – she wants to devote as much
of her time to the case as possible, despite warnings from perpetually
cantankerous police sergeant Molinson. She does find a more sympathetic
listener in the form of Charles Hartman, a crusty retired cop who is
probably my favorite new character in the book, but she and her friends
have to do a lot of legwork on their own.
Trixie’s charitable
intentions in this book make me smile, and it’s nice that all of the
Bob-Whites have a hand in the story, though Di’s involvement is minimal.
Mart, on the other hand, really has a chance to shine, showing a knack
for photography and putting his botanical knowledge to work at the farm,
which features a peculiar array of vegetation. He’s also his usual
verbose self, and because he proves such an important member of Trixie’s
sleuthing team this time around, he has even more opportunity than
usual to show off his fancy vocabulary. “Indubitably,” “eschew,”
“predilection,” “atrophied,” “soporific” and “syllogistics” are just a
few extravagant words that he uses over the course of the book.
I’m not sure which Trixie book I will read next, but The Secret of the Unseen Treasure
was an enjoyable way to dip my toes into the later portion of the
series. While I’ve been warned about the inconsistent quality of the
last 20-some books, I am still looking forward to finding more Trixie
treasures.
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