Cars and Compassion Come to the Forefront in The Mystery of the Vanishing Victim

Two weeks ago Cars 2 arrived in theaters, so I already had cars on the brain when I cracked open The Mystery of the Vanishing Victim, the 33rd book in the Trixie Belden series of mysteries. In this installment, written by a ghostwriter assuming the name Kathryn Kenny, 14-year-old amateur detective Trixie and the other six Bob-Whites of the Glen – her best friend Honey Wheeler, her older brothers Mart and Brian, Honey’s adopted brother Jim Frayne and their friends Di Lynch and Dan Mangan – are preoccupied with cars because they are organizing a rummage sale, and the most generous donation they receive is a Model A Ford in pristine condition. The donor, kindly Mr. Burnside, suggests driving the car around town all week to help drum up business for the sale, and it seems like a wonderful plan, but little sooner do they have the antique in their care then it conks out on them on the side of the road, leading them straight into another mystery.

Brian is the eldest of the Bob-Whites, and one of his distinguishing characteristics is his love of cars; his rattletrap old jalopy is one of the most iconic props in the series. Mr. Burnside entrusts the care of his Model A specifically to Brian, who is awed by the privilege and responsibility. Thanks to Mr. Burnside, Brian and the enigmatic title character, who stops to help the Bob-Whites when the car stalls on their way home, the book includes a lot of shop talk about the making and history of various models of cars, so it’s one of the more educational volumes in that regard. Moreover, although Trixie and Honey are more immediately involved in the mystery that follows, Brian is in many ways the standout character here, both because he and the Model A are virtually inseparable throughout the week and because, in a discussion with the “vanishing victim,” he provides the most succinct description of the Bob-White philosophy that I have encountered in the series.

That conversation becomes the cornerstone for the book as Trixie tries to figure out the motivations of their surly savior, who insists that it was interest in the car alone that compelled him to stop and offer aid, something he normally wouldn’t do. After the anonymous man is the victim of a hit-and-run, the question of his willingness to put himself at risk to help a stranger deeply concerns Trixie, who feels compelled to defend him against the accusations that come his way when he disappears and his identity comes to light. The book ends up being an interesting meditation on the balance that must be achieved between caution and compassion.

I enjoyed the sense of friendly competition that arises when Trixie suggests they break up into teams and see who can collect the most donations for the sale, though Honey seems uncharacteristically harsh on their first outing as she scolds Trixie for chatting with donors, thus wasting valuable gathering time. She even gets in a jab at her in the presence of the other Bob-Whites, which seems rather uncalled for, especially since Trixie only converses out of politeness. It’s only in a couple of chapters that Honey seems a bit off-kilter, however. She’s quite herself throughout the rest of the book, as is everyone else, though this writer seems to have gone a little overboard with Mart; practically every sentence he spews contains at least three or four advanced words, and even I found myself scratching my head a few times over his intended meaning.

This is very much a summertime book, as evidenced by the Bob-Whites’ ability to spend several full days soliciting items for the rummage sale. Hence, I found it easier to slip into than the previous book, which takes place in November. However, despite the early summer setting, Trixie makes two separate references to Christmas, and so does a nefarious character with whom she later tangles. Of course, this isn’t the first Trixie book to mention Christmas in the middle of summer; one of my favorite moments in the series is the impromptu Jingle Bells sing-along that occurs when the Bob-Whites stumble upon a sleigh while exploring a barn on Cobbett’s Island. Still, it made me chuckle to find Christmas come up so often in such an unlikely context at a time when I too have the holiday on my mind despite the soaring temperatures.

The book also includes what I take to be fairly spoilery references to a previous Trixie book that I haven’t read, but hopefully by the time I get around to reading The Mystery of the Ghostly Galleon, I’ll have forgotten most of the contours of that conversation. In any case, that’s the risk you run when you decide to skip around in a series. In this case, I’d say it was a risk well worth taking, leading me to a timely tale that encourages readers, while exercising a modicum of common sense, to follow the Bob-Whites’ lead and love boldly.