Everybody Has a Story in Trixie Belden and the Mystery in Arizona

I’ve been devouring the Trixie Belden series this month, and I’ve now come to the conclusion of the original six written by Julie Campbell. Prior to this volume, she leaves 13-year-old Trixie, her best friends Honey Wheeler and Di Lynch, her brothers Mart and Brian and Honey’s adopted brother Jim in what, for me, is pretty familiar territory: New York. The terrain and climate is comparable to Pennsylvania’s, but in the sixth book, I took a trip along with them to sunny Arizona for a sojourn on the other end of the country.

In Trixie Belden and the Mystery in Arizona, Di’s Uncle Monty, the character at the heart of the mystery in the fourth book, has invited the Bob-Whites – the club that includes the Beldens, Honey, Di and Jim – to spend Christmas with him at his ranch. Trixie’s afraid that she can’t go because she’s in danger of failing math, but she is given permission – on the condition that she spend a good part of her vacation studying. Little does she realize that she’s about to add to that workload considerably until, for the second book in a row, she volunteers the Bob-Whites to take over a job from someone who has suddenly quit. Why did the Orlando family, who were such dedicated and seemingly happy workers at Uncle Monty’s ranch, decide to clear out in such a hurry? When the Bob-Whites take their leave, will Uncle Monty be left without a staff?

This book is interesting in that the supporting characters from previous books play virtually no role. Instead, it’s all newly introduced characters interacting with the Bob-Whites. There’s also the fact that they are in such a novel situation. The southwest setting makes it fun, especially for someone like me who’s never been to Arizona, though it’s also a bit of a drawback, as Campbell sometimes gets a little carried away with delving into the history and geography of the region. There are lengthy conversations or monologues that mostly feel like information dumps. We get one on the plane in a chat with a very knowledgeable stewardess, and it seems to happen a lot at the ranch, especially whenever Tenny the cowboy is around. I picked up a lot of interesting tidbits from this, but at times it feels excessive; this is a novel, not a travelogue. But I bet there are plenty of folks who came away from the book thinking that Arizona would be a nice place to visit.

Because Di’s uncle owns the ranch, she feels like a fairly organic part of this story, and she is the first to make a breakthrough with one of the three “difficult guests” whose rooms the girls have to clean as part of their housekeeping duties. Each of these guests, along with several employees, is a mystery Trixie intends to crack, which doesn’t leave her much time for studying. Why do middle-aged “Mr. X.” and young “Calamity Jane” seem so despondent? Why is “Lady Astorbilt” so ornery? Why would Tenny adopt a phony accent? Why can’t pretty young Rosita return to school? And most importantly, where did the Orlandos go, why did they leave, and why didn’t Maria, the ranch’s cook and the daughter-in-law of the Orlando parents, go with them?

That’s a lot of puzzles to work out, and Trixie does do some deducing in this book, though mostly, she “solves” these mysteries by talking to people. As in the fifth book, there are no nefarious characters lurking in these pages, just odd events with circumstances that require some explanation. It’s fun getting to meet so many characters at once, and they’re all pretty distinct. Some of them have things in common with folks back home, too; particularly, easy-going Tenny’s rapport with the kids is similar to that of cheerful groom Regan, and Maria’s son Petey is a lot like Trixie’s little brother Bobby. While Trixie is on target in thinking that there is something strange going on at the ranch, I appreciated that Honey’s instincts toward thinking the best of people are also justified as the story unfolds.

The boys feel a little less involved in this book, though we get to see them preparing and serving meals, and Brian and Jim take turns tormenting Trixie with math problems. Not being very math-minded myself, I felt sorry for her having to spend so much of her trip poring over problems. Of course, she spends most of the rest of her time poring over problems, too – other people’s problems. Though she often suspects that folks are up to no good, once she gets the full story, she wants to help. That, after all, is the Bob-Whites’ mission. And can I just say that every one of these kids is not only hard-working but extremely generous? It didn’t surprise me in the least to see them stepping up to take over ranch duties; that seemed an obvious solution to the first problem that presented itself upon their arrival. But for none of them to show the slightest material interest in the $400 payment offered for their services – especially considering that, thanks to the last book, we know that $50 is enough to buy you a car – shows a generosity of spirit almost too expansive to be believed.

Everybody has a story. That’s the message we get from this book, where half a dozen backstories of characters we might never see again are explored. Some of them aren’t too surprising; I figured out Tenny’s right off the bat. Others are more cryptic; the Orlandos’ disappearance seems even more intriguing in light of the strange tales Petey tells about a previous excursion with his grandparents. If there’s a lesson to be learned here, aside from all the textbookish ones about Arizona and its people, it’s that getting to know people is a worthwhile exercise. Just because someone seems snappish or standoffish doesn’t mean she’s not worthy of friendship, and just because someone has a secret doesn’t mean he’s a criminal. Of course, I’m sure it won’t be long before some baddies show up again. But it’s Christmas, after all, and if this is what a holiday in the Southwest looks like, it sounds like a pretty good time to me!

Trixie Belden and the Mystery Off Glen Road Is Fun But Fairly Flimsy

When you live in the northeast, wicked winter weather is pretty common, but every once in a while a storm will come along that throws even the most seasoned residents for a loop. Such a storm is what sets the stage for most of the plot in Julie Campbell's Trixie Belden and the Mystery Off Glen Road, the fifth book in the series. Thirteen-year-old Trixie, her older brothers Mart and Brian, her best friend Honey Wheeler, Honey’s adopted brother Jim and their neighbor Di Lynch have just put the finishing touches on the hut that is to serve as headquarters for their club, the Bob-Whites of the Glen. It’s perfect – and then an icy wind sends a tree crashing into it, and if they don’t make some expensive repairs quickly, all of their hard work will be ruined.

It’s a rule of the club that its members are only allowed to contribute money that they have earned themselves to any club projects. This is a nice way to ensure that everyone pitches in and feels like an equally valued part of the group, even though the Beldens have considerably less money than the Wheelers and the Lynches. Nonetheless, in an extreme emergency situation, I would think that the club members might all agree that a loan from a wealthy parent would not be out of order. Instead, honorable Brian, the only one with any earned money to his name, insists upon using the fifty dollars that he saved up to buy a neighbor’s jalopy in order to renovate the clubhouse. As a result, Trixie hatches a complicated scheme that will allow him to get the car after all.

For the most part, it’s not so much a mystery as a project, a race against time to see if the boys can finish the clubhouse repairs before the weather turns nasty again and if Trixie can continue to fool her family into thinking that she has a raging crush on Honey’s cousin. The act is so absurd that it’s a wonder anybody takes her seriously, but it is entertaining to see Trixie attempting to convince everyone of her infatuation. Her reason for doing so is clever, albeit convoluted. The bit of mystery comes in with the temporary job that Trixie and Honey get patrolling the Wheeler grounds. Trixie is sure there’s a poacher loitering on the Wheeler property. But is there?

You have to suspend your disbelief a bit with this installment, as the plot often hinges on characters acting in unnatural ways. Then again, most of it doesn’t feel too far removed from the character traits established in earlier books. Trixie is determined and secretive. Honey is usually willing to go along with Trixie’s schemes. The Bob-Whites are hard-working and honorable. Trixie’s parents tend to roll with the punches. Some of that seems a little too exaggerated here, but that didn’t stop me from getting sucked into the story.

After the thrilling climax of the fourth book, this one fizzles a bit, but I didn’t mind all that much, since I figure maybe Trixie, who has a tendency to jump to conclusions, ought to be off-base now and then. Mysteries don’t always come along just because they would make things more interesting. Then again, this is a mystery series, so readers as well as Trixie may have some disappointment to contend with.

In the second book, I found Honey’s cousin Ben entertaining and hoped he would show up again, but this time, he annoyed me, except in connection with Trixie’s six-year-old brother Bobby. Meanwhile, Di, only officially introduced a book earlier, spends most of her time “off-screen”; her only real contribution is to keep Ben, a practical joker, occupied and, hence, out of everyone’s hair. Though Mart and Trixie have some nice moments in this installment, he irritated me a bit too, mostly because of his obsession with calling Trixie and, to a lesser extent, Honey “squaws”. He must use the term a couple dozen times throughout the book, and though he’s just teasing, there’s definitely a derogatory tone to it, and reading it today, it strikes me as culturally insensitive.

Speaking of culture, one thing I found interesting about this volume was the number of literary allusions. I’ve been paying attention to see which books, stories and poems were considered worthy of referencing back in the middle of the century, so I enjoyed hearing the teens talk about Robin Hood, Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio, Romeo and Juliet and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, among others. Maybe they’ve all got books on the brain now that they’re back in school.

I’d like to think that there are contemporary kids who sit around making allusions to Trixie Belden books. If they do, though, I suspect that The Mystery Off Glen Road might not be one that gets referenced all that often. It’s an enjoyable read, but compared to its predecessors, something seems just a little “off”.

The Bob-Whites Expand Despite an Imperiled Clubhouse in Trixie Belden and The Mysterious Visitor

In the second volume of A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket introduces the man who is perhaps my favorite minor character in the series, a reptile enthusiast known to the Baudelaire orphans as Uncle Monty. He’s eccentric, adventurous and thoroughly charming, and the orphans adore him. In Trixie Belden and the Mysterious Visitor, Julie Campbell introduces an Uncle Monty as well, but this fellow is not so unanimously loved by the Bob-Whites of the Glen, the secret club that includes 13-year-old Trixie Belden and Honey Wheeler, along with Trixie’s older brothers Mart and Brian, Honey’s adopted older brother Jim and the newest member, Trixie and Honey’s classmate, Diana Lynch.

Di and Trixie used to be close friends, but their relationship suffered after Di’s father struck it rich. Now, thanks to Honey’s efforts, they’ve reconnected. Unlike Honey, who has been rich all her life, Di can’t get used to her lavish new situation, and instead of reveling in her family’s riches, she despises everything about being wealthy, especially having an overbearing butler. But it’s when her long-lost uncle turns up out of the blue that she really becomes miserable. This is also when the Bob-Whites step in to offer her a spot in their club in hopes that their friendship will improve her outlook. Soon, they’re caught up in another puzzling mystery.

Trixie, always in detective mode, suspects that Uncle Monty may be an imposter merely hoping to cash in on Mr. Lynch’s newfound wealth. This is a plausible scenario since his sister, Di’s mother, never knew him and so probably wouldn’t know the difference. But Trixie is prone to flights of fancy, and at first, none of the other Bob-Whites think much of her hypothesis. Most of the story, then, is concerned with her trying to find evidence to back up her theory.

Monty is a peculiar character who likes to tell wild tales and throw extravagant parties. At times, he seems quite affable, and Di’s mother loves spending time with him, but he oversteps his bounds as a house guest, annoying Di’s father so much that he is willing to do almost anything to get him to leave. He’s none too fond of Trixie, either, but then she does have a habit of arousing the irritation of many adults of her acquaintance with her inquisitive nature. She has some clever ideas that she believes could provide her with proof to back up her suspicions, but she can’t investigate without getting into some pretty risky situations.

Although the Bob-Whites spend a lot of time together in this book, the main mystery is mostly Trixie’s show, at least for the majority of the novel. The rest of the club has other concerns: what to do about their clubhouse, which has attracted the attention of Celia, a maid at the Wheeler estate, who will soon be married to Tom, their friendly chauffeur. She thinks it would make the perfect cottage for them, and Honey’s father has agreed to give it to the newlyweds, which means that all the money the teenagers have been earning and all the hours they’ve put in fixing the shack will be for naught, and they’ll be left without headquarters. I found myself just as interested in how this problem would be solved as I was in whether or not Uncle Monty was who he claimed to be.

In the third Trixie book, Mart and Brian burst upon the scene together, full of the enthusiasm that comes with being home after a long time away, and at first, I saw them more as a duo than as individuals. In this fourth book, it’s easier to see their distinct personalities, and while I like them both, I especially get a kick out of Mart, who teases Trixie mercilessly but is more like her than he would readily admit. I love the rapport between them, and his grandiloquent way of expressing himself often makes me chuckle.

Classically beautiful Di is likable enough, but her woe-is-me outbursts get a little tiresome. She seems to have a rather delicate disposition, and I can’t see her taking a very active role in solving the mysteries to come. Then again, Honey was pretty dainty in the beginning too, so Di may simply have some growing to do. While I don’t think she’s as dynamic as the other two girls, it will be interesting to see what she adds to the mix in future books.

For the first time in the series, Trixie and her friends are in school, so they have to deal with homework on top of chores, jobs, clubhouse work and mystery-solving. I had to laugh at how much Trixie moans at having to write an essay about her summer; it only needs to be 200 words long, and she probably had the most exciting summer of anyone in the class. It’s also fun to see them celebrate Halloween, though this is probably the point in the story at which Di is most grating, since she is so utterly horrified at the thought of giving a party that makes use of her family’s resources in any way.

Trixie Belden and the Mysterious Visitor is a fun mystery with an intriguing suspect. It introduces a major new character, along with a couple of new locations, and while most of it is fairly sedate, two scenes are among the most intense and exciting in the series thus far. At the end of the book, Trixie muses that she’s sure another adventure is just around the corner, and I quite agree. On to book five!

Five Heads Are Better Than Two in Trixie Belden and The Gatehouse Mystery

“There is no definition of a fool that you fail to satisfy.” This is what good ol’ boy Llewelyn Moss mutters to himself in Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men after he realizes he’s made a grave mistake by snatching up a suitcase stuffed with money and left lying in a blood-soaked field. Though the circumstances are considerably less dire, I imagined Trixie saying the same thing to herself early in Trixie Belden and the Gatehouse Mystery after realizing that she may have bitten off more than she could chew in deciding to track down the dirty rotten thief who dropped a diamond on her best friend Honey Wheeler’s property.

In this third Trixie Belden book, Trixie and Honey have had such good luck with the mysteries that came their way over the summer that they’ve decided sleuthing is their ideal career path. They’ll be Sherlock Holmes and Watson, gathering clues and unmasking culprits together. When another mystery falls into their laps, Trixie is understandably intrigued, and her excitement is intense enough to convince a reluctant Honey to move the diamond to a safe hiding place and not notify the police. But can two 13-year-old girls really handle what looks to be a pair of hardened jewel thieves?

I found myself a bit frustrated with Trixie in the beginning for leaping into an investigation that could well get both her and Honey into a heap of trouble. But after the initial decision is made, there’s nothing for it but to press on. What neither girl anticipates is that their little detecting duo is about to expand into a quintet.

After that first burst of nervousness for our young protagonists, what I noticed most about this book was how very funny it is. This installment introduces Trixie’s older brothers Mart and Brian, who have just returned from a grueling summer taking care of six-year-old hooligans at camp. They never miss an opportunity to reflect on the horrors they experienced at the hands of these youngsters – or to torment Trixie with their superior vocabularies and jabs about her tomboyish ways. But all of the whining and ribbing is good-natured. These jovial lads are as affectionate as they are witty, and they clearly relish their big brotherly roles, whatever they may say to the contrary. Once they are in on the secret, along with Honey’s newly adopted brother Jim, their more world-wise perspective helps open up new avenues of exploration that Trixie and Honey hadn’t considered.

The youngest Belden, Bobby, is back in this volume, and the scamp made me laugh almost as much as Brian and Mart, especially during the tense but hilarious wild goose chase for the diamond that has gone missing. Friendly groom Regan returns as well, and I was surprised to read that he is in his early 20s, much younger than I had imagined. His generous spirit is such that everyone who comes into contact with him loves him – everyone, that is, except the new chauffeur, who dotes on Bobby but has a habit of snarling at the others, especially Trixie. Are her suspicions of him nothing more than a result of his animosity toward her?

As great as Honey and Trixie are together, adding Jim, Brian and Mart into the mix really adds to the fun. The banter is a blast, and suddenly even the prospect of armed robbers doesn’t seem so terrifying when there’s a whole group working against them. It helps, too, that Regan and Miss Trask, Honey’s agreeable governess, can usually be counted on to help without asking too many questions.

This third book feels like a second beginning to the series, the one that firmly establishes Trixie as an amateur detective and Honey, Jim, Mart and Brian as her sister and brothers in the biz. Sometimes nerve-wracking, often gut-busting and always entertaining, Trixie Belden and the Gatehouse Mystery is as irresistible as a diamond sparkling in the dirt on a summer day.

Trixie Belden and the Red Trailer Mystery Is Terrifically Twisty

How do you find someone who doesn’t want to be found? If you’re intrepid Trixie Belden or her concerned friend Honey Wheeler, you hit the road and trust your intuition and tracking skills to help you discover that proverbial needle in the haystack. In Julie Campbell’s Trixie Belden and the Red Trailer Mystery, the two 13-year-old sleuths convince Honey’s agreeable governess, Miss Trask, to take them on an expedition in the Wheelers’ cozy trailer. Their objective is to find their friend, 15-year-old Jim Frayne, and inform him that he needn’t be a runaway anymore – before he takes leave of New York’s Hudson River Valley and falls beyond their reach. Though they have a good idea of where to start looking, this task is tough enough in and of itself, but from the day their journey begins, complications and additional mysteries keep piling on until they’re caught in a web of enigmas that seems impossible to untangle, especially since Honey’s parents want her home before the week is out.

This is the second book in the series, and as enjoyable as the first one is, The Red Trailer Mystery really piles on the puzzles. Each of the mysteries that the girls encounter is connected to at least one of the others, and it’s a lot of fun to try to figure out how they intersect. I predicted some of the twists, but others threw me for a loop. I particularly loved the way one minor mystery was solved; though I never suspected the culprit in that case, I had a nice little “aha!” moment when the revelation came. Matters are complicated by the fact that there are quite a few characters introduced throughout the story. Because they are on the road, there are new people to meet in every location, and any one of them might prove important to the overall plot.

As in the first book, Trixie and Honey do a fair bit of horseback riding, and I had to chuckle over the fact that they seem to have a real knack for getting lost along winding mountain trails. Not that this is hard to do; my brother and his girlfriend went for a hike in the mountains at our last family reunion, and they wound up having to be rescued by my uncle after they failed to turn up by sundown. In the case of Trixie and Honey, it’s just as well that they’re prone to wind up wandering around in the woods, as it allows them to stumble upon surprising clues. It’s also a good thing that Trixie has good ears, since she often has the good fortune to stumble into close proximity of an enlightening conversation.

Once again, I found it fun to take note of cultural references as well as unusual vocabulary. The girls mention Lassie Come Home, The Raven and The Bear Went Over the Mountain, books and poems that have stood the test of time pretty well. Of the not-so-commonplace words that came up here, I got the biggest grin out of “davenport,” as this is the word that my grandma has always used in place of “couch,” and I’m pretty sure I’ve never encountered it anywhere else. Additionally, the book includes some useful hints, such as the tip to peel onions under water to avoid getting weepy.

But it’s the tangled story and well-drawn characters that make the book so engaging. Timid Honey and impulsive Trixie really work as a team in this book, bolstering each other and cracking clues together. There’s definitely the sense that neither would have been able to figure everything out on her own. Beyond the problem of trying to find missing people – more than just Jim before too long – and uncover the truth behind a string of robberies, the girls face a vexing ethical dilemma. As I read, I had to concede that I would have a hard time deciding what to do if I were in their situation.

One element of the book that made me chuckle was the fact that the girls are setting out on this whirlwind mission but insist on bringing their dogs along for the ride. As someone who shares a house with a very mischievous mutt, I knew from the outset that this was a sure-fire way to cause delays, and I think that anyone who reads this book would think twice about making such a time-sensitive trip with a pooch in tow. Of course, they end up serving a pretty crucial role in the story, so while the girls might not have been thinking too clearly when they included these four-legged companions in their plans, Campbell certainly was.

And she thought up a lot of great characters while she was at it, including a peculiar shaggy-haired man and his skittish family, a loquacious farmer’s wife and a merry prankster who happens to be Honey’s cousin. The family connection gives me reason to hope I will see more of the boisterous Ben and his pal Sid, who put me pleasantly in mind of my favorite fictional twins, Fred and George Weasley. My only disappointment on the character front was that the lovable Regan, who takes care of the Wheelers' horses, is only mentioned in passing here, but the nature of this story demanded that, and I look forward to seeing more of him once Honey is back at home.

The Secret of the Mansion ended on such a cliffhanger that I had to immediately pick up the second book, and it kept me turning pages eagerly for 18 chapters. With as many twists and turns as a disorienting mountain path, The Red Trailer Mystery is a book I was glad to get lost in.

Friendship, Adventure and Mystery Abound in Trixie Belden and The Secret of the Mansion

This past fall, I discovered the Mother-Daughter Book Club series by Heather Vogel Frederick, and it reminded me how much I love immersing myself in a great intermediate series. Rather disappointingly, there are only four installments in that particular series, and I haven’t heard that there will be more, so I decided that in 2011, I would like to find some more extensive series to explore. I decided to start with Trixie Belden, which has come highly recommended by a couple of friends with impeccable taste. Now that I’ve finished the first book, I am happy to report that I have indeed found another series to get hooked on, and with nearly 40 more volumes to go, I anticipate her adventures keeping me busy for a while.

Julie Campbell’s Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Mansion was published in 1948, which means that there is a certain old-fashioned quality to it, particularly when it comes to some of the vocabulary used in the book, like “dungarees” for blue jeans and the frequent exclamation of “Golly!” It’s also interesting to see what literary references are incorporated into the book, notably Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In the case of the latter, the book is never mentioned by name, but when Jim, the young runaway Trixie and her new friend Honey encounter in her ailing neighbor’s mansion, compares his stepfather to Simon Legree, the wicked slave owner in that novel, both girls know exactly who he is talking about.

Trixie Belden is the plucky 13-year-old for whom the series is named. As the book begins, she is preoccupied with a desperate desire for a horse. She’s never ridden one, but she lives on a farm, so she’s a lot further ahead than I was when I had the same starry-eyed dream at her age. A horse is actually within the realm of possibility for her, provided she spends the next year doing as many extra chores as possible and saving every penny given to her by her parents. Trixie does a bit of whining in this book, but mostly she pursues her goal with gusto. A welcome distraction soon arrives, however, in the form of Honey Wheeler.

Honey, also 13, is a sweet, timid girl who has everything that money can buy but would prefer the time and affection of her parents. She has spent most of her childhood in boarding schools and camps or under the care of governesses, most of whom have been quite as disagreeable as those who preceded Mary Poppins or Maria in The Sound of Music. But things are looking up for Honey, as she now has a governess she loves – the kind but practical Miss Trask – and, for the first time, a real friend in Trixie, who soon overcomes her initial misgivings about this newcomer – especially when she finds out that she has horses and a groomsman who would be happy to provide riding lessons. That groomsman, incidentally, an affable fellow named Regan, is my favorite supporting character in the book. Cheerful and devoted to his work, he is a fine fellow in the vein of great groundskeepers like my beloved Sam Gamgee and Rubeus Hagrid.

Both of the girls are very appealing protagonists. Trixie sometimes comes across as a bit self-serving and stubborn, especially when it comes to the horses, but she’s kind-hearted and clever. I especially like her relationship with her endearingly rambunctious little brother Bobby, and their relationship is at the heart of her finest moment in the book. I like gentle Honey even better. Her charitable demeanor reminds me of Jane in Pride and Prejudice, and I can sympathize all too well with her Piglet-like struggles with anxiety. It’s heartening to see a character as timid as I am finding courage when she needs it most.

Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Mansion is about the formation of the bond between these new neighbors, but it’s also about their covert friendship with Jim Frayne, who is squatting in his great-uncle’s nearby mansion. Old Mr. Frayne has been a cranky old miser for as long as Trixie can remember, but her parents – also great characters in their own right – recall a time when he was warm and friendly. Now he’s in the hospital, unconscious and unlikely to recover from his bout with pneumonia, and Jim is his heir, but there doesn’t seem to be a will anywhere to prove that, and Jim lives in constant fear of being discovered by his greedy, abusive stepfather. The three of them must work together to determine whether any of Mr. Frayne’s fortune remains before Jim decides it’s too risky to stick around.

While Trixie, Honey and Jim are in many ways ordinary kids, they certainly have more than their fair share of adventure here. They get lost in the woods and witness the explosion of an airplane. Even more harrowing, the book includes a fire and a rattlesnake bite; in both incidents, there is not only pulse-pounding action but solid advice on what to do when faced with such a situation, especially in the case of the copperhead. Reading the book may also encourage those who, like Trixie, are lucky enough to be part of a close-knit family to be more appreciative, as her situation is contrasted with that of orphaned Jim and Honey, whose parents are usually simply too busy to bother about her.

I’m glad I decided to finally pick up the Trixie Belden series. Secret of the Mansion gets things off to a rousing start, leaving me with a cliffhanger that made me glad I took out the second book along with the first, and I look forward to getting to know these characters much better as time goes by.