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!