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.