I started reading the Trixie Belden teen mystery series in January. When
I glanced through a list of titles to see what was coming up, one that
really leaped out at me was The Mystery of the Phantom Grasshopper.
“Phantom grasshopper???” I wasn’t sure just what that meant, and I
looked forward to solving the mystery of what exactly a phantom
grasshopper was. And how would just a small insect provide enough
intrigue to sustain an entire novel? I have finally read this 18th
volume in the series, which was written by a ghostwriter under the name
of Kathryn Kenny, and I now have the answer to that question.
Phantom Grasshopper
is another hometown mystery for the Bob-Whites, who had some pretty
wild out-of-town adventures in volumes 11 through 15 before settling
down to more ordinary exploits in Sleepyside, NY. This time around,
14-year-old Trixie, her best friend Honey, Trixie’s older brothers Brian
and Mart, Honey’s adopted older brother Jim and their neighbors Dan and
Di are back in school after a seemingly endless summer, and they’ve
made the acquaintance of Miss Lawler, a young woman who is helping out
with history classes by showing off the coin collection in her care.
Kind but reclusive, she seems as though she may have a secret of two to
hide.
Thanks to that coin collection, this book incorporates the
word numismatist, which is another term for a coin collector. It’s one
of several interesting tidbits sprinkled throughout the novel, which
also includes references to Benjamin Franklin, old-timey music and a
movie that I can only assume is King Kong. In addition to having my favorite title in the series, Phantom Grasshopper also boasts what may be my favorite chapter title: A Squirrel Gives a Clue. Given my lifelong fascination with those bushy-tailed creatures, that one gave me a big smile.
As
someone who doesn’t drive, the discussion of the peculiarities and
challenges involved with being an adult non-driver struck a chord with
me, and as someone who has always wanted a tree house, I loved seeing
the “see-crud” arboreal hangout belonging to Trixie’s little brother
Bobby. It also made me happy to see that Regan, the horse expert who
works for Honey’s parents and is my favorite regular side character in
the series, has a fairly large role to play here, mostly because of an
adorable little horse named Mr. Pony who he is teaching Bobby how to
ride.
The mystery itself does not, rather to my disappointment, involve an actual grasshopper but rather a local artifact in the shape
of a grasshopper that disappears after a wicked storm. Trixie’s
fondness for this piece of local history drives her interest, which
leads to an investigation as well as a chance for the Bob-Whites to take
to the radio in an appeal to help them find the missing Hoppy. The
intensity of her investment in this object seems a little goofy,
especially since it hasn’t come up in previous books, but then it does
seem in her nature to throw herself wholeheartedly into things once she
has latched onto them.
Unlike with some of the books in this
series, nothing in the writing style really stood out to me. The
characters seem themselves, and there seems to be a good balance of
dialogue and narration, but the quirkiest thing about the book is the
title object. It’s not an especially memorable entry, and none of the
dialogue particularly jumped out at me as being quote-worthy. Still, I
found the story fun, and it has some moments of real peril. While I
think the book is ultimately a bit more mundane than the oddball title
suggests, it still offers an excellent chance to see the Bob-Whites at
work on their home turf.
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