Book 14 - The Mystery of the Emeralds

From the back of the book - "It was a small plot, enclosed by an ornate iron fence. The gate was ajar, and, going through it, Trixie and Jim saw rows of moss-covered headstones. In the rear was a small but impressive marble mausoleum. "Ooooh! Cemeteries give me the shivers!" Trixie exclaimed. A sudden clap of thunder made them both jump, and they hurried to the vault. By now the rain was teeming, and the inside of the mausoleum was pitch black, but at least they were out of the storm..."

The Bob-Whites are just back from their adventure on Cobbett's Island, they hadn't even had a chance to open up the club house since they've been back. Trixie is enlisted to help her mum clean out the attic and while up there she falls through a wall into a hidden crawl space. In the crawl space she finds a letter dated from before the civil war. Turns out Crabapple Farm was a part of the underground railroad, helping smuggle slaves out of the south into the more liberated north and this letter was carried here by one such (freed) slave.

The letter, of course, leads to a mystery for the Bob-Whites to get involved in. They want to find the hidden emerald necklace that the letter talks about. To do so they're all off to Virginia to search out the clues that have been left. Along the way they've got to thwart a greedy and cruel neighbour, help a crippled man and save a teenager from going down the wrong path.

Emeralds was great for a number of reasons but I loved that it was one of the "treasure hunt" kind of mysteries. Trixie and the rest follow a series of clues that lead from the crawl space in the attic, to Croton On Hudson (a town close to Sleepyside), to Virginia, a pair of mansions, one in ruins, a family cemetery and it's mausoleum and, eventually, an underground secret passage.

The bad stuff - Once again Dan gets neglected :( There's like maybe one or two sentences about him, they don't even call him when they're going to have a Bob-Whites meeting!! This time Di is shyDi and though the Bob-Whites wouldn't have gotten to go to Virginia without here and the fact that it's her birthday at the end of the book she gets no attention and is totally ignored by most of the other characters, poor Di. Brian manages to be a super doctor once again (it gets old when he's always saving the day and finding no broken bones and stuff), Mart's his typical mouthy, garbage guts self and Honey barely gets too much of a look in aside from being around with Trixie, sometimes. Jim saves the day as he's wont to do. Really, this one is one of the books that ignores most of the characters for most of the time.

Next up we're of for a mystery on the Mississippi. Which is one I don't remember at all.

Book 13 - THe Mystery on Cobbett's Island

From the back of the book - " "The rudder's broken. It's lucky we didn't tear a big hole in the bottom of the boat!" Trixie sensed a note of anxiety in Peter's voice. "Someone will be coming along soon who will give us a tow, although there aren't many boats out this early in the season." The minutes ticked away without and sign of helping showing up. The disabled sailboat was being carried down the bay, and, as the all realized, out to seas..."

This time Trixie and the Bob-Whites have been invited by the Wheeler's to spend 10 days at the holiday house they rented on Cobbett's Island. Once again, poor Dan misses out on going. This time it's because he has gotten a job at a summer camp. BUT! Di gets to come along and she isn't whineybitchDi, she's actually fun, useful, calm Di which I love. She does go a bit girly for the new friend they make, batting her eyelashes at him and such.

Anyway, their arrival at the island is marred by a severe storm so the Bob-Whites stay inside, exploring the houses library. In one of the books they find an old letter that has a cryptic clue to the start of an adventure that will lead to $1000!!! With the help of their new friend, Peter, the Bob-Whites soon solve the clue and have found the treasure map that will eventually lead them to the loot but the landmarks etc on the map don't seem to make sense. While hunting the treasure the Bob-Whites manage to go boating (Trixie and Jim turn out to be born sailors and help Petter win a race, despite never having sailed before), attend a clam bake, help with a charity luncheon and Trixie and Jim even dress up as ruffians and attend a dive of a place to try tracking down some vandals. Even with all of this the Bob-Whites manage to solve the mystery, JUST IN TIME (as always) and find the loot. Which they then give to the widow and son of the writer of the original letter, AWWWW!!!

The way Honey feels for Brian is obvious, once again in this book and by the end of it you're wanting to beat Jim up for not giving Trixie a kiss. While Mart does seem a little jealous of Di's attraction to Peter there's nothing said to really make you think these two really care for each other as anything more than friends.

Once again the Bob-Whites prove to be totally awesome at everything they do, which can get kinda annoying when they're expert horse riders, sailors, swimmers, cavers, basketballers, harmonica players etc, it's like there's nothing they're no good at! (except maybe school and house work in Trixie's case)

The basic premise of this book - Trixie finds a clue to an old, unsolved mystery that leads to treasure - is used often in the series and is probably my favourite of the basic premises. It's always more fun when they're all treasure hunting rather than tracking down criminals. The Vandals/bad guys in this book feel kinda tacked on to add an extra little bit of excitement but really aren't necessary (IMHO).

Next up is the Mystery of the Emeralds, if I remember rightly, it's another with the forumla of "Trixie finds a clue to an old, unsolved mystery" and another book I really remember enjoying. :)

Book 12 - The Mystery of the Blinking Eye

From the back of the book - "Great headed man, with blinking eye, A shaded road, a horses cry, Foreign words for all to hear, First clue is now so very near. Watch out for thieves they're everywhere, At home, on island, dead beasts lair. Where shines a beacon 'cross the sky, Beware, great danger lurks close by. Thus begins the strange prophecy that launches Trixie, Honey and the rest of the Bob-Whites upon another exciting adventure, in THE MYSTERY OF THE BLINKING EYE."

This book sees the return of Ned and the Hubbell twins from the Happy Valley Mystery. This time they're visiting the Bob-Whites and having a tour of New York City for a few days. At the airport while the Bob-Whites are waiting for their friends to arrive Trixie helps a mexican lady who was lost. The lady, who was a fortune teller, gives Trixie a pretty hand bag and later, Trixie finds that inside is a prophecy written just for her. Back in the city Trixie buys a little Incan wood statue from an antique store and soon the Bob-Whites are being pursued by a trio of crooks who are seemingly intent on getting Trixie's ugly little statue. As the tour of New York and the villains pursuit of Trixie continue each encounter seems to corespond with part of Trixie's prophecy. Eventually of course, Trixie does a stupid thing and ends up being held at gunpoint by the crooks. And, as usual it's the Bob-Whites who help save her and in the end the crooks are caught, the mystery is solved and the Bob-Whites end up helping everyone :)

Dan and Di are both in this book, YAY! Di is written as a scared, whining girly girl for the most part (when she gets any lines at all) but one of the main encounters happens because of Di so she's got some import to the story. Dan's experiences in his gang days mean he's got a bit of knowledge of New York and how bad it can be and he also plays an important part in this book (at least as important as anyone but Trixie anyway).

The highlights are Mart's magic show, the visit with Dr Joe and his model train hobby room and all the New York sights they saw (Empire State building, Statue of Liberty, Museum of Natural History, Central Park etc). Aside from the slight beef with Di's character being a bit too whiney once again this remains a favourite. Once again the ending seems a little rushed but not so much compared to many of the other books.

Next up we're off to Cobbett's Island (where ever that is) in book 13. I can't remember a thing about it so that promises to be fun :)

PS. Blinking Eye is another one I remember reading in the "ugly" editions...

Book 11 - The Mystery at Bob-White Cave

From the back of the book - " "What is it, Brian?" Trixie asked. "Bats. Thousands of them. They're asleep. Gosh!" The startled bats roared into flight, circling the cave clockwise and beating against the Bob-Whites, almost knocking them down. The gorls waved their arms wildly and ran out of the cave. Slim, pushing the girls aside, ran ahead of them. The whirring wings of the frenzied bats sounded like a roar of an express train..."

This time the Bob-Whites, minus Di and Dan (of course, BOO!) are spending some time at Uncle Andrews fishing lodge in the Ozarks. While they're there, Trixie reads an article in a magazine about the hunt by scientists for some blind cave fish at three stages in the evolution, sighted, blind but with eye bumps and without any eyes at all. Whoever can come up with all three specimens will be awarded $500! The Bob-Whites think this is a great idea as they'd like to contribute it to a station wagon for handicapped kids at their school (or something like that anyway).

Of course it wouldn't be a Bob-White holiday if there wasn't mysteries aplenty! There's the englishman they save from drowning, Slim, the cave guide who turns out to be a douche and when he gets fired a fire breaks out and almost destroys the cabin of Uncle Andrews housekeeper. There's also the mystery of the ghost cabin and the ghostly man that's been seen in the area.

But foremost in Trixies mind is the hunt for the ghostfish, which is what causes her to be in a hole in a cave when it floods due to a sudden storm, almost drowning her!!!

It's funny how the Bob-Whites refuse to accept donations for the station wagon and are determined to work for the $500 BUT Uncle Andrew buys them a stack of caving equipment, lamps, torches, ropes, helmets, etc and they have no issues with that?

Once again it's Trixie's impetuous nature that causes most of the excitement in this story, with the others there to help clean up the messes she makes. They talk about how she's always a good judge of people but it seems to me she gets it wrong as often as right (look at just Dan as an example).

The Mystery at Bob-White Cave was one of my favourite Trixie books during my first read through all those years ago and it's easy to see why. The story jumps right into it and the action is well paced. The characters are fun, they do and see some really fun and cool stuff. Their motivation this time is once again something honourable and charitable. And of course, it all works out in the end, though not exactly as you'd expect :) Trixie's admiration of Jim and it's reciprocation is once again obvious in this book but without being explicitly stated.

Next up is another favourite of mine, the Mystery of the Blinking Eye. Can't wait to get into that :)

Book 10 - The Marshland Mystery

From the back of the book - "Trixie gripped Honey's arm and held her back. "Look at the window!" she said in a strange voice. Honey looked and felt a little shiver go down her spine. A bony little hand was gesturing from between the curtains of the window next to the door. And, quite unmistakably, the hand was warning them to go..."

So this time around Trixie and and the gang have to put up with a violin prodigy, deal with her running away, her strict aunt, a nosy newspaper reporter who's out to cause trouble and help out a kindly old lady who is being forced out her house by the council and Trixie feels responsible.

This book took me several days to read as it seemed to just drag on and on with nothing really happening. Then I finally got to the end and it seemed as if someone had rushed the ending to fit in a small a space as possible. I feel like this is one of my least favourite of the books and am quite annoyed with how boring it was and how hacked together the ending felt.

Dan and Di once again get short shrift. Dan barely gets a mention, even at a meeting of the Bob-Whites that he supposedly attends he get glossed over, AFTER the fact he gets a mention but thats it.

The character of Gaye, the young violin player is annoying and you find yourself wishing she'd just drown in the marsh.

Seriously I can't even think what else to say about this book it's that much of a disappointment, no wonder I couldn't remember any of it before I started.

Next up, we're off to Bob-White Cave in the Ozarks to hunt blind cave fish, one of my favourite books :)