From the back of the book - "As they started up the hill, Trixie tried to banish from her mind the thought of Mart lying buried under all the snow... "How long do we have, Jim?" she asked tensely. "If we can't find him in an hour, we'll have to send for help." That was all Jim would say. What he means is, if we don't find him in an hour, it may be too late, Trixie cried silently..."The Bob-Whites are worried about affording the insurance on their car. So it comes as a relief when Mr Wheeler wants to hire them to check out the ski lodge he's thinking of buying and let him know if young people would be interested in it and what changes he might need to make to it.
Almost as soon as they arrive (minus Dan of course) Trixie gets them involved in mysterious happenings. Apparently Mead's Mountain has it's own ghost and then there's Honey's watch going missing. Add to that the mysterious old man living alone in the wilderness with a cottage stinking of alcohol and the figure with a ski mask on they see right before the avalanche, not to mention the notes to Trixie the ghost keeps leaving! Trixie gets the gang involved with criminals involved in counterfeiting, blackmail, kidnapping and petty theft!! Everything ends up fine of course, and JUST in time for the Bob-Whites to celebrate the new year with all their new friends. AWWWWW!
I had a few beefs with this book -
First the problem with the Bob-Whites not accepting the insurance money as a gift, even though it's christmas. Mr Wheeler gave them the car for nothing but now they've got a problem with accepting help with the insurance, even if it means they'll have to sell the car? Seems a bit suspect to me.
Dan being left behind once again - it's like the authors aren't even trying any more. I'd like it even if Dan went and just didn't do much, it'd be much preferable to him always missing out!
Mart's insults of Trixie were of a particularly harsh nature this time. I know he likes to rib her but she's a 14 year old girl and he practically calls her fat and ugly and dumb, what a douche! I'm usually "Team Mart" but this time I was like "Leave that bastard in the avalanche!"
The Belden kids start off saying how much they need to help their parents with stuff but suddenly they worm their way out of it and are off on ANOTHER vacation! It really annoys me when Trixie spends ages whining about having to help her parents when really, she hardly ever has to do even her most basic chores without help or managing to get out of them. Poor Mr and Mrs Belden!
Counterfeiting AGAIN! We just had a counterfeiting gang a couple of books ago with Old Telegraph Rd and now we're back to it? Geez, way to have no fresh ideas various Kathryn Kenny's!
Ok, I've vented enough for now I think :) Having said all of that I kinda liked this book. Ok, so it had a lot that annoyed me but it was good in that the mystery wasn't totally obvious right from the start, there was enough action to keep it flowing fairly well and there were enough cute little scenes that you've come to expect (like the visit to the little brain-damaged girl who makes puzzles or the trip to the vegetarian restaurant) and, other than Mart (seriously, even liked Brian over Mart this time around) most of the characters acted like you'd expect them to. I have to give props to this author, I liked this Di, she wasn't girly, scared, unsure Di, she was a bit less 2 dimensional and the idea that she wants to be an artist is introduced, I hope they keep that, it kinda suits her.
Anyway, I'd have to say, despite the negatives overall this one graded about average, likeable but not a standout.
Next up I seem to remember we're off to merry olde England for the Mystery of the Queen's Necklace! Be sure to come back!
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