Book 25 - The Sasquatch Mystery

From the back of the book - "Trixie crept to the tent opening... She could make out nothing... Then she saw it! But what was it? Trixie went rigid with fear. A very tall thing stood what seemed like only a few feet from Cap. Arms dangled past its knees. Its head and shoulders were joined like grotesque snowballs pushed together to make a snaowman. Covered with fur from head to toe, it stood upright like a man..."

Trixie and the other Bob-Whites (without Dan, of course) and Miss Trask are in the wilderness of Ohio (excuse me while I Google where Ohio is. Ok, back. Well, that's interesting, way further east and north than I expected) visiting their cousin Hallie (remember her from book 16?) and her brothers Cap and Knut. Sorry about all those brackets. So, Trixie and the others are enjoying a nice relaxing camp in the places where Hallie's family are from. Their lives are suddenly thrown into turmoil when a Sasquatch scare runs through the area and all the other campers flee. Despite Trixie and Cap having their own bigfoot encounter the Bob-Whites and their friends decide to stay. Then, after Trixie takes a tumble down a log chute and has a second, closer encounter with the sasquatch, they return to camp to find Di and Miss Trask saw Cap get kidnapped by the bigoot! Also missing is Hallie, Knut and Cap's frined, a local miner named Tank. With Cap and Tank missing the crew decide that they have to stay and keep looking for them. Of course, this leads to an adventure with mystery, danger, fake bigfoots, gold thieves, a packrat and Di kicking a baby bear!

Needless to say, in the end the truth is revealed, Tank and Cap are found safe and the gold thieves are caught thanks to Trixie and her friends. Of course, there's still the case of the REAL sasquatch that Trixie encountered twice that's left to our own thoughts, is it real, what is it? It's the REAL mystery this time.

So, this book is my favourite Trixie book and the first one I ever read, thanks to my sister leaving it beside the lounge when she was reading it. That may colour what I think of the book, so don't expect me to be objective :P

First, let's look at the Ohio Beldens, Hallie, Cap and Knut (Capleton and Knutson are their full names). With the similarities to Trixie's family you have to wonder if the author was trying for a spin-off series. Knut is the Brian of the team, the eldest, the sensible one, the leader in a tough spot. Cap is the Mart, he might annoy his sister sometimes but they love each other and he loves the world around him and is very smart. And of course Hallie, hot tempered, smart and loyal to her family and friends, she's so like Trixie it's not funny. I think these characters could have spun off into their own series if they'd wanted to, they even introduced several of their friends who could have made up the rest of their version of the Bob-Whites.

Di. Once again, for the majority of the book Di whinges and whines and gets on everyone's nerves. Poor Di. Though it's all made up for when she makes fudge and kicks a baby bear and manages to not get mauled by the mother bear. It's a ridiculous scene that seems to be there just to give Di something to do. Which is hard in this book, with the extended cast of main characters even Honey, Jim, Brian and Mart don't do much, becoming background actors for Cap, Knut, Hallie and Trixie to play off.

The sasquatch! Obviously the author this time around knew what they were talking about, maybe through research, maybe they had their own encounter. The fake bigfoot that forms part of the mystery is a cute gimmick and could easily have been used without the two real encounters with the real thing. I think the encounters were added because the author was a believer or at least interested int he subject. I like it, maybe because I love cryptozoology and stuff like that but I think it adds an atmosphere that you don't get in the other books, it adds a creep factor that's just not there usually.

Whatever the case, I love this book. The mystery feels more like a mystery (there's plenty of clues and little details throughout that only add up when certain other clues are revealed. The encounters with the real sasquatch feel real, the encounters with the fake one feel menacing. And more than that the setting it beautiful. It was my favourite Trixie book the first time I read it and it has easily defended that title this time.

Next up, Headless Horseman! It's elementary. (I think that's the one, right?)

Book24 - The Mystery at Saratoga

From the back of the book - "Looking up, Trixie saw a man's form towering above her, hands on hips. The moonlight... outlined his figure and glinted on his bright red hair. Regan! Trixie though... Oh, no, Regan! We were so sure you were innocent!..."

Once again I'm back! It was a long time coming but I had a huge pile of books to be read (and still do) and every time I finished one three more would pop up. Now I have a new rule, Trixie is going to be the only book I read at night time. I can read my other books during the day but Trixie will be my bedtime material. Anyway, on with the blog...

A racing horse owner from Saratoga turns up in Sleepyside to visit the Wheelers and Regan disappears. Trixie and Honey track down their friend to Saratoga (Mr and Mrs Wheeler just happen to be going there for a few days and take Honey and Trixie with them) where he is trying to clear his name for a horse drugging incident 7 years earlier. Of course, we all know Regan didn't do it, despite the evidence that keeps piling up against him. In the end Honey and Trixie help clear Regan's name, get themselves in danger and find the real horse druggers. All's well that ends well.

Now, I love Regan, I really do but this book had Trixie and Honey falling into HUGE coincidences and following the flimsiest leads our girl detectives have ever come across. Their single biggest clue was that Regan has red hair. The book was published in 1979 (incidentally the year I was born) and it seems to imply that back then red haired males were super rare, to the point that at a large horse racing track Regan happened to be the only redhead there. Well, aside from Mr Wheeler, right? They're always saying that he and Jim look enough alike to be real father and son. Between Mr Wheeler, Jim and Regan it seems that red hair is one of the most common colours of hair on Glen Rd. This red hair leads Honey and Trixie all over the place and I just find it the silliest clue they've ever had to follow.

I think the author was mostly trying to rely on the horses this time as the main draw card. For some reason teenage girls like horses. I think they're gorgeous animals and all but I don't get their popularity with girls.

Anyway... This was far from my favourite book but aside from the flimsiness of the clues and the huge coincidences it wasn't that bad really. next up IS my favourite book, the Sasquatch Mystery. Which was the first Trixie book I ever read.

Book 23 - The Mystery of the Queen's Necklace

I'm back!

So, it's been a while since my last post, I took a Trixie break to read some other stuff. Also, this book bored me. Anyway, we now return you to your regular blog...

From the back of the book - ""Oh Trixie!" Honey's voice quavered as they looked around their room, once beautiful but now a shambles... "How awful," Trixie whispered. Honey was rummaging in a drawer. WHen she turned to face Trixie, her face was drained of color. "My necklace," she squeeked... "I meant to ask Anne to put it back in the safe this morning. But, oh, Trixie, I forgot, and now it's gone!..."

This time Honey inherits a necklace from an Aunt she never knew she had. But, oddly, it's a fake, a "paste copy". So the Wheelers hire Trixie and Honey to go to England and hunt down the family and it's connection to Shakespeare and to find out where the necklace came from.

Of course, the mystery gets solved, but unfortunately we never get to REALLY know about the true source of the necklace, the book finished before they find that out. Really the rest of the book the mystery takes a back seat to this author talking all about England and the sites. I think either this "Kathryn Kenny" was English or wanted to go there. It often read like touristy advertising and not a real novel.

I'm not even going to waste more time than I have to, this was definitely low in the Trixie list for me. Only Trixie, Honey, Jim and Mart are really in it, guided by Miss Trask, who, even after Honey is pick-pocketed, robbed and almost killed by bus, lets the girls head off on their own every few pages, some chaperone!

That's all I have to say really. Small wonder it took me this long to read it. next up, the Mystery at Saratoga. YAY! Regan stuff!

Book 22 - The Mystery at Mead's Mountain

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!

Book 21 - The Mystery of the Castaway Children

From the back of the book - "From the backseat of the Bob-White station wagon, Mart said sharply "Watch it, Jim. Those headlights are coming up on us awfully fast...". Suddenly the whole interior of the wagon was flooded with light that blazed into Jim's eyes. "Shift that mirror!" he snapped at Trixie. Trixie obeyed, watching those freckled hands on the steering wheel and praying silently. If anyone can get us out of this nightmare, Jim can... "Dont slow down," warned Brian. "He can't miss hitting us"..."





After a heavy summer storm Trixie notices Reddy acting funny and when Brian investigates he finds a baby abandoned in Reddy's dog house. The Bob-Whites name the baby Moses and are entrusted with his care while the police search for his parents. When the babies parents are found it turns out they are missing two children, the baby and a young boy around Bobby's age, who seems to have run away. To make things more complicated a ransom note is delivered to the parents of the missing children! Now it's up to Trixie and her friends to find out if the kids really were kidnapped or whether the young boy ran away with his baby brother and someone is trying to take advantage of their distraught parents.

I really enjoyed this book, the mystery was interesting, the characters, both regular and new, were real enough to get me involved and all of the Bob-Whites acted as I expect them to. Di was wonderful in the way she cared for "Moses" and Bobby made me smile and I even laughed out loud once (when Jim asked Brian if being nuts ran in the Belden family).

One thing I found out of place was Trixie ignoring so many clues. She ignored the moving rug, the open fridge, the small change left for the food, the funny noises and shadows etc. It was so annoying that she made nothing of it when normally she can make huge mysteries of the smallest happenings.

While I remember this book being one of my favorites I'm not sure anymore. I think it was an above average entry into the series but it doesn't quite match my memories. Don't get me wrong I really loved it and powered through it quickly because I was really enjoying it, it just didn't have that same spark for me this read through. Out of ten I'd still give it a nine :)

The next book in the series is the Mystery at Meads Mountain. I remember the avalanche but not much else, I do remember really enjoying it though, we'll have to see if I enjoy it as much this time, I certainly hope so :)

Book 20 - The Mystery Off Old Telegraph Road

From the back of the book - "Trixie walked over to her best friend and grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing Honey to look at her. "What is it, Honey?" she asked. "What happened?". "Oh, Trixie," Honey wailed, "I just got the most horrible phone call. H-He said I should call off the bikeathon. He - he said if I didn't - if the bikeathon went on as scheduled next Saturday - that something awful would happen. 'You can be sure of it,'he said..."





Trixie and Honey attend their schools art fair and see how underfunded the art department is. The Bob-Whites decide to do something about it and hold a bikeathon through the Wheeler game preserve to raise funds. Nothing about that seems too mysterious but Ben Riker (Honeys cousin) is back in town and this time he's hanging out with a bad crowd. Then there's Nick Roberts, an art student who should be happy about the bikeathon but isn't, he even rips down one of the posters for it! Add to that the fact Trixie is out scouting the route the bikeathon will follow when she discovers some foreign currency that turns out to be counterfeit and things are looking like starting another mystery for the Belden-Wheeler detective agency. And then Di's bike tires get slashed and Honey receives a threatening phone call and so does Mrs Vanderpoel (who has volunteered her yard as a pit stop for the bikeathon) and it looks like the bikeathon may be called off!

Of course the bikeathon goes ahead, the counterfeiters are caught and everyone has a happy ending, after Trixie puts herself in danger once again :)

I'm a bit up in the air about this book. While it has the makings of a fun mystery there's a few things that detract from it in various ways.

Ben Rikers reappearance annoyed me. I'm not sure what his purpose in this book is, other than maybe the author wanted to bring him in as a new regular or maybe even a new Bob-White. They TRY to make him a red herring about the counterfeiting with his "forgery" of the arrows but seriously, as if anyone really thought he had anything to do with the real criminals. He served no REAL purpose.

Of course, talking of Ben, we have to mention Trixie and Honey's fight, as Ben was really the cause. While I really felt bad for Trix when she and Honey fought the whole thing felt forced (maybe to try justify Bens appearance) and like it was just there to add a bit of angsty drama to the mix. They make up much too quickly for me, it could've been an interesting subplot but just becomes another distraction in a book with too many already.

Then there's the silk screening. There's a couple pages devoted to silk screening out of no where. It's almost like the author sold some advertising to a silk screening company or was trying to make the readers interested in doing some silk screening, it was just bizarre.

Of course there was plenty of stuff I did like :). Marts attitude to Trix this time around showed just how loyal and loving he is when it comes to his "almost twin". Marts feelings for Di are mentioned once again (yay) as are Jims and Trixies for each other.

All in all I guess I'd have to say this book is about average, it's fun and all but just not brilliant but I did enjoy it :)

Next up is Castaway Children, another of my favorites, where the Bob-Whites find an abandoned baby in Reddys doghouse. See you here when I finish it.

Book 19 - The Secret of the Unseen Treasure

From the back of the book - "The light shining Honey's palm made the hand look reddish and bony. "Point your flashlight at the ground and let a little more light out," Trixie said. "If we can find our footprints then we'll know which way to go.". As Honey directed the light downward, a pair of beady little eyes gleamed redly nearby..."





This time it's Mrs Elliot who benefits from Trixie's investigative skills. Mrs Elliot's flowers were once enough to support her but since her husband died a few years ago she's been finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. Her stepson has returned to live with her and help out but now it's not just making ends meet that's worrying her. Someone tries to burn down her barn, steal her social security cheque, destroy her flowers, sabotages her water pump and even tries to convince Social Security that she's been defrauding them!

When I first picked this book up this morning I couldn't remember anything about it. It didn't take long for me to remember the cheques turning up in the lake and the fact that Mrs Elliots savior was a new breed of plant in her garden but that's all I could remember so imagine my surprise when Trixie and Honey discover a marijuana crop!!! And then the discussion about hemp and the act some states were trying to legalize it (over 30 years ago)! Certainly not what I expected from a Trixie book!

Once again I'm happy that all of the Bob-Whites get a look inn this book, though for a chunk of it Brian and Jim are away, which leaves Mart in the starring male role for a little while (totally awesome for a Mart fan like me). Dans experiences in his gang days once again help shed some light on the mystery and I have big props for Di, even though she's scared out in a strange place in the middle of the night she's brave enough to keep doing what needs to be done.

It was really easy to imagine how pretty the flowers etc at Mrs Elliots were and I'm glad it had a happy ending for everyone, except for the villain of course.

My only beef this time was the timeline. Last book the Bob-Whites are fresh back at school for the start of a new year, this time it's the start of the holidays again, a whole school year disappeared and no one aged a day, I guess this I'd where the timeline starts going screwy and the agelessness of the characters starts pushing beyond belief.

Join me next time for the Mystery off Old Telegraph Road, which, if I remember rightly, has counterfeiting and a bikeathon!