Sometimes it's good to return to you roots! ( )

Trixie Belden is a teen amateur sleuth. She lives in Sleepyside, NY with her family. Her best friend, Honey Wheeler, and Honey's adopted brother, Jim Frayne, live at the large estate next door. Mysteries always seem to come their way. The series is similar to Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys. There are 39 books in the series, written between 1948 and 1986. The original six books were written by Julie Campbell. The rest of the series was written by various authors, using the pen name Kathryn Kenny.

This was my absolute favorite book series when I was a kid. I had the entire series. Every holiday, birthday, or special event usually brought me new books and I remember being incredibly happy when several new books came out in the 80s. Before leaving for college, I sold the entire series to a mom who had two middle school age
girls at home. I hope they loved the books as much as I did! The first four books were re-released a few years ago, but the rest are OOP. Luckily, I found scans of many of the books on OpenLibrary, so I'm going to re-read as much of the old series as I can find! Revisiting my old Sleepyside buddies as an adult has given me some mixed emotions, but all things considered I'm enjoying it.

The Gatehouse Mystery is the third book in the series. Honey and Trixie are out walking and stop by the old Gatehouse on the Wheeler estate. The old building is overgrown with vines and neglected. They are shocked when they find a diamond in the old gatehouse wedged between two floorboards. Then they hear someone lurking in the bushes listening to their conversation. Who hid the diamond on the Wheeler estate? And are they in danger after finding it? Honey and Trixie know they need to discover the truth before the criminals attempt to recover the valuable stone.

As a young girl, I loved reading about Trixie and her friends' adventuring. I spent many an afternoon laying across my bed reading about their exploits. I sympathized with Trixie's occasional annoyance at her little 6-year old brother. My young nephew was a pain in the butt sometimes too when I was 11 or so -- he's 38 years old now -- and I often had to babysit him much to my chagrin. I also remember laughing at the constant teasing between the siblings and friends in the books. :) I ran around with the neighbor kids back in the day myself and I think every one of us had a creative nickname, mostly insulting stuff. I fell in the creek once and got called wethead for a few weeks. So I liked reading about the teasing among the characters. It made the group seem a lot like my own gang of friends. At the time, I did notice that the wording and situations were a bit dated, but I didn't care. As an adult, I had a few problems re-reading this book. For example, the use of the word "squaw' as an insult. One of Trixie's brothers uses that name to tease the girls. It might have been acceptable back when the original six books were written, but it's pretty much seen as racist and derogatory now. I cringed a bit each time Mart teased his sister about being a " lazy squaw'' who should bring him food, and do her chores faster. It was meant as good natured teasing between siblings in the story, but it did bother the adult me. I have seen a few negative comments in reviews of the Trixie Belden series because the dad goes off to work and the mom takes care of the house, home chores, canning food, gardening, etc. I didn't see it as a negative when I originally read the books, or now. It's not sexist. For many families, that's how life was during that time period. I don't see it as belittling of the mom in the stories. The kids and the dad constantly talk about how awesome she is for being such a good cook, mom, gardener, and home maker. What's wrong with that? She gets way more praise and attention than the dad, who gets mentioned only rarely. A reader has to remember that these books are set in the 1950s. It was a much different world back then. I like the fact that the kids all have chores to do each day to help out, and for the most part they obey and respect their parents. The mysteries are a lot like those from Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys....unusual events, mysterious strangers, hidden treasures, etc instead of murders or anything too gruesome.

So, despite the fact that I read the stories with a much older outlook than when I was a teenager, I'm still enjoying reading my way through this series again. I enjoy the dated language for the most part. When there is a word or phrase I find a bit offensive, I have to remind myself that the series is 60 years old, and take things in the spirit in which it was originally meant.

The Gatehouse Mystery is one of the Trixie Belden books that was re-released. I read an ebook copy using OverDrive through my local public library. I'm finding most of the OOP books in this series on OpenLibrary. They have many scans of OOP books available through Internet Archive. Register for an account here: https://openlibrary.org/ They provide links to books from Project Gutenberg, OpenLibrary scans, and publication information when print books are available. Everything is done with respect to copyright laws. All scanned materials and downloadable ebooks are in the public domain, or available to borrow and read online for a set time, just like a lending library. It's a great resource! ( )

The girls go exploring a rundown old gatehouse on the Wheeler's property that they are planning on turning into a clubhouse for their new club, the Bob-Whites (lots of rundown buildings in this area of New York, for some reason). Trixie finds a diamond in the dirt floor and convinces Honey to let her try to figure out how it got there. She's convinced she and Honey can track down the diamond thief better than the actual police could (I do love the sheer improbability of these books. I know it sounds like I'm making fun, but I truly do love them). Trixie is sure someone was hiding in the woods and overheard her and Honey's conversation. The next day, two men show up at Manor House looking for jobs: Nailor, a gardener, and Dick, a chauffeur. Both men are hired (the Wheelers apparently aren't big fans of background checks) and Dick is assigned a room over the garage with Regan (poor Regan) while Nailor sleeps in the house. Trixie is positive she heard someone trying to sneak into Honey's room that night when she sleeps over, and she's convinced it's Dick. He certainly does act suspiciously, and of course in the end Trixie was right. Dick is arrested and the girls get a nice fat reward for their part in helping to catch a notorious pickpocket, which they use to buy Miss Trask a horse. ( )

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? – Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? – Ten and up.

Length? – Most of a day’s read.

Characters? – Memorable, several characters.

Setting? – Real world, pre - computer pre - air conditioning, pre - cell phone.

Written approximately? – 1951.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? – Ready to read more.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? Yes. A slight mention of the time frame of the story - as the teens are given far more freedom to come and go as they please than would be safe today. Also, the absence of computers, cell phones, and air conditioning in homes, especially the mansion.

Short storyline: Trixie Belden, Honey, Jim, and her brothers work to catch the thieves who dropped a diamond in their future clubhouse. This one spends a lot of time focusing on thought processing, and less action.


Notes for the reader: A great mystery! No violence (only referred to from the past), no murder. ( )

This may be the first novel I've ever read that was constructed entirely (and I do mean entirely) out of slang and baby-talk. This is not a see-crud, I guess, to those of you who are fans of this series. I can already hear you saying, "Natch. And isn't it just yummy-yum-yum?"

To a certain degree, I guess it is. There's a secret-club feel to this series, a belonging and an inclusion that I imagine would appeal greatly to odd little kids. The mystery wasn't very mysterious, but it was fun to meet the brothers of Trixie. And I admit to snorting with adolescent-style laughter every time the boys called the girls "Moll Dicks, Inc." because yes, I am twelve years old. The plotting is solid, if transparent. The characters are very likable, though I can't really tell the boys apart yet.

I don't like the illustrations, I think they make Trixie and Honey look eight years old. ( )