Way Back Wednesday - The Gatehouse Mystery

Trixie Belden #3 - The Gatehouse Mystery - 1951
by Julie Campbell

Jim Frayne is now officially Honey's new brother because her parents decided to adopt him. And Honey couldn't be happier; she always wanted a sibling. Jim now lives on the Wheeler estate, but he still has his own money in trust account, thanks to the fortune of his great-uncle.

The Gatehouse Mystery focuses on a mysterious new chauffeur hired by the Wheeler family. But Trixie thinks there is something funny going on with this man and she just doesn't trust him. Someone has been sneaking into the gatehouse behind the Wheeler estate and Trixie is determined to find out who. Trixie and Honey have also found a diamond, which Honey says does not belong to either of her parents.

This book is the first time we get a hint of the Bob-White Club that will be formed. The Bob-Whites include Trixie and Honey, as well as Jim and Trixie's older brothers, Brian and Mart.

Way Back Wednesday - Trixie Belden #5

Trixie Belden #5 - The Mystery Off Glen Road - 1956

If you've read the first book in this series - The Secret Manison - you will remember that Jim left Trixie a diamond ring. Because of Trixie's "tomboy" nature, her parents are keeping the ring for her until she grows up. In The Mystery Off Glen Road, Trixie is trying to convince her parents she is grown up and feminine enough so they will give her the ring.

The real reason Trixie wants the diamond ring is so she can use it as collateral for her oldest brother, Brian - he is trying to buy his dream jalopy (car), but doesn't have the money for a downpayment. Trixie feels she and her brothers can earn the money, if they can convince the owner not to sell the car to someone else.

In another story line, the Wheeler's surly gamekeeper quits without notice. Trixie and Honey agree to take on the gamekeeper's duties - again to help Brian earn money for his car. But another mystery hits the Bob Whites, and they soon fear a poacher is loose in the Wheeler's game preserve.

This book really shows Trixie's determination in following through with a project. She cares more about helping her brother than doing things for herself. This is a lesson that siblings today could learn from.

Way Back Wednesday - Trixie Belden #3

Trixie Belden #3 - The Gatehouse Mystery - 1951

Jim Frayne is now officially Honey's new brother because her parents decided to adopt him. And Honey couldn't be happier; she always wanted a sibling. Jim now lives on the Wheeler estate, but he still has his own money in trust account, thanks to the fortune of his great-uncle.

The Gatehouse Mystery focuses on a mysterious new chauffeur hired by the Wheeler family. But Trixie thinks there is something funny going on with this man and she just doesn't trust him. Someone has been sneaking into the gatehouse behind the Wheeler estate and Trixie is determined to find out who. Trixie and Honey have also found a diamond, which Honey says does not belong to either of her parents.

This book is the first time we get a hint of the Bob-White Club that will be formed. The Bob-Whites include Trixie and Honey, as well as Jim and Trixie's older brothers, Brian and Mart.

Way Back Wednesday - Trixie Belden #2

Trixie Belden #2 - The Red Trailer Mystery - 1950

We learned at the end of The Secret of the Mansion that Jim Frayne had ran away. His great uncle's lawyer showed up, revealing that Jim inherited half-a-million dollars and is going to finally be removed from his abusive stepfather's custody.

The Red Trailer Mystery picks up there. Trixie and Honey - along with Honey's governess, Miss Trask - set off in the Wheeler's trailer to find their missing friend. They make a plan to check several boy's camps upstate, since Jim mentioned getting a job there. The problem is, Jim always appears to be one step ahead of them.

On the trip, Trixie and Honey are faced with an interesting obstacle. At the trailer park where they are staying, there is a family living next door in a very fancy trailer. This family does not appear to be the owners of the trailer. They make friends with Mrs. Smith who is a very motherly person, and Trixie and Honey learn that her daughter is missing.

While trying to help this family and look for Jim at the same time, they become entangled in a trailer robbing ring; and there are two suspicious workers at their trailer camp who may or may not be involved. Trixie knows that the mysteries are all tied together and the answer lies somewhere in the nearby forest, if only they could find it.

This book ends on a truly happy note. Once again, Trixie saves the day - with a little help from her friends.

Way Back Wednesday - Trixie Belden #1

When I was a little girl, Trixie Belden was my hero. I loved reading these books over and over again. My babysitter's daughter was the one who got me hooked on Trixie Belden and I could lose myself for hours in the adventures of Trixie and the Bob-Whites (a club formed by Trixie, her brothers, and her friends). I owned the original 16 books, the Whitman 1970s hardcover editions, and these were my pride and joy as a youngster.

Because of my love for Trixie, I've decided to start a new segment here on Bobbi's Book Nook and I'm calling it Way Back Wednesday. I'm going to do reviews of the Trixie Belden books from my past. Today I'm starting with the very first book in the series, The Secret of the Mansion.

The Secret of the Mansion - 1948

The book opens with thirteen-year-old Trixie begging her mother for a horse. Her two older brothers - Brian and Mart - are away at camp for the summer and Trixie is stuck on the family farm with her younger brother Bobby. The Belden family - who live on Crabapple Farm - can't afford a horse, so Trixie is trying to save all her money. I could relate to Trixie because I wanted a horse so badly when I was younger, but never had the opportunity to go riding.

Trixie is excited when people start moving into the mansion on the hill - and a horse trailer is seen unloading horses! The Wheelers, a wealthy family from New York City, are moving into the mansion with their teenaged daughter, Honey.

At first, tomboy Trixie thinks Honey is a stuckup sissy, but they soon become fast friends. Trixie realizes that Honey really is a "poor little rich girl." Honey's parents are never home, and she has grown up in boarding schools, camps and with governesses. Trixie helps her new friend overcome these things.

Later in the book, we learn another of Trixie's neighbors has been taken to the hospital. Trixie uses this chance to explore the old man's rundown old mansion. Trixie and Honey climb inside an unlocked window to look around. They are shocked to find a tall, redheaded boy asleep on a mattress!

The boy turns out to be Jim Frayne, the old man's grand-nephew, and he is running away from his abusive stepfather. The three become friends, and the girls start smuggling food up to the mansion for Jim. Local rumors say the old man hid his money somewhere in the house. Honey and Jim are doubtful, but Trixie is sure the money is there somewhere, if only they could find it before Jim's evil stepfather comes looking for him. I can remember having strong feelings of dislike for this evil stepfather. Up until this point, I had only read about wicked step-mothers.

Eventually, the stepfather does come looking for Jim after a newspaper article appeared, telling of a jet crashing near Sleepyside-on-Hudson (Trixie's home town); the newspaper also features the legend of the old man's fortune.

The very night the article appears in the newspaper, Jim's stepfather shows up. Mysteriously, the mansion catches fire and burns to the ground. When Trixie and Honey go to the old house the next morning to visit Jim, they find him gone.

Jim has run away again ... this time with a half million dollars! The money had been hidden in the mattress Jim had been sleeping on all the time! Trixie and Honey are confronted by the stepfather's lawyer who asks them to track Jim down for him. This story is continued in The Red Trailer Mystery.

Full of thrills, chills and mystery, The Secret of the Mansion is the book that started my fascination with the world of Trixie Belden.