Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: Mostly good characters, good overall mystery
Cons: A few character missteps, plot drives story too much
The Bottom Line:
Mysterious shop
And an errand in Paris
Average Trixie
We are getting further into the reaches of the final five
Trixie Belden books. Most fans of the
series hate them. I’m not sure I hate
them, but I can certainly see their weaknesses.
Take The Mystery of the Antique Doll. It’s not the worst of the series, but it
certainly isn’t the best of the series.
Dr. Ferris has asked Trixie Belden and her best friend Honey
Wheeler to help out a neighbor who broke her arm. Always willing to help others, they quickly
agree. Mrs. De Keyser. happens to live
next door a new business in town, an antique store. After their first afternoon helping Mrs. De
Keyser, Trixie and Honey stop by and start admiring the antique toys only to
have the owner, Carl, snap at them and ask them to leave.
Naturally, this sets off Trixie’s radar that something is
suspicious. However, she is soon
distracted by a long weekend trip to Paris with Honey and her parents. When Carl overhears the friends talking about
their trip, he asks them to do him a favor and pick up a fragile antique doll
and bring it back to Sleepyside with them.
Only when they do, they find themselves being followed by a
stranger. What is going on?
This is one of those books that sounds great in concept but
needs some help in execution. The clues
that Trixie gathers rely more on coincidence that any actual sleuthing on her
part. In fact, one turn late in the book
relies on something completely silly happening.
This didn’t bother me at all when I read it originally as a kid, but it
is obvious as an adult. Things do come
together for a logical and exciting climax, however.
Then there are the characters. Trixie and Honey have a group of friends
called the Bob-Whites, and there are seven members of this club overall. Jim, Di, and Dan hardly get anything to do in
this book. Heck, Dan only shows up for
the climax, while Jim and Di do get to be part of a couple of group
scenes. Trixie’s brothers Mart and Brian
definitely fair better. They aren’t a
huge part of the action, but they are around.
Still, the characters are mostly in character…until the final
chapter. As we learn about the Christmas
presents that the Bob-Whites are making for friends and family, we learn that
Trixie is knitting scarves. Really? Sorry, but it is well established that Trixie
wants nothing to do with anything remotely like sewing. Then there’s the Inspector Clouseau inspired
character we meet along the way. He’s
supposed to be funny, but I found him annoying even reading this as a kid. Having seen (and not liked) the original Pink Panther movies since then, I
haven’t changed my mind on the character.
Honey’s parents are very rich, and they are always jetting
away for work or pleasure. They’ve
included the Bob-Whites in the past, and that’s formed the basis of some of the
earlier books in the series. This is the
first time they’ve included them for just a quick trip that lasts for a couple
chapters. Some fans have an issue with
this, but I don’t mind as much. Yes, it
is just driven by the plot, but it’s a fun plot point.
When I originally read the books, I read them in random
order. I was still a kid, and I lapped
up any adventure with the Bob-Whites in it.
If you look at it that way, this book is still good. Looking at it as an adult, it is easier to
see that the characters are a little flat and the plot has some holes. Many of the fans who dislike this book read
it for the first time as an adult. I can
see their point, but there are still things I enjoy about it, like getting to
spend time with Trixie.
So if you are new to the series, don’t start with The Mystery of the Antique Doll. This will never be one of the best of the
series, but it isn’t the worst either.
Looking for Trixie's earlier adventures? Here are the Trixie Belden Mysteries in order.
I still love Trixie Belden. I still re-read my collection on a regular basis. If it hadn't been for the Bob-Whites I would never have begun reading cozies. That said, I never read the last 5 books. By the time I discovered they existed, they were long out of print.
ReplyDeleteI was fortunate that I was finding Trixie as these last 5 were coming out. I hope you find a cheap way to read them at some point.
DeleteBrings back memories... :-)
ReplyDeletePart One:
ReplyDeleteThis one was all over the place. I remember really enjoying the first half of it, but once Inspector Clouseau came into play,
the entire story took a nosedive!
Ok, so this book started with an oddity right away: when they introduce the Bob-Whites, they mention that Dan is the only one
of them that doesn't go to Sleepyside Junior-Senior High School! Since when? In previous books he was even mentioned as
sharing classes with some of the boys! That was always odd to me-it was randomly thrown in with no explanation!
But that's not really germane to the story. In this story, an older widow broke her arm and Trixie and Honey offered to do
housework for her every other day (such nice girls) Next door is a brand new antique store owned by a mysterious person who
drives a hot new Mercedes! It is odd though because there are never customers in the store, and it is so off the beaten path
that no one knows about it. Also, he is a selfish mean man, as can be seen because in the early part of the book, he cut off
Mrs Belden when she was driving on errands with Bobby, Trixie and Honey! (This opening scene lets us know that there is
something off about him as he doesn't apologise or anything. To make matters worse, he cuts in front of Mrs Belden on line at
the grocers! **Why don't bad guys keep a low profile in these stories? They always seem to have to kick a puppy or something
early on to just ooze badness, eh!**
Trix and Honey decide to visit the antique store after helping the older injured lady one day, and they find Mr Reid (the
owner) to be as rude and "mysterious" as anything!
A few days later when they were helping Mrs DeKeister (the old lady's REAL name is Mrs De Keyser-I just wanted to have a
little joke), they were talking about a quick weekend trip to Paris they were going to take (as a reward for being finalists
in a spelling bee, the Wheelers decided to reward Trix and Honey with this), Mr Reid arrives and asks them for a favour-can
they pick up an antique doll for him from a dealer while they are in Paris? Naturally, the girls agree (even though Trixie is
quite miffed at the way she was treated earlier, Honey is always nice and she graciously agrees)
So the girls have a neat weekend getaway complete with a flight in the Wheelers Leer Jet! They pick up the doll (in a sketchy
neighbourhood) and go back to the States, and give the doll to Mr Reid (who doesn't even bother to appear all that grateful)
One thing I forgot to mention about Mrs De Keyser-she has a cute and mischievous little dog that likes to steal things when
no one is looking and since he likes children, he will give the item to the child.
Part Two:
ReplyDeleteWell not long after a furious Mr Reid accuses the girls of stealing his doll. Trixie and Honey laugh evilly and tell Mr Reid
that the doll was really valuable and they sold it on the black market and there's nothing he can do about it! The end.
Haha-of course that didn't happen-I just wanted to see if you were paying attention. No, the doggie stole it and gave it to
Bobby (this is actually kind of odd-it was mentioned that the shop (and Mrs De Keyser's house) are a half hour walk from the
Beldens. What are the chances he would go to their house (he's never been there) and deliver the doll to Bobby (who was
playing in the yard) and opposed to some random child along the way? That really is a GAPING gap in the plot!
Trix and Honey find out that Bobby has the doll when they get home. It is rather a poignant scene: Trix and Honey were really
worried over being called thieves, and when Trix is at the dinner table with her family, she is so worried that her mother is
very concerned about her. When she asks her daughter what's the matter, Trixie breaks into heartbreaking sobs! She is so
worried that she won't be believed that she didn't steal the doll and be sent to jail. Then Bobby *(who is a lot less
annoying in this book) starts crying and says that he didn't steal the doll-a dog gave it to him but it is in his room
Trix and Honey think that if they clean up the doll (it got pretty beat up from the dog dragging it all over creation), Mr
Reid will be less mad at them when they return it, so they undress the doll to do so. Guess what falls out of the dress!
Counterfeiting plates! It seems Mr Reid is a crook! (Gasp!)
Oh, I also forgot to mention that Trixie has been spotting a redhead man following the girls ever since Paris (now if this
was made today, he would surely have been arrested as a pedophile-but of course that was not the intention of the redhead, or
even mentioned as a concern). When the girls are bicycling together, he follows VERY closely in a car, and when Trix and
Honey crash into each other trying to run away, he approaches them. He is none other than a police officer with the Sûreté! I
forget the name of the character, but even as a child way back in the '80s, I knew that he was supposed to be a caricature of
Inspector Clouseau from the Pink Panther movies (a series my mom thought was hilarious, but I really didn't-I only liked how
his chief always went mad and tried to kill him), so I will just call him Clouseau.
This Gendarmerie thinks Trix and Honey are international crooks (he even says it is obvious as they jet set around in a
Leer!), but still after Trixie tells her story (which sounds unbelievable even to her and she knows it to be true), he agrees
to check out the antique store and lets them go (but says he will be watching them)
Brian and the boys say that Trixie has REALLY bit off more than she can chew this time (so true!), so she should just sew up
the plates into the doll and return it (wait...what! How about calling the police? I mean Trixie may not be Sgt Molinson's
favourite young lady, but do they really think that after all this time he will really believe that Trixie moonlights on the
side as an international crook? See what I mean about the book taking a turn into the goofy? Brian is supposed to be the
sensible one!)
Part Three:
ReplyDeleteThe 7 all decide to sneak in the bushes at night, drop off the doll, knock on the door and run! Maybe this will lead to them
hearing something incriminating (I'm not joking-that's the plan) When they are doing this, Clouseau pops up in the bushes too
and says he will help them.
Well, it works! When Reid goes out to investigate the noise, he stumbles over the doll and reveals his scheme. Then the
Inspector busts in to arrest the gang (no gun shown, no backup, just "I've caught you bad guys! Now, you have to give up!") I
REALLY should post the pictures from this book, because this goes over as well as you can imagine (it's a pic of the 3 crooks
(2 henchmen were there to help print the funny money) with guns drawn!) Trix and the gang can't leave well enough alone, so
they decide to join the Inspector at the cornered bad guys lair too (I mean what could go wrong?)
The 8 are all tied up and the crooks say they will "take care of them on the way to Philadelphia". The deux ex machina is
that Sgt Molinson burst in with backup and arrests them! Did the Inspector actually call them for help? NO! I have no idea
how they found the counterfeiters!
Yes, this book really is a jumble of confusion in the last half! And I'm not even one of those people who says that the
latter 5 books are so bad, but this one really dropped the ball!
Hey Mark, I read your review. I think we are on the same page yet again with our thoughts, except you said, "Things do come together for a logical and exciting climax, however" I guess I just didn't see that. Thanks for your comments-it's neat hearing others' thoughts on this series
ReplyDelete