tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782277794223039496.post1283639858421572035..comments2024-03-27T14:12:10.978-07:00Comments on Carstairs Considers....: Book Review: The Mystery of the Antique Doll by Kathryn Kenny (Trixie Belden #36)Mark Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11567392254011373198noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782277794223039496.post-22221716033294062622020-03-23T16:17:25.744-07:002020-03-23T16:17:25.744-07:00Hey Mark, I read your review. I think we are on th...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 seriesSeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08582845368766619225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782277794223039496.post-41733453944925125492020-03-23T16:15:10.110-07:002020-03-23T16:15:10.110-07:00Part Three:
The 7 all decide to sneak in the bush...Part Three:<br /><br />The 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 <br /><br />hearing something incriminating (I'm not joking-that's the plan) When they are doing this, Clouseau pops up in the bushes too <br /><br />and says he will help them.<br /><br />Well, it works! When Reid goes out to investigate the noise, he stumbles over the doll and reveals his scheme. Then the <br /><br />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 <br /><br />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 <br /><br />(2 henchmen were there to help print the funny money) with guns drawn!) Trix and the gang can't leave well enough alone, so <br /><br />they decide to join the Inspector at the cornered bad guys lair too (I mean what could go wrong?)<br /><br />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 <br /><br />that Sgt Molinson burst in with backup and arrests them! Did the Inspector actually call them for help? NO! I have no idea <br /><br />how they found the counterfeiters!<br /><br />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 <br /><br />latter 5 books are so bad, but this one really dropped the ball!<br />Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08582845368766619225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782277794223039496.post-53907153687479609352020-03-23T16:14:41.097-07:002020-03-23T16:14:41.097-07:00Part Two:
Well not long after a furious Mr Reid a...Part Two:<br /><br />Well not long after a furious Mr Reid accuses the girls of stealing his doll. Trixie and Honey laugh evilly and tell Mr Reid <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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 <br /><br />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 <br /><br />Beldens. What are the chances he would go to their house (he's never been there) and deliver the doll to Bobby (who was <br /><br />playing in the yard) and opposed to some random child along the way? That really is a GAPING gap in the plot!<br /><br />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 <br /><br />worried over being called thieves, and when Trix is at the dinner table with her family, she is so worried that her mother is <br /><br />very concerned about her. When she asks her daughter what's the matter, Trixie breaks into heartbreaking sobs! She is so <br /><br />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 <br /><br />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<br /><br />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 <br /><br />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! <br /><br />Counterfeiting plates! It seems Mr Reid is a crook! (Gasp!)<br /><br />Oh, I also forgot to mention that Trixie has been spotting a redhead man following the girls ever since Paris (now if this <br /><br />was made today, he would surely have been arrested as a pedophile-but of course that was not the intention of the redhead, or <br /><br />even mentioned as a concern). When the girls are bicycling together, he follows VERY closely in a car, and when Trix and <br /><br />Honey crash into each other trying to run away, he approaches them. He is none other than a police officer with the Sûreté! I <br /><br />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 <br /><br />Inspector Clouseau from the Pink Panther movies (a series my mom thought was hilarious, but I really didn't-I only liked how <br /><br />his chief always went mad and tried to kill him), so I will just call him Clouseau.<br /><br />This Gendarmerie thinks Trix and Honey are international crooks (he even says it is obvious as they jet set around in a <br /><br />Leer!), but still after Trixie tells her story (which sounds unbelievable even to her and she knows it to be true), he agrees <br /><br />to check out the antique store and lets them go (but says he will be watching them)<br /><br />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 <br /><br />the plates into the doll and return it (wait...what! How about calling the police? I mean Trixie may not be Sgt Molinson's <br /><br />favourite young lady, but do they really think that after all this time he will really believe that Trixie moonlights on the <br /><br />side as an international crook? See what I mean about the book taking a turn into the goofy? Brian is supposed to be the <br /><br />sensible one!)Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08582845368766619225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782277794223039496.post-39797095296168703512020-03-23T16:13:27.865-07:002020-03-23T16:13:27.865-07:00Part One:
This one was all over the place. I reme...Part One:<br /><br />This one was all over the place. I remember really enjoying the first half of it, but once Inspector Clouseau came into play, <br /><br />the entire story took a nosedive!<br /><br />Ok, so this book started with an oddity right away: when they introduce the Bob-Whites, they mention that Dan is the only one <br /><br />of them that doesn't go to Sleepyside Junior-Senior High School! Since when? In previous books he was even mentioned as <br /><br />sharing classes with some of the boys! That was always odd to me-it was randomly thrown in with no explanation!<br /><br />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 <br /><br />housework for her every other day (such nice girls) Next door is a brand new antique store owned by a mysterious person who <br /><br />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 <br /><br />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 <br /><br />Mrs Belden when she was driving on errands with Bobby, Trixie and Honey! (This opening scene lets us know that there is <br /><br />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 <br /><br />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 <br /><br />early on to just ooze badness, eh!**<br />Trix and Honey decide to visit the antique store after helping the older injured lady one day, and they find Mr Reid (the <br /><br />owner) to be as rude and "mysterious" as anything!<br /><br />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 <br /><br />little joke), they were talking about a quick weekend trip to Paris they were going to take (as a reward for being finalists <br /><br />in a spelling bee, the Wheelers decided to reward Trix and Honey with this), Mr Reid arrives and asks them for a favour-can <br /><br />they pick up an antique doll for him from a dealer while they are in Paris? Naturally, the girls agree (even though Trixie is <br /><br />quite miffed at the way she was treated earlier, Honey is always nice and she graciously agrees)<br /><br />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 <br /><br />neighbourhood) and go back to the States, and give the doll to Mr Reid (who doesn't even bother to appear all that grateful)<br /><br />One thing I forgot to mention about Mrs De Keyser-she has a cute and mischievous little dog that likes to steal things when <br /><br />no one is looking and since he likes children, he will give the item to the child. Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08582845368766619225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782277794223039496.post-7044077211430610272016-07-15T18:28:08.740-07:002016-07-15T18:28:08.740-07:00Brings back memories... :-)Brings back memories... :-)fredamanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12445217103291725907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782277794223039496.post-86566963489256599712016-07-11T22:51:53.743-07:002016-07-11T22:51:53.743-07:00I was fortunate that I was finding Trixie as these...I 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.Mark Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567392254011373198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782277794223039496.post-25716142304725029632016-07-10T21:05:14.721-07:002016-07-10T21:05:14.721-07:00I still love Trixie Belden. I still re-read my co...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.Knit Twithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05550958315326450089noreply@blogger.com