Customer Reviews

Trixie Belden and the Gatehouse Mystery

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I started reading the Trixie Belden books when I was 9. 21 years later, I still have the first 36. At that time I thought that they were brand new! This was the first that I read, and it's always been my favorite. One of the things I enjoy most about this series is the way that all of the characters are developed, both primary and secondary. Not only do you have a good understanding of the main characters' personalities, but you also get to know and understand the other characters. The series also focuses on qualities that are missing in many of today's novels: friendship, honesty, values, responsibility, and hard work. They also deal with issues that are a reality in children's lives: friends, siblings, parents, hobbies, school, etc. This book does an excellent job at highlighting the strong friendships that develop between Trixie, her brothers, Honey, and Jim, while at the same time giving you a good mystery! I believe that this is one of the finest written books in the series, in that it seamlessly weaves together the developing mystery along with the growing friendships, while introducing the new characters of Brian and Mart in person. The climax never fails to excite me, even after reading 15 times! I strongly agree with other reviewers that this series should be re-published for today's youth.

This book is the best of the hard to find Trixie Belden series. Trixie and Honey find a diamond in the Wheeler's gatehouse. Convinced the thief is still around, Trixie tries to find him. Though a bit slow, the characters are so well defined and have such a good time I've read this one more than any others. In this book , we first meet Brian and Mart and they form the BWG's. If you can get a copy of this one, it's well worth it.

It doesn't matter which title you choose to read (although you should try to read them in sequence) all the Trixie Belden books are wonderful reading material. Trixie comes from a family with values and she's down to earth. She has two older brothers that tease her and a little brother she takes care of. Her escapades could readily be done by the reader and every character in the books becomes "real" to the reader. The stories are engaging and always a mystery to the end. I read these books when I was ten, 43 years ago and I believe if I sat down with one today I would enjoy it still. I made my son read all of them!

This was the best book after The Mystery of The Mansion. The ending made you want to read the next one to see if Tom and Celia really got married or not.

I have the original 1951 version with Mary Stevens' illustrations, which are excellent, especially the end papers which feature a blank two-page spread bordered by tiny caricatures of the main characters and their pets running across, up and down the spread like an embroidered sampler.

Probably looks a little antique today, and the dogs look like zebras with Mary Stevens' quickly dashed off cross hatching, but there's room for all Trixie lovers to write their names in the big white space, which I did years ago.

The gatehouse mystery isn't very thrilling, but the image of the two girls finding a diamond in the dirt, on the dirt floor of the window-less cabin, is one that has stuck to me a very long time. Julie Campbell is a fine writer, and she makes these characters very real in a movie-like way, though you never really understand how Trixie feels thrust into Honey's world of fabulous wealth. She and Mart and Brian (and horrid little Bobby, the baby-talking little brother) are like paupers compared to the Wheelers (and even Jim the poor orphan turns out to have inherited a fortune AND gets adopted by the Wheelers)... And everyone else in the books is extremely rich as well.

Trixie is sort of butch, and Honey sort of femme, though later on we discover that Trixie is sort of in love with Jim--or in love with being in love... But not much comes of this since she's still only 13 or 14. I think that Campbell made all these people so rich so that they could afford to have servants--and the servants form the pool of suspects in whatever crime is being investigated, either that or the servants turn out to be relations or legatees to millionaire's wills.

A typical Trixie story has some of the appeal of Cinderella but, since Trixie never winds up with the glass slipper herself, yet she gets to be the sidekick of some extremely upper-class pals, there's a bit of Heathcliff in her too I think... always her nose pressed to the window (or the hole in the wall, the hole without a pane, that a window might be said to occupy in a house sturdier than the gatehouse) (or the later Bob Whites of the Glen clubhouse), one eye always peeled for that elusive diamond in the dirt (that invariably belongs to someone else).

The series really kicks into gear with book #3. The core Bob-Whites get together for the first time, and the patter is fast and fun. Plus, who can resist a mystery about a missing diamond? I'm SO GLAD this series is back! I grew up on these books and still have every copy (and I'm 33 now...) If you are going to read Trixie, you should read the first 2, which are the "how it all began" books, but if you don't, then I would say start with this one. It's a big favorite.

Trixie Belden and Honey Wheeler find a diamond in the abandoned gatehouse at the edge of the Wheeler's property, but someone is trying to get it back. Meanwhile, Trixie's brothers Brian and Mart have returned from camp, meeting Honey and her brother Jim for the first time, so the secret Bob-Whites of the Glen club is ripe for formation.

As much trouble as the girls get into, the adults still come off as helpful and intelligent, unlike many other YA mystery series (or even the Harry Potter books).

Usually I prefer the Deluxe edition with covers illustrated by Paul Frame, but for this one, check out the Glossy edition illustrated by Mary Stevens. One picture shows Trixie and Honey doing some pruning -- with Trixie looking remarkably like Beavis of MTV fame -- and a charming Ashley Judd look-alike picture of Trixie greeting Mart. This book also features the memorable line by Regan, the Wheeler's beloved young groom, "Reach for the ceiling, Laughing-Boy."

It doesn't matter which title you choose to read (although you should try to read them in sequence) all the Trixie Belden books are wonderful reading material. Trixie comes from a family with values and she's down to earth. She has two older brothers that tease her and a little brother she takes care of. Her escapades could readily be done by the reader and every character in the books becomes "real" to the reader. The stories are engaging and always a mystery to the end. I read these books when I was ten, 43 years ago and I believe if I sat down with one today I would enjoy it still. I made my son read all of them!

Trixie and her friend Honey find a diamond (!) in their new Bob-White clubhouse, formerly an abandoned gatehouse on the Wheeler estate. From just a few physical clues, Trixie concludes (or jumps to conclusions about) the source of the mysterious diamond. This is a great story, both as a mystery, as a detective procedural (where else can kids learn how to trace signatures :-), and as a cautionary tale about being careful whom you accuse of things. For fans of the series, we meet Brian and Mart, Trixie's brothers, for the first time. All in all, a nice blend of adventure and suspense. One of my all-time favorites of the Trixies!

This is by far the best (I might be a bit prejudiced as this was the first Trixie book I ever read, and I read it 26 times) I am a real Trixie fan!