Customer Reviews

Trixie Belden And The Happy Valley Mystery

Uncle Andrew doesn't believe his "pretty, feminine, and sort of helpless" niece Trixie can solve the mystery of his missing sheep, so of course she's compelled to try. (Trixie helpless?? Hah!!) She does make some embarrassing mistakes, and the kids deserve the testy scoldings they get from the ranch manager and his wife before they prove their mettle.

However, she's occasionally feeling more girly than in previous books; as a guest at a dance at Riverdale High School, she finds herself in the throes of the unfamiliar emotion of jealousy as Jim is wooed by a beautiful senior girl, Dot. This leads Trixie to emulate Di and Honey, flirting with a handsome basketball player, Ned (who I'm guessing will turn out to be gay when he grows up) ... Don't worry, though; Jim prefers the kind of girl who doesn't dress up to impress boys, who is "genuine and so comfortable to be around." (Guess who?)

And Trixie's "near-twin" Mart comes through again. I find Mart the underappreciated character of the series; he's mocked and stereotyped for his extensive vocabulary, but often it is his analytical skills and ability to predict what Trixie will do that saves her skin in the most desperate of situations.

I didn't remember anything about this book from reading it as a teenager, which rather surprises me, as it is quite exciting, and friendships among the various Bob-Whites are beginning to show signs of potential romance.