Oval paperback 1979

 

 

 

Trixie was suddenly furious.  "My Lucy books are no dumber than those Cosmo McNaught science-fiction things you're always reading."

"It's not the same thing at all," Mart drawled, cutting himself a huge wedge of pie.  "Cosmo is a superlative writer, and moreover, he's not covered with adolescent zits."

Trixie could feel the hot tears gathering behind her eyelids.  She swallowed hard.  I won't let Mart make me cry, she told herself.  I just won't!  All the same, she knew she was going to have to run to the blessed privacy of her own room - and soon.

"I'm going to bed," she said abruptly.  "And by the way, you needn't worry about tomorrow's arrangements, either of you.  Dad, Moms, and the other Bob-Whites have already been told about the plans for the trip."

"Thank you, 'Lucy' Belden -" Mart began.

Reddy raised his head in sleepy outrage as Brian suddenly rose to his feet and shoved his chair roughly toward the table.  "Sometimes, Mart," he said, "you go too far.  And Trixie's right!  I don't think that Lucy Radcliffe's Adventure in Paris is one bit sillier that Cosmo McNaught's Journey to the Crab Nebula."

Mart flushed at the unaccustomed criticism from his older brother.  "It's not the same thing at all," he mumbled.

Trixie was already halfway out the door.  But she was gratified to hear Brian add, "And one other thing, Mart - if I were you, I wouldn't be quite so quick to poke fun at Trixie's sudden hunches.  If you think back, you'll realize they're usually right."

The Mystery of the Ghostly Galleon (p. 30-31)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title :
Trixie Belden and the Mystery of the Ghostly Galleon

Author :
Kathryn Kenny
The ghost writer of this book is thought to be Joan Chase Bowden.

First Published :
1979

Chapter Titles :
1.  The Vanishing Pirate
2.  A Family Quarrel
3.  Mart's Ghost
4.  Ready for Action
5.  A Narrow Escape
6.  Fire! 
7.  Phantom From the Past
8.  A Second Disappearance
9.  New Worry
10. A Fruitless Search
11. Midnight Mission
12. The Crying Lady
13. Clues to a Treasure
14. The Cave
15. Treasure Island
16. The Vanishing Trick
17. More Worries
18. Disaster!
19. A Villain Unmasked

Setting :
Sleepyside, New York and Pirate's Point in the Catskills.

Synopsis :
The Bob-Whites plans to spend a few days at Finger Lakes with the Wheeler's are ruined when Mr Wheeler has to go away on business, so Miss Trask invites them to join her on a visit to her home in the Catskills.  The Bob-Whites are tempted by the opportunity to solve the mystery of the disappearing Pirate captain, but Trixie finds other suspicious happenings occurring at the Inn.  Ghostly Galleons, fires, mannequin wrestling and the disappearance of Miss Trask's brother present a major mystery for Trixie to solve before the mortgage on the Inn is foreclosed and the Trask family lose the Inn forever.

Characters : 
Trixie Belden
Jim Frayne - adopted son of the Wheeler's
Honey Wheeler - Trixie's best friend
Brian Belden - Trixie's eldest brother
Mart Belden - Trixie's "almost twin" brother
Diana Lynch - a Bob-White and neighbour
Dan Mangan - a Bob-White and Regan's nephew
Bobby Belden - Trixie's six year old brother
Miss Marge Trask - Honey's governess and manager of the Manor House
Frank Trask - Miss Trask's brother and manager of the Inn.
Jerry Vanderhoef - Student at Sleepyside High
Weasel Willis - waiter at the Inn
Smiley Jackson - waiter at the Inn
Marvin Appleton - guest at the Inn and author of Lucy Radcliffe and Cosmo McNaught
Gaston Gabriel - Chef at the Inn
Nicholas Morgan - financier of a loan to Frank Trask

Villains :
Nicholas Morgan and Smiley Jackson - worked together to try and ruin the Inn so Morgan would have the deeds and be able to sell to a Hotel Chain.

Points of Interest:
This book is set in October and Honey and Trixie are 14, Brian and Jim are 17 and Mart is 15.  Dan's age isn't mentioned, but he does go on this trip.

Mart and Trixie fight a lot through this book although they reach a truce by the end, which parallels Miss Trask's relationship with her brother.

The Bob-Whites were supposed to fly to Finger Lakes in northern New York to a cottage owned by the Wheeler's on Owasco Lake, not far from Auburn (p. 16).

Miss Trask 'had patiently arranged a wedding while the Bob-Whites were in the middle of searching for a missing heiress and solving mysteries around Glen Road' (p. 19).  This could have been worded better, as the wedding was for the 'missing heiress'!

Trixie reads Lucy Radcliffe novels and Mart reads Cosmo McNaught books, and it is suggested that the novels are autobiographical: 'Her name is Lucy Radcliffe.  And she does not write dumb novels.  She's only eighteen years old, but she's had so many wonderful adventures' (p. 28). 

Marvin Appleton becomes a suspect briefly because of his strange behaviour with a mannequin named Clarence.  However, it is the mannequin that saves the day when they dress him to look like the missing Frank Trask to trick Nicholas Morgan.  The laughs continue when Appleton reveals at the book's conclusion that he is the author of both Lucy Radcliffe and Cosmo McNaught books,

'Everyone knew that since Trixie had rescued Jim from his cruel stepfather, she could do no wrong as far as he was concerned' (p. 82).

Di knows about loans and collateral and explains how it works to Trixie when she laments about not being able to ask her father, a banker, for advice (p. 124-125).  Trixie must have forgotten all about loans and collateral from The Mystery Off Glen Road, when she used her diamond ring as collateral to hold Brian's car until they earned enough money to buy it.