Trixie Belden #1 Secret of the Mansion and #2 Red Trailer Mystery

In Trixie Belden #1, The Secret of the Mansion, Trixie lives at Crabapple Farm near the town of Sleepyside, New York.  The Wheeler family moves into the neighboring mansion, and Trixie immediately becomes best friends with Honey Wheeler.  The girls explore the nearby Frayne mansion while old Mr. Frayne is sick in the hospital.  They discover Jim Frayne, who is Mr. Frayne's nephew.  Jim is hiding from his mean stepfather.  Old Mr. Frayne is dying, and the young people search for a fortune that is said to be hidden in the old mansion.

Trixie earns a $5 allowance per week for doing chores around the house.  When I read the books in 1983 to 1984, I received $5 per week, so I thought the amount was fine.  I didn't know that the book was first published in 1948.  $5 in 1948 is now worth over $50.  We are expected to believe that the Beldens are poor, yet their daughter is given the equivalent of over $200 per month.  I assume Brian and Mart would have received similar amounts.  The Beldens aren't so poor after all.

I enjoyed this book, but not quite as much as I once did.  The problem is that I practically have the story memorized.  Also, I always have trouble switching from one type of book to another.  I read this book right after reading the last Augusta Seaman book, and the style is quite different.  Trixie is also skewed younger than Seaman's books, so I struggled with that as well, which is what I expected.

In Trixie Belden #2, The Red Trailer Mystery, Trixie, Honey, and Miss Trask set off in the Wheelers' trailer to find Jim, who has run away.  The girls learn about a group of trailer thieves, and they soon suspect that the family living in a red trailer is involved in the thefts.  The girls keep an eye out for the red trailer family as they search for Jim.

The cover art of this edition depicts the scene where Trixie finds Joeann's cut-off pigtails.  This is a bizarre choice for the cover art, although it is interesting.

I enjoyed this book mostly as much as I did when young.  Like the first book, I pretty much have the story memorized, but I still enjoyed it just about as much as ever.