Tale of the Witch Doll

Meet Mildred A. Wirt — except that, if you were ever a 10-year-old girl, you already know her. That’s the real name of Carolyn Keene, the first and best author of the Nancy Drew novels. Two hundred million Nancy Drew books have been sold, and they’re still popular more than 80 years later. About 10 years after the first Nancy Drew novel, The Secret of the Old Clock, Wirt penned the first Penny Parker novel, Tale of the Witch Doll. Wirt said she preferred Penny Parker to Nancy Drew, and you will, too — especially as the novel is free in the Kindle format.

Penny Parker is a younger and more mischievous version of Nancy Drew. Like Nancy, Penny’s blonde and pretty and talented; however, she’s more realistic than the paragon Nancy show more Drew, and the novel’s more humorous than the average Nancy Drew fare. Wirt had me hooked from the first few pages. In Penny Parker’s debut, the high-school student stumbled across a mystery involving a professional dancer, a doll shop, and a nefarious con-artist medium.

Too often, reviewers lambast novels for what they’re not: Tale of the Witch Doll, published in 1939 won’t have the hip sensibility or the grittier settings of today’s YA mysteries. But a good mystery plot, a clever resolution — if a bit melodramatic — and a plucky girl detective can stand the test of decades, and Tale of the Witch Doll fits that bill admirably. show less

Mildred Wirt Benson was the primary ghostwriter behind the original Nancy Drew series, and her onymous works often follow the same pleasantly predictable path. An ominous doll, a fake séance, our heroine bound in a cave as the river rises -- it's a classic 30's juvenile. Penny Parker herself is the image of Nancy: an independent girl who lives with her professional father (whom she helps in his work) and a housekeeper mother figure. Where the absent hand of the Stratemeyer is apparent is in Penny's rougher edges; Penny takes more risks, is more emotional (and quarrelsome), and generally more human than Nancy.

Back when I was not quite 14 I had the good fortune to have almost the entire Penny Parker series given to me. The Mildred Wirt Benson page here explains how this series came about, as well as its similarities to and differences from Nancy Drew (for whom Ms. Benson was the first ghostwriter): http://www.nancydrewsleuth.com/mwbpp.html .

Penny accompanies her best friend, Louise Sidell, on an errand. Mrs. Sidell wants Louise to buy a doll for a poor child. As it so happens, a young woman who used to attend their high school has her own doll shop.

Nellie Marble didn't get to graduate. Her shop is in a run down section of town, although it's clean and painted. Louise says Nellie makes the cutest dolls in town.

When the girls reach the Marble show more Doll Shoppe they find someone vandalized the place the night before, leaving no trace of how they got in. Many dolls have had their heads crushed. Nellie estimates the damage to be over $100.00. If that doesn't seem like much, a Mrs. Farmer is offering Nellie $1,000 for her store, including her stock of dolls. Nellie considers it a fair price. She didn't want to sell, but now....

Mrs. Farmer does not make a good impression on Penny. Louise thinks she's silly, but Penny thinks her eyes have an evil expression. Which girl is right?

Penny's car, the Leaping Lena, is in the garage again. In chapter two we learn that it had been bought second hand from money Penny earned doing 'sundry unpleasant tasks' at home. It may be a shiny blue coupe, but it definitely isn't Nancy Drew's snappy blue roadster. This time the repairs are only two dollars because Penny's a steady customer.

While Penny is driving Louise home, they witness a road hog in a big black car send a gray limousine into a ditch. This is how Penny meets Miss Helene Harmon, actress and dancer. Miss Harmon is grateful to be given a lift to the theater [spelled 'theatre'] so she can perform on time.

Miss Harmon is an excellent dancer, but her new maid isn't very good. Penny and Louise are present when Felice brings her boss a box containing the witch doll of the title. The unsigned card claims that the doll, once accepted, can never be given away. Miss Harmon accepts it anyway, although Felice keeps blathering about it being bad luck. Pretty soon, it does seem as if the doll really is bringing back luck to the superstitious dancer. That accident could have been much worse than it was. Someone stole Miss Harmon's necklace, which was insured for only half its value. Penny throws the doll into the river, but it comes back.

Another performer in the book is Melvin Osandra, who makes contact with spirits -- or so he says. Spider is his hunchbacked and ugly assistant. Remember that poor child for whom Louise bought that doll? Her father tends to fritter his salary away and right now Osandra's place is where he's frittering it. Osandra just laughed when Jeanie's mother asked him not to let her husband come to his place. Good thing the girls brought a basket of food as well as the doll when they visited the Slocer cottage. Mrs. Slocer is trying to get some washing to make money, They've been living on potatoes for a week. (I guess the few chickens in the Slocer yard haven't been laying.)

Penny attends one of the seances. Osandra is the one who gets scared. That threatening voice couldn't have been a spirit, could it?

Thanks to her father's newspaper and his connections, Penny finds out that the police aren't satisfied with Miss Harmond's story about where she lost her valuable necklace. Penny herself sees the dancer visiting Osandra's place. What's going on?

There's plenty going on. Older readers will probably figure out the secret of the witch doll much sooner than Penny does, but there are other mysteries not so easily solved. During the exciting climax, I would much rather have Louise's role than Penny's.

My copy is an earlier printing because the frontispiece is printed on glossy paper. If a reader has a later printing with the frontispiece printed on ordinary paper, I'd interested to know if the name of Mr. Parker's paper, the 'Riverview Star', had its name corrected in chapters two and three. In my copy it's called the 'Riverside Star' until chapter four, the same chapter in which we learn that Mr. Parker's middle initial is a 'B.'

This is a lively mystery in which reason triumphs over superstition. All in all, it's a good start. show less

As a guy I would not have expected to like this. But the heroine is a likable girl for her time period. Mildred Wirt's prose is excellent: straight-forward, uncomplicated, easy to read, and she packs a lot of information into each sentence.