Trixie Belden and the Mysterious Visitor

Trixie Belden and her best friend, Honey Wheeler, notice that a friend from school seems quite unhappy. Di Lynch's family recently came into money and they now own a large home and have a new, luxurious life. So what does Di have to be sad and depressed about? To cheer her up, they invite her to spend the night at the Wheeler's estate. Di tells them that she is unhappy with some of the changes in her family's life (like servants controlling when she can see her little sisters and brothers). And she also explains that suddenly her mother's long lost brother Monty has appeared. Di doesn't like him and says she doubts he is really her uncle. The girls are on a mission to help Di cheer up so they get together and plan a Halloween party. At show more the last minute, Uncle Monty swoops in and takes over everything, to the chagrin of the girls. Trixie starts to think that maybe Uncle Monty really is an imposter. But, the man is such an impressive emcee at the party that Trixie can't get Honey, Di or any of their friends to listen to her suspicions. She needs to find evidence that proves Uncle Monty is a fake. Can she sneak around and find proof without getting caught, or hurt?

Trixie Belden & The Mysterious Visitor is the 4th book in the series and was first published in 1954. There are 39 books in all. This was my favorite book series in middle school. I had the entire set! I remember this book was one of my favorites. The storyline has great suspense -- Trixie really does get herself into some major hot water with all her sleuthing and sneaking about this time! I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading this book!

Set in the 1950s the series is a bit dated, but still one of my favorites. With the help of OpenLibrary, I'm reading my way back through the series. So enjoyable to re-visit my old friends from Sleepyside, NY! I always liked Trixie better than Nancy Drew! I happily babysat my spoiled nephew back in the day to earn the money I needed to buy new paperbacks in this series. Nice memories! show less

School is back in session, and if you think that will slow Trixie down at all, you're wrong :) Honey mentions that one of their classmates, pretty Di Lynch (she's always "pretty Di". Never forget that she's the prettiest) seems awfully sad and suggests they invite her over and make her a Bob-White. Seems a bit sudden to me, since they barely know the girl, but all right. Di is miserable with her parents' new wealth and her mom's long lost brother, Uncle Monty, is being a real pain. She wants to throw a fun, simple Halloween party but Monty gets involved and turns it into a big catered affair with a band and everything. Thanks to the rest of the Bob-Whites, the party isn't a complete catastrophe, but Trixie is convinced Uncle Monty is an show more impostor. Turns out she was right, and gets her and Mart nearly kidnapped for their troubles. All's well that ends well, and as a reward Mr. Lynch gives them the red trailer from book 2, the Robin. The Bob-Whites give it to Tom, the Wheeler's chauffeur, and Celia, the Wheeler's maid, who are getting married and wanted the gatehouse. Now that Tom and Celia have the trailer, the Bob-Whites can keep their clubhouse. At least until the next big windstorm :) show less

Ugh. Not even for nostalgia sake could I like this. The only thing that I enjoyed was Miss Trask getting to the bottom of Diana's angst over being a poor little rich girl, even if it made no sense. Trixie's brother Mart is at his supercilious best here, and unfortunately shows Trixie up as having no sense at all. Most people in this story have no sense at all: Di's 'uncle' should have been too suspicious for words from the get-go, even in the 1950s. Admittedly, you can see that the author carefully worked out the plot, but the stitches show too blatantly.

I liked this one considerably less than the first three. Everyone was so annoyingly self-deprecating here, saying they were not bright or not pretty or not adequate or not good at math. Most of this was couched as politeness, but it still really got up my nose. I loathed Di, the whiny, needy, obnoxious little git. I need a break from the Bob-Whites.

The Trixie Belden books cross generations and still entertain. My mother introduced me to these young, and like her when she was little, I enjoyed them just as much. These are young adult books appropriate for middle-schoolers or even elementary schoolers (when I read them) along the lines of Nancy Drew, but with a faster pace and somewhat more relatable characters. I recommend every one, though I'd say to start in order as well if you can--just with the first few so you can meet the characters. Wonderful Books and Wonderful Reads.

Trixie and Diana Lynch were friends for years before Di’s family became fabulously rich. So when Di’s long-lost uncle starts ruining her social life, Di turns to her old friend for help. But Trixie thinks Uncle Monty isn’t just an annoying relative–she thinks he’s an impostor!

I loved this series when I was growing up; I thought Trixie was a lot more fun than Nancy Drew, and these were some of my all-time favorite books. I read them as an adult, though, a few years ago, and found that they haven't, IMO, stood the test of time well. They are obviously dated, and there are some messages that I don't think are appropriate anymore (mostly the way Trixie is treated differently - and often poorly - because she's a girl).