REVIEW: The Black Jacket Mystery (Trixie Belden)

The Black Jacket Mystery
Author: Kathryn Kenny

This 8th mystery in the Trixie Belden series opens with the BWGs (Bob-Whites of the Glen) planning a carnival fundraiser to help the Mexican village of San Isidro following an earthquake. The money they raise will help buy books for the San Isidro school library that was heavily damaged in the disaster. The BWGs are busily planning the event, gathering prizes and doing all they can to have a fun carnival. But as usual, Trixie and the gang get pulled into a mystery. Regan, the Wheeler's groom, is acting strangely and seems to be hiding something. Trixie sees a paper in the Wheeler's tack room that might be pointing to some sort of legal problem. Soon after, there is a new boy on the school bus. He seems very unfriendly and seems out of place in his black leather jacket and hat. His name is Dan Manigan, and he starts talking some pretty rough talk in the cafeteria....gangs, fights, switchblades. Then strange things start happening....Honey's watch is stolen and the clubhouse is broken into. Is Dan a thief? Or are they misjudging him?

The plot for The Black Jacket Mystery is a bit predictable, but still an enjoyable read with a good message. There are some nice developments for the BWGs in this 8th story. As an adult re-reading these I am wondering one thing though......when is little Bobby (Trixie's little brother) going to start talking like a 7 year old and not a toddler? What 7 year old says stuff like "Holp! Holp!'' and "I losted it and Trixie tooked it.''  No kid that goes to school talks like that. lol.  C'mon Bobby -- you can be cute and little without talking like a two year old. As a middle schooler I loved these books. It was my favorite series. I had every book -- all matching of course -- lined up in series order on my bookshelf. :) And when the last few new books came out (I was in high school) I remember being so excited that the series was continuing. :) As an adult, I'm still very much enjoying the series, but I do notice I look at a few things (like Bobby's dialogue) with adult eyes.

Moving on to book 9! Next up is The Happy Valley Mystery!

The Trixie Belden series was written from 1948 - 1986. There are 39 books in the series. The first six books were written by Julie Campbell. The rest of the series was written by various authors under the pen name Kathryn Kenny.