Mystery of the Missing Stamps

by Margaret Goff Clark

A good friend is accused of stealing valuable stamps and Mark is determined to prove his innocence.

Genres: Mystery

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Margaret Goff Clark was born March 7, 1913, in Oklahoma City, USA. At five, she and her family moved to Olean, New York. She attended Columbia University and State University in Buffalo, earning a bachelor’s degree in education. She began writing when her children were young and published her first book, The Mystery Of Seneca Hill in 1961. As a result, Ms. Clark was adopted into the Seneca Indian tribe in 1962.
Many of her books are based on her experiences traveling to parks and nature areas by camping trailer. The Clarks had a cottage in Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada, and Death At Their Heels was written in 1975, after visiting it one summer. Most recently, Ms. Clark wrote books about endangered species in Florida, including the manatee and the Florida black bear. Her 1993 book on the endangered Florida panther was dedicated to her husband Charles R. Clark. In addition to books, Ms. Clark contributed over 200 short stories to magazines such as American Girl, The Instructor, Teen Talk and other Canadian and American magazines. Margaret Goff Clark passed away in 2003.

Reviews

[A · Rating 2 out of 5]

What to say. I picked this book up due to nostalgia. I was born the year this book was written so can kind of relate. I also am the nerd who collected stamps as a kid and still do today. Overall this is a super easy to read book written for the age of the children in this novel.

There really isn't much mystery, it mostly solves itself, but the book is enjoyable as a look back at a simpler time. I only gave it two stars, but might have given it four in 1970.

It was an easy read and only took a few hours to complete. If you like books set in the late 1960s in the Adirondacks and featuring child "detectives" this is the book for you. Oh, yea and you have to like stamp collecting a little bit.

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know how many kids collect stamps now days but this book incorporates stamp collecting into the mystery without overwhelming the reader with too much detail and the mystery is quite credible.

Some of the series books for boys are pretty far-fetched, with totally unsupervised children going almost anywhere and doing anything. But Clark kept the characters in this book strictly in the recognizable setting of the Adirondacks of New York and wrote a realistic mystery about believable events. The authenticity of the story and the ability of readers to relate to the fictional characters are big selling points.

When 11-year-old Mark Baxter moves from his old home in Wellmont to his new home at the Trowbridge Inn, he learns a little about getting to know new people and making friends but the lessons are not heavy-handed and are, in a way, part of solving the mystery.

Over all, this story is well told and a perfect book to take on a woodsy vacation. I think it is a step up from Clark's Adirondack Mountain Mystery.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know I read a book a long time ago, about some kids and some missing stamps. This sounded like that one, but it's not. So I'm still hunting. The only things I remember besides the stamps is that the kids went into town while investigating and had lunch at a diner, and they used the word "philately". Neither of these things happened in this book. It's still a pretty good story, though.

[Bekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another childhood book reread. Fine but clunky writing.