What do you think?
Rate this book
Shirley Temple and the Spirit of Dragonwood
The book opens with Shirley Temple's chauffeur fussing because Shirley is catching a train in the wee hours of the morning. Shirley is picking up her friend, Betha Kaylor, so they can spend a weekend visiting Betha's relatives and celebrating Betha's grandmother's birthday. Shirley casts about for various reasons to explain her chauffeur's unease, including the fact that it's clear that Betha is worried about being teased by her cousin and harrassed by her uncle, and finally concludes that the chauffeur's real issue is like that they're going to be arriving early on Friday the 13th!
The girls left in the wee hours of Thursday morning, and arrive in the village below the grand house they're visiting in the wee hours of Friday the 13th, and no one is there to meet them at the station. Using the chauffeur's prescient gift of a flashlight, they make their way up the hill to the grand old house, only to discover that they are unexpected and, worse, Betha's grandmother is missing!
Shirley soon determines that her job is to strengthen and support Betha, come what may, but as mystery piles on mystery this job proves to be a challenge.
There was at least one sequel, Shirley Temple and the Screaming Spector,, also by Heisenfelt.
The girls left in the wee hours of Thursday morning, and arrive in the village below the grand house they're visiting in the wee hours of Friday the 13th, and no one is there to meet them at the station. Using the chauffeur's prescient gift of a flashlight, they make their way up the hill to the grand old house, only to discover that they are unexpected and, worse, Betha's grandmother is missing!
Shirley soon determines that her job is to strengthen and support Betha, come what may, but as mystery piles on mystery this job proves to be a challenge.
There was at least one sequel, Shirley Temple and the Screaming Spector,, also by Heisenfelt.
- GenresFiction
248 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1945
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 25, 2014
The first half of this book is very boring, it's not until the second half that things start happening. The whole thing feels very drawn out. Really looking back on it, it's not very eventful. Probably wont ever read again.
September 16, 2013
This is a book my mother got when she was a teenager, and had passed down to me. That copy of the book was lost in a move, alas, but I remembered it fondly and recently tracked it down again.
The Shirley in this book is in her mid to late teens, and is as level headed and caring as any child she ever played. She is thrown into her friend's family conflict and thus is somewhat on the edge of things, but Shirley manages to have some adventures of her own even so.
While there is a mystery at the center of the book -- why did Betha's grandmother disappear, and where has she gone? -- it isn't a mystery in the sense of the main characters tracking down clues and figuring out what is going on. Shirley does run across a number of clues and otherwise collects information, but generally they just add to her bewilderment.
Eventually, all is made clear, and justice is done. In that sense, the inside cover illustration is a spoiler. But the illustration doesn't answer either of the questions that drive the book, nor does it answer other questions that arise out of the plot, so while it serves to reassure the reader of a happy ending, it doesn't spoil the book in any meaningful way. The book came out during WW II; that kind of spoiler was a good thing, IMHO!
The clothes are different and there are no cell phones, but the plot has a timeless quality and the motivations and the beliefs of the villain of the piece, while perhaps less common, are certainly still held by many, alas. Not a great classic of a book, but involving and entertaining and a pleasant evening read.
The Shirley in this book is in her mid to late teens, and is as level headed and caring as any child she ever played. She is thrown into her friend's family conflict and thus is somewhat on the edge of things, but Shirley manages to have some adventures of her own even so.
While there is a mystery at the center of the book -- why did Betha's grandmother disappear, and where has she gone? -- it isn't a mystery in the sense of the main characters tracking down clues and figuring out what is going on. Shirley does run across a number of clues and otherwise collects information, but generally they just add to her bewilderment.
Eventually, all is made clear, and justice is done. In that sense, the inside cover illustration is a spoiler. But the illustration doesn't answer either of the questions that drive the book, nor does it answer other questions that arise out of the plot, so while it serves to reassure the reader of a happy ending, it doesn't spoil the book in any meaningful way. The book came out during WW II; that kind of spoiler was a good thing, IMHO!
The clothes are different and there are no cell phones, but the plot has a timeless quality and the motivations and the beliefs of the villain of the piece, while perhaps less common, are certainly still held by many, alas. Not a great classic of a book, but involving and entertaining and a pleasant evening read.
March 18, 2026
This book was an absolute relic that I got at a local thrift store. Printed in 1945 and with a ticket to a dance from 1947(!) tucked into its well-preserved pages, this was a snapshot of another time.
The titular Shirley Temple and her friend Betha go to the Dragonwood (a magnificent manor) for Betha's grandmother's birthday party. After some initial spookiness delivered by Shirley's god-fearing driver, the creep factor drops off drastically as several people and two housekeepers are at the manor with Shirley and Betha. Largely, it's a tale of our two leading ladies walking around the grounds in search of The Lady Grandmother.
Not to spoil a book that's already 81 years old, but
Not being a massive Shirley Temple fan myself, I wonder what the big draw was to having her be the titular detective here... I don't think you'd guess this was Shirley if you didn't know. She didn't have much personality here except being nice. Even her fame was only mentioned once or twice. (I guess it was just a cash grab for the time period.)
I like reading books like this just to enjoy the time capsule. This was a nice little story and I did enjoy the mystery, even if the stakes were low. 3/5
The titular Shirley Temple and her friend Betha go to the Dragonwood (a magnificent manor) for Betha's grandmother's birthday party. After some initial spookiness delivered by Shirley's god-fearing driver, the creep factor drops off drastically as several people and two housekeepers are at the manor with Shirley and Betha. Largely, it's a tale of our two leading ladies walking around the grounds in search of The Lady Grandmother.
Not to spoil a book that's already 81 years old, but
Not being a massive Shirley Temple fan myself, I wonder what the big draw was to having her be the titular detective here... I don't think you'd guess this was Shirley if you didn't know. She didn't have much personality here except being nice. Even her fame was only mentioned once or twice. (I guess it was just a cash grab for the time period.)
I like reading books like this just to enjoy the time capsule. This was a nice little story and I did enjoy the mystery, even if the stakes were low. 3/5
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews