The Mystery of the Locked Room

Dana Girls Mystery #7

by Carolyn Keene, Mildred Benson (Ghostwriter)

The students are Starhurst are excited about Mrs. Crandall's plans to purchase a piece of property at Moon Lake for a girls' camp. Five girls, including Louise and Jean Dana, earn the privilege of accompanying Mrs. Crandall to the proposed site on a weekend outing. Much to the Danas' dismay, Lettie Briggs makes the trip as well since Mrs. Crandall has promised her parents to look after Lettie while they are away.

The trip proves to be exciting, because the house located on the proposed camp property appears to be haunted. At any rate, someone else is staying in the house inside the locked attic room and only comes out at night when the Starhurst group is asleep.

With difficulty, the girls convince Mrs. Crandall to extend their stay so that the mystery can be solved. If the girls can prove that the proposed camp property is not dangerous, Mrs. Crandall will purchase the property for the school.

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Fiction, Young Adult

204 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1938

About the author

Carolyn Keene is a writer pen name that was used by many different people- both men and women- over the years. The company that was the creator of the Nancy Drew series, the Stratemeyer Syndicate, hired a variety of writers. For Nancy Drew, the writers used the pseudonym Carolyn Keene to assure anonymity of the creator.

Edna and Harriet Stratemeyer inherited the company from their father Edward Stratemeyer. Edna contributed 10 plot outlines before passing the reins to her sister Harriet. It was Mildred Benson (aka: Mildred A. Wirt), who breathed such a feisty spirit into Nancy's character. Mildred wrote 23 of the original 30 Nancy Drew Mystery Stories®, including the first three. It was her characterization that helped make Nancy an instant hit. The Stratemeyer Syndicate's devotion to the series over the years under the reins of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams helped to keep the series alive and on store shelves for each succeeding generation of girls and boys. In 1959, Harriet, along with several writers, began a 25-year project to revise the earlier Carolyn Keene novels. The Nancy Drew books were condensed, racial stereotypes were removed, and the language was updated. In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.

Other writers of Nancy Drew volumes include Harriet herself, she wrote most of the series after Mildred quit writing for the Syndicate and in 1959 began a revision of the first 34 texts. The role of the writer of "Carolyn Keene" passed temporarily to Walter Karig who wrote three novels during the Great Depression. Also contributing to Nancy Drew's prolific existence were Leslie McFarlane, James Duncan Lawrence, Nancy Axelrod, Priscilla Doll, Charles Strong, Alma Sasse, Wilhelmina Rankin, George Waller Jr., and Margaret Scherf.

Reviews

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wowee wow. A small, select group from the Starhurst Girls School takes a field trip to a mansion near a lake. Might be a nice spot for a potential summer camp?? The mansion is dilapidated and full of mystery, only reachable by horse and wagons. One problem is the mean girl Lettie who is determined to stuff hundreds of dollars into the pockets of a handsome young man who arrives to town out of nowhere and randomly borrows horses. The next problem is Eleanor who twists an ankle. The next problem is Helen who is bitten by a snake. The next problem is a cave beneath the house with valuable structural items stored within. Our clever heroines Jean & Louise Dana get the idea to bring a horse into the kitchen and hitch the basement items on him, and then they scare him into running back outside, thereby dragging parts of the house out the door. And all this happens during the group’s prospective weekend tour. No one has actually purchased or leased the house yet! The next problem is the Dana sisters’ personal assistant named Cora. Because this is a 1930s book, Cora is labeled as “simple,” or something along these lines. She is terrified of any “ghosts” that may be in the mansion, she almost runs off and elopes with a plumber just because she thinks he’s cute, she constantly burns food in the kitchen and breaks plates, but she is kind and always says sorry, and she doesn’t complain at all when the horse knocks her down and drags part of the house over her.

Book ends by nobody buying the mansion because in actuality it belongs to the descendants of local “Indians.”

That’s somewhat progressive, I believe!

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lettie is just the worse. She kind of reminds of Goofus from Highlights' Goofus & Gallant, but on steroids. And how stupid are her parents leaving her a boatload of money while they go on a round the world cruise? Have they ever met their daughter? She really makes it hard to read these books, because she is so awful.

I do love that it's the original 1938 edition, another gift from my niece, with all its 1938 "sensibilities." Applecore is "simple," while Toby is "moronic."

[Mikayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, light mystery. I enjoyed that this one didn't really have any 'spooky' scenes, 'cause I get tired of those in kids mystery's.
I'm enjoying working through these old Dana girls and this was one of the better ones.

[James Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

1938.

This is a real good book in the series and is rather complex. Lettie plays a major part in the story, I think the most important role she's played yet. She's involved in mysterious doings with some adult guy who the Dana girls don't trust. Another theme is Applecore's getting some money from an inheritance and how she reacts to that. Yet another them involves Mrs. Crandall wanting to buy a place that she can establish a summer camp for girls out. Another theme involves a new girl at Starhurst who seems to be mysterious herself.

That place remains the main focus of the book as the Dana Girls are sure it hides a secret room. There also seems to be someone sneaking around the place. There's as a 'borrowed' horse, a sunken canoe, and stolen research papers.

The entire thing makes for one of the best Dana Girls mysteries yet.

[Céline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book! It was complex enough to keep me invested, but not overly so so as to feel too spread out and thin. While I've never read the Parker Sisters before, it had the same nostalgic, mystery feel of Nancy Drew, which I have read. Also, it was wonderful to read a chapter book fully in French without having read it in English before; I became very accustomed to the passe simple.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jean and Louise seemed extra obnoxious in this one. And why, oh why, does Mrs. Crandall indulge them?

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this series of books that I read back in junior high. They are from the same syndicate that wrote the Nancy Drew books and the Hardy Boys, but I much preferred the Dana Girls.

[Stefanie Guay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of corse, I enjoyed this book because of it's such juvenile innocent that doesn't really exist now a days.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mysterious new student who has a secret and sings like a bird plus an adventure in a cottage on secluded Moon Lake makes this an interesting case for the Dana Girls. Mrs. Crandall is thinking on buying property on Moon Lake for a girls' summer camp and takes 4 girls with her. Nasty Lettie is included only because Mrs. Crandall promised her parents, vacationing in Europe, that she would keep an eye on her. The other girls, including the Danas, were invited along because of their scholastic standing. The area is steeped in Native American lore. The group camps out in the 2 story cottage where mysterious things occur and there is, of course, a locked room. This is one of the better Dana Girls books!

[Rex Libris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The girls go visit the proposed site of a summer camp, and help stop a land swindler and restore the birthright of one of their classmates.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mystery of the Locked Room centers around a desolate stone house that appears to be haunted, a school thief, and a suspicious businessman. The plot itself is very good, but as with the preceding volume in this series, the mystery takes awhile to fully develop – too long, in my opinion. Also, there isn't enough suspense throughout the book, and action is rare. A couple of events in the storyline (like the Dana sisters being falsely told that their father's ship is sinking, and their maid going to elope while the girls try to stop her) are fillers. The climax isn't very exciting, but there is a nice amount of twists in the book. All in all, I rate this volume 3 out of 5 stars – entertaining but not one of the better installments.

[Sandybear76]

c1938. Much like Nancy Drew.