The Merriweather Girls and the Mystery of the Queen's Fan

The Merriweather Girls #1

by Lizette M. Edholm

"The Merriweather Girls, Bet, Shirley, Joy and Kit are four fun-loving chums, who think up something exciting to do every minute. The romantic old Merriweather Manor is where their most thrilling adventures occur. The author has given us four exceptional titles in this series -- absorbing mysteries and their solutions, school life, horseback riding, tennis, and adventures during their school vacations. Every red-blooded, up-and-going girl is going to love these books." -from dust jacket

In this first volume of the series, the four girls solve the mystery of the missing Queen's fan - a pricless heirloom that once belonged to Marie Antoinette - clearing the name of a good friend.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

245 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1932

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first installment of a four-book series published in 1932, The Merriweather Girls and the Mystery of the Queen's Fan introduces the reader to the eponymous Merriweather Girls, a club formed by four young women who name themselves after Lady Betty Merriweather, a fictitious heroine of the American Revolution. Bet Baxter, who lives at Merriweather Manor with her wealthy and very indulgent father, Colonel Baxter, and her two chums, flighty Joy Evans and serious Shirley Williams, are soon joined by transplanted Arizona girl Kit Patten, and the four vow to uphold the high standard of their role model. But when a valuable antique fan that once belonged to Marie Antoinette goes missing from the Colonel's study, and their good friend Phil Gordon falls under suspicion, they find that being heroines is more difficult than it looks...

My first encounter with the Merriweather Girls was through the fourth and final book of the series, The Merriweather Girls At Good Old Rockhill , and I enjoyed it so much that I immediately began to look around for the other titles. Vintage girls' series have a certain charm to them, with their old-fashioned vocabulary - "chums" rather than "friends," "roadsters" rather than "cars" - and less violent plots. Unfortunately, they also sometimes contain socially anachronistic views, whether of race, gender or class. Thankfully, The Merriweather Girls contains very little of this latter, and so the pleasure to be had from it is mostly unalloyed.

The author has a charming "girls can do" attitude, probably very modern at the time of publication, and her heroines like to assert that "girls are as good as boys" (very true), and wonder whatever possessed the women of previous eras to wear the uncomfortable clothing they did. While still good friends with a number of boys, who show up to save the day upon occasion, the focus (as is the case in all girls' series) is on the girls' adventures and resourcefulness.

Published during the Great Depression, it is interesting to note that the events of those tumultuous times, while not central to the plot, do figure in the story. The girls' efforts to collect toys to hand out to needy children at Christmas is a reminder of the general poverty of the times, as is the huge crowd of men who respond to the girls' advertisement for someone to repair those toys. I myself am charmed by the fact that the series takes place in the Hudson Valley, very close to my "neck of the woods," and recommend it as a pleasant read to anyone with an interest in girls' series from the first half of the twentieth century.

[Reading with Cats · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet time capsule of teen girl life in the early 1930s with surprisingly little racism or sexism (though — be warned — there is one brief scene with some nasty comments about Native Americans).
3.5 stars

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Merriweather Girls

Fun reading this. I like the girls. The big question is who has the fan? The best is the party. I dont like you dont see Smiley Joe alot.
I love him!

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suitable for 12 year olds. A bit dated now.

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suitable for 12 year olds. A bit dated of course.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first sentence of the book is transporting: "The broad Hudson shimmered gaily in the sunshine of late summer, tiny rippling splashes of white dotted its surface and some of the joy of the day was reflected in the faces of the three girls who sat on the hillside far above the river bank, each intent on her own thoughts."

I wish the rest of the book was as well; unfortunately there really was no mystery and because of the predictability much of the book dragged. But I nonetheless enjoyed the girl power message and the subtle but poignant references to the Great Depression

[Laura]

Although an older book written for teen girls it was a short fun read. Fans of Nancy Drew will see the similarities

[Jackie G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this on my Kindle - it was OK, but I won't be reading the rest of the series. The characters are stereotyped and the interactions cliched.

[Hannah]

DNF.

Was hoping this would be Nancy Drew-lite, but nothing like it.