When the Key Turned

A Kay Tracey Mystery #11

by Frances K. Judd

"Tell Father to send help—" The frantic call sends Kay dashing to the home of her friend Rosa Lusardi. When she pushes open the door an astonishing scene meets her eyes. Rosa Lusardi sits bound hand and foot to a chair by the telephone table. She has managed to work the gag free of her mouth and has knocked the telephone from its cradle so she can call Kay. Her pet dog, badly beaten, lies in a corner of the room. And her father's valuable violin—a Stradivarius—has been stolen!

Kay Tracey's determination to track down the heartless thief leads her and her friends, Betty and Wilma Worth, into one exciting adventure after another. At one point Kay's eagerness backfires when she fails to get off a departing ship and finds herself hauled before the captain as a stowaway.

Later, when Kay unearths a key bearing the mysterious number 777, she feels that at last she has found the real clue to an unusual secret. Ethel Eaton, Kay's jealous and egotistical classmate at Carmont High, has other ideas and puts Kay in real danger in her attempt to put her rival off the track. Kay must find her way out of the maze of intrigue to the solution of the mystery.

Genres: Mystery

204 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

A pseudonym used by several authors: Elizabeth Mildred Duffield Ward (Kay Tracey series #1-2), Mildred A. Wirt Benson (Kay Tracey series #3-12, 14), Edna Stratemeyer Squier (Kay Tracey series #13), and Anna Perot Rose Wright (Kay Tracey series #15-18).

Series:
* A Kay Tracey Mystery

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

#11 Kay Tracey Mystery- I'm re-reading the entire series in order, and discovered that they do fall somewhat in order. This one was quite good. It involves a stolen Stradivarius violin. I remember as a child reading this book and first learning about the valuable violin. Kay encounters a dishonest antique dealer and helps the two people he duped out of their belongings. Of course she also suspects this antique dealer of stealing the Stradivarius from her school friend Rosa's father. There's lots of action as Kay follows clues and investigates, facing a bear, falling into a quagmire (I learned about that too as a child). being locked into closets, attics, and trunks, and being left locked in the closet of a burning house. Much depends on the identity of a key marked 777- I'm not sure how it came to be found where it was, though. I guess that sometimes you just need to take it at face value. Kay is capable of defeating all danger and solving the mystery. Her nemesis Ethel Eaton tries to ruin things and puts out a lot of gossip but Kay is able to deflect it. It's funny how Ethel is always standing by eavesdropping when someone is having a quiet conversation....

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

For sentimental reasons I give it a 4. The writing is very mediocre but I enjoyed the plot twists, thinking how much I did/would have enjoyed this as a young girl which is when I would have first read it, if I did, circa 1960.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable and wacky Kay Tracey mystery