The Mystery of the Blinking Eye is the 12th book in the Trixie Belden Mystery series. This time, Trixie, her BFF Honey Wheeler, and the entire Bob-White Club take a trip to New York City. This is a special trip for the gang. They are meeting Ned, Bob and Barbara at the airport. They met the three at Happy Valley Farm in Iowa during Easter break, and now they are traveling to NYC to spend time with the Bob-Whites! Dan Mangan, newest member of the group, is also along for the trip. The group will be staying at the Wheeler's NYC apartment while the 10 teenagers enjoy the city. While still in the airport, Trixie spots an older woman who appears upset. She approaches and asks if she can help. The Mexican woman explains she has had trouble in the city and has to return home, but she isn't sure where to go to get on her flight. Trixie helps her. Before the woman boards her plane, she thanks Trixie, giving her a hastily scribbled note and a colorful straw purse as a gift. Later when she looks inside the purse, there is a small little wooden idol statue. Then she opens the note, the Mexican woman was a fortune teller and gave Trixie a poem that reads like a riddle. Clues in the poem start coming true.....and strange men start trying to steal the purse and her idol. What's going on?? Is the statue cursed? Or is this a mystery for the Bob-Whites to solve?

This adventure for the group in NYC was fun to read! The kids are having fun touring New York, and trying to figure out why strange people seem to want the ugly little statue the woman gave Trixie in the airport. Dan Mangan is back in action, after several books where he didn't figure into the story. I was glad that the newest Bob-White got to go on this trip with everyone. The kids from Happy Valley Farm blended well with the usual main characters. The suspense in the story was entertaining and fun....and not too scary for kids to enjoy the story. Another fun visit with the kids from Sleepyside, NY!

The Trixie Belden Series was published from 1948-1986. The first six books were written by Julie Campbell. Various other authors under the pen name Kathryn Kenny wrote the rest of the series. ( )

A nice mystery. Trixie buys a little statue and the trouble begins. The kids spend a lot of time in New York City by themselves. ( )

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? – Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? – Ten and up.

Length? – Most of a day’s read.

Characters? – Memorable, several characters.

Setting? – Real world, pre - computer pre - air conditioning, pre - cell phone.

Written approximately? – 1964?.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? – Ready to read more.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? Yes. A slight mention of the time frame of the story - as the teens are given far more freedom to come and go as they please than would be safe today. Also, the absence of computers, cell phones, and air conditioning in homes, especially the mansion.

Short storyline: Trixie Belden buys a statue at a antique store in New York City. While the group, and their friends from Iowa visit tourist destinations, three thieves constantly work to steal the statue back from Trixie.


Notes for the reader: A great mystery! No violence (only referred to from the past), no murder. This is one of the more harrowing one, in which one thief threatens Trixie with a gun towards the end of the novel. ( )

In this one, Trixie and her friends go to New York to meet some friends who are visiting from Iowa. Trixie helps a Mexican woman at the airport, and the woman rewards her with a ~prophecy~ lol (she's a fortune teller that has been run out of NYC by the evil police - HA!). The prophecy is in Spanish, but when Miss Trask translates it to English it is in rhyming couplets (double lol!). Anyway, the prophecy is sort of a red herring; the real story is about a vicious gang of jewel thieves that stalk Trixie throughout the city. She finds the stolen jewels and catches the crooks, of course!

One superfunny thing about this one was that Mr. Wheeler and another random character both called out Miss Trask on her shoddy "nanny" skills, letting Trixie get kidnapped by murderous thugs being just one of the many times she fell down on the job in this book. Oh, Miss Trask! ( )

I loved this series when I was growing up; I thought Trixie was a lot more fun than Nancy Drew, and these were some of my all-time favorite books. I read them as an adult, though, a few years ago, and found that they haven't, IMO, stood the test of time well. They are obviously dated, and there are some messages that I don't think are appropriate anymore (mostly the way Trixie is treated differently - and often poorly - because she's a girl). ( )