Category Archives: Solved

336E: Creepy Girl Holding Up Egg (Solved!)

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I read a book as a school aged kid in the 70’s and I think it was probably published in the 70’s.
The most memorable thing about it was the illustrations.  I found them so creepy, I could barely look at them.  Kind of like the illustration of Alice in Wonderland when her neck gets stretched by Tenniel.
The picture I remember most clearly was one that was a black and white drawing and the girl is holding a single egg in the kitchen.  The perspective is as if she’s holding the egg up to a camera on the ceiling.  She has large eyes and looks creepy.  Imagine Wednesday from the Addams Family holding the egg.
The plot was about a strange girl who moved next door to the main character – a girl of the same age I think.  Probably about my age at the time, 10 or 11.  I think the new girl holding the egg had some kind of magical powers.  I don’t remember liking the girl, so she wasn’t like a fun Pippi Longstocking character.  I think the setting was in the country.  Definitely not in the city.  The kitchen seems like a farm kitchen in a farm house.
I don’t think this was popular book at all.  I think I tried to make my friends read it to see if they found it as creepy as I did, and they declined.
I’m afraid that’s all I’ve got.  Thanks in advance!

335W: Luton Cabbie Mystery (Solved!)

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Mid-1990s to mid-2000’s publication date, more likely 1998-2003. Mystery novel set in Luton, England. Protagonist is black cabdriver of West Indian/Caribbean origin. Unfortunately, I can’t recall the mystery he gets involved in. I liked the author’s portrayal of an overlooked airport town, the character and the look into his culture. Although I read a lot of British mysteries, this one’s setting was unusual and the mood of it has stayed with me. I have wondered if it was part of a series or a one-off.

 

335S: Captive Beautiful Woman and Her Captive Aesthetically Pleasing Children (Solved!)

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I hope someone can help me with this one!
I’ll start with the part that I remember the most clearly – the part that has haunted me all these years for some inexplicable reason.
Two children are walking behind a beautiful woman down a long, grand corridor lined with mirrors. As they walk, the woman glances to the side to see their reflection in the mirrors.  She says to herself.  “Yes, that is better.  Much better.”  Because previously she had two large, beautiful, dangerous dogs (perhaps dobermans?) following her wherever she went.
I read the book in the mid 70’s, but it could have been written earlier than that.  I read a lot of old books as a kid.
The feel of the book is Gothic and dark.  Something like Wolves of Willoughby Chase  by Joan Aiken or a Bellairs book.  Or possibly even one of those creepy Scholastic paperbacks.  But for some reason I think the writing quality was pretty good.  Of course I was only around 10, so what did I know?
The children walking behind the woman are young and have been all dressed up.  Pre-puberty.  I guess you wouldn’t want sullen pimply teens following you around as decorative props?
I think the children are siblings, a boy and a girl?  Perhaps twins?  But that’s just a feeling.  Maybe because they’re so aesthetically pleasing to the beautiful woman?  In a way that a short, fat blond kid walking next to a tall, skinny redhead kid wouldn’t be.  Like an Edward Gorey drawing of two matching Victorian children in matching velvet outfits.
The children are there against their will.  Although it doesn’t seem like they got there by something as mundane as being thrown in your standard Pedo-Van.  I feel like there was some kind of magic involved.  Like a magic mirror or magic painting, something like that.  But without the humor and lightheartedness that say, an Edward Eager book would have.  These children are definitely in danger.  And are they in another dimension?  Another Time?  I don’t know.
I also think the woman may be held against her will as well.  Like some evil monster? power? man? is keeping her captive with his magic and brought the children there to appease her, but bringing her a couple of kidnapped children was hardly going to cheer her up given that she has zero freedom even though she does get to live in this fancy mansion? castle? wearing beautiful clothes.  She did seem quite depressed.
Does anyone remember anything that sounds like this?  I wish I could remember more.  And I wish I could trust what I think I remember.
Thank you in advance for your time!

335B: Christmas Mice Named After Spices (Solved!)

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This is a Christmas book and it follows three mice who are brothers. They're named after spices (if my memory serves me correctly, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, and Ginger). They're trying to find a Christmas present for their mother and she sings them a lullaby. This is all of the information that I can remember, but I am a senior in high school and I read it roughly 10 years ago.

335A: Babysitter Turns Out To Be A Wolf, Chaos Ensues (Solved!)

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I’m looking for a children’s book I checked out of my elementary school library in the mid/late 1980’s, so the book is from that period or earlier.  I can’t recall much but it concerned a family of animals (pigs, sheep, lambs?) that lived in an urban setting (I think), an apartment with bunk beds (maybe) - there were lots of “kids".  The parents go out for the night and the baby sitter turns out to be a wolf!  Chaos ensues... That’s about all I’ve got.  The book was illustrated.

334V: Mystery series probably published 1940-1970 (Solved!)

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I do not know the name of any of the books in the series, but I can describe at least one of the covers. Our library had 4 books but there may have been more. All of the books had a deep purple cover. One had a mansion or haunted house on top of a hill or cliff. For some reason murder mansion, Whispering Hill, sticks in my head. I believe there were 2 or 3 kids and one had an odd name. Definitely not the more prolific series, Three Investigators, Hardy Boys, etc. The books were hardcover and not very thick, 70-80 pages and meant for grades 3-6. I hope you can find the series I am looking for.

334O: Orphans adopted by sadistic older couple (Solved!)

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I read a YA series of (I believe 3 books) in the 1980's about 3 children who were orphaned and sent to live with an older couple off of the eastern US coast in a large mansion (perhaps Maine).  The children were regularly subjected to gaslighting and emotional abuse.  No adult believed them until the end of the very last book because the couple was so well regarded in the town.   There was a cliff near the house where the tide came in very quickly and that played into the books very frequently.