This is book #2 of the Trixie Belden series, and it is the continuation of the story from book #1.

Trixie travels along with her friend, Honey, and Honey’s governess Miss Trask to an autocamp in upstate New York in an attempt to find Jim Frayne, a teenager who has runaway to escape his abusive stepfather. Jim has unknowingly inherited a vast fortune from his great-uncle; Trixie and Honey are determined to find Jim so he can claim his inheritance and become a part of Honey’s family. Along the way, Trixie and Co. encounter a gang of RV thieves and a runaway eleven year old whose family behaves very suspiciously.

This installment of the Trixie Belden series is an enjoyable little mystery/adventure for pre-teens and younger teenagers. The story is engaging and dramatic without being too disturbing; and, of course, everything ends happily—except for the criminals!

The only objectionable content in this book that should be of concern to parents is the girls’ neglectful treatment of their pets. Trixie and Honey each bring their dogs along on their trip and treat them appallingly; for the most part, they simply ignore them! They let the dogs (Trixie’s Irish Setter, Reddy, & Honey’s small puppy, Bud) roam around unleashed and unsupervised; along the highway, through the autocamp, in the forest…Reddy & Bud are allowed to run wild everywhere. It’s no wonder Trixie & Honey are constantly losing their canine charges. At one point, Trixie even forgets to give food and water to the dogs! Then, to make matters even worse, Honey carelessly gives Bud away to a family that has already had one puppy die under their care…Yikes!

And there are never any consequences for the girls’ lack of responsibility. In real life, the dogs would have been run over or seriously injured a million times over by book’s end! Wandering around alone in the woods, Bud—who is only a weeks-old puppy—would have been attacked & probably killed by wild animals. At the very least, both of the dogs would have gotten lost and vanished without a trace at some point. It boggles the mind!

Parents whose children read this book might want to have a serious conversation about the nature of responsible pet ownership so their children don’t think that Trixie’s and Honey’s (mis)treatment of their dogs is appropriate or acceptable. ( )

The Trixie Belden series is about a group of teen sleuths who investigate mysteries around their hometown of Sleepyside, NY. Trixie Belden lives on a farm with her brothers and parents. Her bestie, Honey Wheeler, lives nearby at a manor house with her wealthy parents. They have great adventures together. The series was written from 1948-1986. The first six books were written by Julie Campbell. The rest of the series was written by multiple authors all under the penname Kathryn Kenny. The series is similar to Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys.

I loved the Trixie Belden series when I was in middle school back in the '80s. I received a couple books for every holiday and special event until I had the entire series. :) When I noticed that a few of the titles had been re-printed, I wanted to read the series again. I was a bit worried at first because I wasn't sure if I would enjoy re-reading them as an adult, and I didn't want to ruin my happy memories of reading about Trixie's adventures with her friends, Honey and Jim. After reading the first two books again, I'm glad that I decided to revist Sleepyside. The stories are a bit dated, but still so much fun to read!

The second book, The Red Trailer Mystery, is a continuation of the story from book one. Honey and Trixie have made a new friend, Jim Frayne. He came looking for his uncle, only to find out that the old man had passed away in the hospital. Jim runs away at the end of book one, fearing that his mean, abusive step-father is coming to take him away. He never finds out that he has inherited a lot of money from his uncle. In the second book Trixie and Honey, along with Honey's Governess Miss Trask, pack up the Wheeler family travel trailer to go find Jim. The boy expressed interest in finding a camp counselor's job at one of the nearby campgrounds, so they hit the road to find him and bring him home. Along the way, they discover a band of thieves who are stealing trailers and property from travelers. The girls end up in some hot water when the bad guys catch them following them to get proof to take to the police.

This book seems a bit simple and dated to the adult-me, but I still enjoyed it just as much as I did when I was 12. Maybe more for simple nostalgia than the actual story. It was a fun afternoon read, and I'm looking forward to reading more of this series. Only a few of the books were re-printed so I'm going to have to do some hunting to find the complete series to read, but locating all the books will be part of the fun of re-visiting this series.

I always preferred Trixie Belden over Nancy Drew. I'm not sure why. I think I will re-read some Nancy Drew books as well and compare the two. Maybe I can come up with a reason why I loved Trixie and was more meh about Nancy. ( )

Honey and Trixie and Miss Trask head to upstate New York, where the girls knew Jim was going to go job hunting at a boys' summer camp. Along the way they hear about trailer thieves and are extra cautious. One of their neighbors, the Lynches, had their red trailer the Robin stolen, and Trixie is sure the strange family they saw in the red trailer are the thieves. This book is actually pretty funny, at one point I think they were looking for four or five different people who were supposedly hiding out in the woods. It reminded me of a Perry Mason book I read where there were like ten people in this man's swimming pool one night (all at different times, of course). The dogs were forever running off and getting lost and the girls spent a heck of a lot of time lost in the woods themselves. They finally track down Jim (and the real trailer thieves, and Joeanne Darnell, who ran away from home, and...). A fight ensues over who is going to adopt the husky redheaded boy (I love how they kept describing him as "husky", like that was a good thing. Maybe it was back in the 1950s). Honey wins and convinces her parents to give her an older brother. Jim is adopted by the Wheelers and goes to live at the Manor House. ( )

Jim Frayne ran away at the end of The Secret of the Mansion, but later his great uncle's lawyer showed up, revealing that Jim inherited half a million dollars and is going to be removed from his abusive stepfather's custody. So Trixie and Honey set off in the Wheelers' trailer with Honey's governess Miss Trask to find their missing friend. They decide to check the boys' camps upstate, since Jim mentioned getting a job there, but he always seems to be one step ahead of them. On the trip, Trixie and Honey are faced with: a strange and poor family in a luxurious trailer; that family's missing daughter; Mrs. Smith, a fat and motherly woman who's missing her locket; a trailer-robbing ring; and two suspicious workers at their trailer camp who may be involved. Trixie knows that the mysteries are tied together and the answer lies in the nearby forest. At the end of the book, Honey's parents return. Honey runs to her mother and gives her a hug, something she has never done before. Her mother forgets her own shyness and hugs her daughter back. Jim is adopted by the Wheeler family, giving Honey an older brother. Jim tells Trixie that he is in charge now, but Trixie tells him to wait for her older brothers, Mart and Brian, to get back from camp. ( )

I nice little mystery. I figured out somethings before Trixie & Honey, but they are just kids. ( )