Ghost Gables

"When Lois McDonald learned that the mysterious old house, known as Ghost Gables, was to be occupied, she had to get all the facts about its new tenant promptly. At Ghost Gables she met pretty Glenna Brockman, who had plans to turn the old house into a dormitory for girls from the adjacent college. Mystery followed mystery as the girls tried to put the house into shape. And the strangest mystery of all was the locked room. The plot really thickened when several different ghosts were to be seen stalking the grounds at night. Added to the existing puzzles was the appearance of the tramp in the nearby woods, a tramp who puzzled Lois and whose identity finally helped to resolve the biggest mystery of all."

Mildred Wirt Benson books

This post was originally posted on Phyllis' Book Reviews. It appeared on 10/30/14.

Comments:

HM February 14, 2015 at 1:25 PM

I would love to read this! I didn't know she wrote any books under her real name. Thanks for posting.

 

Phyl February 19, 2015 at 9:11 PM

She actually wrote a lot of books under several names! Here's a great site that lists all of them - http://series-books.com/mildredwirt/wirt.html

Quarry Ghost

source

KRISTIE ROLLED a sheet of copy paper from the typewriter and, with a quick intake of breath, raised startled eyes to the shadowy doorway. Across the street from the deserted college journalism office, the chimes of Old Trinity carillonned the hour of seven.

Not the clear cadence of the striking chapel bells, but another sound had caught the girl's attention. Footfalls, soft and steady, whispered along the freshly-scrubbed hallway, padded closer and now hung suspended at the entranceway to the student newspaper workroom.

Aware that she sat alone in a slowly darkening room, Kristie snapped on the overhead, swinging electric bulb.

Framed in the doorway stood a tall man with angular features. His well-cut tweeds and gold-rimmed spectacles suggested that he might be a faculty member. Kristie, however, was quite certain she had never seen him on the campus.

The glare of the unshaded light accentuated a gray-fringed, bald head as the visitor politely removed his hat in approaching the desk.

"Good evening." His voice was low-pitched, friendly. "May I see your journalism school director, please?"

"Mr. Munn? Oh, I'm sorry, sir, he left an hour ago." Kristie smiled to cover her nervousness. The caller's easy manner had quieted her initial alarm. Nevertheless, she was fully conscious that she sat alone in a deserted office. It would be nearly an hour before the Daily Collegian night staff would straggle in to get out the early morning edition.

Long before that time, Kristie expected to be at the women's gymnasium swimming pool, preparing to compete in an important meet at 7:30 p.m. She had remained at the journalism office only to finish an assigned story on the student council election.

"You are in charge here?"

"Not exactly." Kristie squirmed impatiently, wishing the caller would state his business promptly. Any delay now might make her late for the swimming competition.

Quarry Ghost manuscript

Quarry Ghost was published in 1959 by Dodd, Mead & Company. It was Mildred Wirt's last published book and remains very elusive to acquire. It was reprinted in 1960 in the UK under the title of Kristie at College. I really like both covers.

source

Millie dedicated this book to her daughter:

To Peggy, a champion swimmer, who lost a race and launched a story.

This post was originally posted on Phyllis' Book Reviews. It appeared on 10/24/14.

Penny Nichols Mystery Series

The Penny Nichols series consists of four books: Penny Nichols Finds a Clue, Penny Nichols and the Mystery of the Lost Key, Penny Nichols and the Black Imp, and Penny Nichols and the Knob Hill Mystery. They are written under the name Joan Clark, another pen name of Mildred A. Wirt. They are a lot like the Penny Parker books, especially in the fact that both girls are named Penelope. As typical with her books, the heroine has no mother, a father who is in some kind of lawyer/detective/newspaper business, and a kindly housekeeper who is like part of the family. She has her own car with which she uses on her adventures and a best friend who is a little more on the plump side and not near as headstrong or fearless as her chum. All the books feature the same cover art. Descriptions of all four books can be found here. You can read them online at this website.

This post was originally posted on Phyllis' Book Reviews. It appeared on 4/10/11.

Comments:

HM January 4, 2014 at 5:22 PM

I have never seen this series. I love your blog header. Beautiful. Hope you will add more to these posts.

 

Phyl January 10, 2014 at 8:35 AM

It's a great series. I just wish there were more! I have a post lined up...just haven't found the time to finish it yet. And thank you for following me!

 

Penny Parker Mystery Stories by Mildred A. Wirt

The Penny Parker series is a delightful series about a girl who has a knack for stumbling upon mysteries, as all heroines of mystery series do. Her father is the owner of a newspaper called the star. Penny usually ends up getting a big scoop for her father's paper and they end up always beating out the rival papers to the big story of which Penny is always directly involved. Helping her solve her mysteries is her chum Louise Sidell who always, usually unwillingly, gets caught up in Penny's crazy schemes. The series is overall delightful. You can find plot synopsis' and order of books at Series Books for Girls and you can find the complete series to read for free online here!

This post was originally posted on Phyllis' Book Reviews. It appeared on 3/30/11.