Posted on by TracyC · 1 Comment

The Case of the Vanishing Villain

The Case of the Vanishing Villain by Carol Farley, 1986

As you can see, my copy of this book has been … well-loved.

This is the first book in a series about two sisters, Flee Jay (short for Felice Jennifer) and Clarice Saylor. Twelve-year-old Flee Jay wants to be a detective, just like in the books she’s read, but her pretty younger sister is a child genius who has more aptitude for it. Clarice is somewhat eccentric for a ten-year-old, but she is also intelligent and logical and has a memory for details and obscure facts. Throughout the series, the two of them kind of compete to solve mysteries. Although Clarice usually comes up with the solution before Flee Jay, it usually takes the two of them together to get to the bottom of things because Flee Jay is an average kid who behaves like an average kid and helps Clarice understand how average people behave.

The story begins with an explanation and a request for help from Flee Jay. She and her genius younger sister, Clarice, were taking an early morning ferry from Michigan to Wisconsin to visit their grandparents when a series of strange events connected with an escaped convict took place. Clarice managed to solve the mystery, but Flee Jay wants readers to go through the events as they happened to see whether any normal person could have solved the mystery like Clarice did.

From that point on, Flee Jay describes what took place from the moment they arrived at the ferry until just before the ferry docked at its destination. She introduces all of the strange passengers on the ferry, including a family of three women who may have unwittingly brought the convict on board, a woman with an annoying barking dog, a bearded man with a guilty secret, and the overly-attentive ship’s steward, Mr. Woolsey, who is keeping an eye on the girls during the trip.

VanishingVillainPic

From the moment that Flee Jay learns about the escaped convict from Clarice, who “accidentally” overhears the police and Mr. Woolsey talking about him through a vent while standing in the sink in the ladies’ room next to Mr. Woolsey’s office, Flee Jay wants to be the one to find him. At first, they don’t really know whether he’s on the boat or not, but when the boat is underway, a woman screams that there was a strange man in her stateroom, and then, they’re pretty sure. Flee Jay and Clarice take it upon themselves to consider all the hiding places and to question the other passengers. Of course, Clarice produces the solution to the puzzle, but she does credit Flee Jay with inspiring her. According to Flee Jay, she just figured things out because she’s nosy, but that’s left to the readers to decide.

Join eccentric 10-year-old genius Clarice and her long-suffering sister as they try to put the pieces together to keep the convict from getting away right under the noses of the authorities!

The book is written with humor and is fun to read. The clues fit together neatly, and the black-and-white pictures, list of characters, and map of the inside of the ferry help readers understand the action.

The book is currently available through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

Forgotten Books and Stories

Remember that book you read as a kid?  You know the one.  It had that guy in it.  Or maybe it was that girl. Actually, it was probably both.  And there was a mystery to solve!  They went on an adventure.  There was something magical about it.  And it all ended happily!  I think.  Anyway, it was something like that.

But, after all these years, it’s hard to remember exactly how it all went.  Now, the book is out of print.  You could probably find it somewhere, if you remember what it was.  Maybe you’d like a copy, or maybe you’d just like to remember exactly how it went.

There are a number of sites on the Internet now where you can submit descriptions of a book you’re looking for, as much as you can remember about it, and see whether or not anyone recognizes it.

This site is more the opposite.  I haven’t read all the books in the world, but I’m a notorious book hoarder, and I have a particular interest in children’s literature.  This is mostly an opportunity for me to talk about old favorites.  These aren’t the kind of books that are on award lists (for the most part), and most of them are long out of print, forgotten or half-forgotten by everyone except for me and a few other people who had fun reading them years ago.  Take a moment to think back on stories you loved as a kid, the ones that made you dream of being a detective, a dancer, an astronaut, or maybe a wizard, or maybe just made you wish you could go back in time to another place . . .

Most of the books I liked when I was young were mysteries, fantasies, or historical novels.  I might offer some spoilers if someone else remembers the story and wants to know how it ends or just wants more information about it.  If someone wants to recommend a book for discussion, let me know!