List of Trixie Belden books

This is a List of Trixie Belden books. The first six books were written by Julie Campbell Tatham. The following titles were written by various in-house writers of Western Publishing under the pseudonym "Kathryn Kenny". In 2003, Random House re-issued the first four books of the series.

Original six written by Julie Campbell Tatham

1.The Secret of the Mansion (1948)

The book opens with thirteen-year-old Trixie begging her mother for a horse. Her two older brothers are away at camp for the summer and Trixie is afraid she will be bored alone at their house, Crabapple Farm. The family cannot afford a horse, and Trixie will have to save up her money on her own, so imagine her delight when Trixie sees a horse trailer outside a neighboring mansion. The Wheelers, a rich family from New York City, have just bought the mansion, and are moving in with their teenaged daughter, Honey. Although tough Trixie thinks Honey is a priss and a sissy at first, they soon become fast friends. Trixie realizes that Honey really is a "poor little rich girl", her parents are never home, she grew up at boarding schools, camps and with governesses, and has been very sickly. Trixie of course helps her new friend overcome these things, and Honey balances Trixie's rash and impatient personality with her tactfulness and gentleness.

Recently, Trixie's neighbor on the other side was taken to the hospital, unconscious and sick from pneumonia. Trixie uses this chance to explore around the miser's rundown old mansion. Under the pretense of locking a window, Trixie and Honey climb inside to look around. They are shocked to find a tall, redheaded boy asleep on a mattress. The boy is Jim Frayne, the miser's grandnephew, and he is running away from his abusive stepfather. The three become close friends, with the girls smuggling food up to the mansion for Jim. Local legend says the old man hid his fortune somewhere in the house, electing to live in poverty after his beloved wife’s death. Honey and Jim are doubtful, but Trixie is sure the money is there somewhere, if only they could find it before Jim's evil stepfather comes looking for him.

Eventually, Jonesy, the stepfather, does come looking for him after a newspaper article about a jet crashing near the Miser's Mansion also features the miser's legend and an open safe Trixie accidentally leaves open when she finds the engagement ring that Jim's granduncle gave his wife.

That same night after Jonesy shows up, the mansion catches fire and is burned to the ground but when Trixie and Honey go there to the next morning to visit Jim, they find him gone.

He has run away again... this time in possession of a portion of the half million dollars. The money had been hidden in the mattress Jim had been sleeping on all the time.

The girls are confronted by the old man's (the granduncle's) lawyer who asks them to track Jim down for him. He wanted to track Jim because Mr. Frayne his uncle had formed a trust for him and he wanted to give it to him along with another guardian that would be appointed for him. Mr Rainsford can only do this if Trixie and Honey Track Jim down.

2. The Red Trailer Mystery (1950)

Jim Frayne ran away at the end of The Secret of the Mansion, but then 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 in The Red Trailer Mystery, Trixie and Honey set off in the Wheeler's trailer with Honey's governess Miss Trask to find their missing friend. They decide to check the boy's camps upstate, since Jim mentioned getting a job there, but the redheaded boy 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; their 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 or may not be involved. Trixie knows that the mysteries are all tied together and the answer lies somewhere in the nearby forest, if only they could find it.

At the end of the book, Honey's parents return. Honey runs to 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. Trixie runs out of the room, overcome with happiness. Jim comes out to get her, and they go back inside. Before they go back in, 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.

3.The Gatehouse Mystery (1951).

The Gatehouse Mystery marks a point in the series when the hallmarks of the Trixie Belden books are solidly established. This book introduces Trixie's older brothers and marks the establishment of the "Bob-Whites of the Glen" club. The plot involves an adventure that follows when Trixie Belden and her new best friend Honey Wheeler explore an old abandoned gatehouse on the Wheeler's property.

The Gatehouse Mystery is the third book in the Trixie Belden series by Julie Campbell Tatham written under the name Julie Campbell. It is only one of six books in the series written by the character's creator. Like the other Trixie Belden books, the rights to this book, originally published by the Whitman Publishing Company, were acquired by Random House. In 2003, Random House re-issued the first four books of the series, resulting in a new edition of The Gatehouse Mystery.

4.The Mysterious Visitor (1954)

5.The Mystery Off Glen Road (1956)

6.The Mystery in Arizona (1958)

Books written under the pseudonym Kathryn Kenny

7.The Mysterious Code (1961)

8.The Black Jacket Mystery (1961)

9.The Happy Valley Mystery (1962)

10.The Marshland Mystery (1962)

11.The Mystery at Bob-White Cave (1963)

12.The Mystery of the Blinking Eye (1963)

13.The Mystery on Cobbett's Island (1964)

14.The Mystery of the Emeralds (1965)

15.The Mystery on the Mississippi (1965)

16.The Mystery of the Missing Heiress (1970)

17.The Mystery of the Uninvited Guest (1977)

18.The Mystery of the Phantom Grasshopper (1977)

19.The Secret of the Unseen Treasure (1977)

20.The Mystery off Old Telegraph Road (1978)

After school, Trixie and Honey look around the art fair and are disappointed with the lack of displays. Nick Roberts, head of the art club, says that the art club does not have the money to have more displays. Eager to help, all of the Bob-Whites enthusiastically get into the idea of a bike-a-thon. Trixie asks for Nick's help in making the posters for the bike-a-thon; however, Nick immediately disagrees and even tries to convince Trixie not to have the bike-a-thon. With or without Nick's help, Trixie decides to go ahead with the idea of the bike-a-thon. However, trouble soon starts. Honey gets into a fight with Trixie over Ben Riker, and Trixie is blamed for all the wrong-doings in the club. Trixie sees Nick Roberts ripping down her precious poster, and the bike-a-thon may be canceled!

21.The Mystery of the Castaway Children (1978)

22.The Mystery on Mead's Mountain (1978)

23.The Mystery of the Queen's Necklace (1979)

24.The Mystery at Saratoga (1979)

25.The Sasquatch Mystery (1979)

26.The Mystery of the Headless Horseman (1979)

27.The Mystery of the Ghostly Galleon (1979)

28.The Hudson River Mystery (1979)

29.The Mystery of the Velvet Gown (1980)

30.The Mystery of the Midnight Marauder (1980)

31.The Mystery at Maypenny's (1980)

32.The Mystery of the Whispering Witch (1980)

33.The Mystery of the Vanishing Victim (1980)

34.The Mystery of the Missing Millionaire (1980)

35.The Mystery of the Memorial Day Fire (1984)

36.The Mystery of the Antique Doll (1984)

37.The Pet Show Mystery (1985)

38.The Indian Burial Ground Mystery (1985)

39.The Mystery of the Galloping Ghost (1986)

External links

• Trixie Belden Official site
• Trixie Belden Information
• Publisher's website for The Gatehouse Mystery.
• Book summary at trixie-belden.com.
• The Gatehouse Mystery at Google Books.