THE SECRET OF THE SEVEN CROWS

by Wylly Folk St. John ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1973

Shelly's father is allowed to rent the abandoned old house but the owner won't sell it for a school until his daughter Gale finds a treasure, left to her by one of those eccentric old ladies who seem to arrange their wills so as to provide diverting puzzles for their descendants' summer vacations. Because this is a 1973 mystery the poltergeists who harass the new tenants turn out to be kids paid by drug smugglers protecting their stash (shades of Woolley's Ginnie and the Mystery Light, KR, p. 813) -- but even after they are apprehended the old lady's clues stretch out the search, treasure hunt style, until at last Shelly helps track down the seven crows, Gale gets her treasure (is it really John Wilkes Booth's blood money?) and Daddy his school. The Lincoln-linked secret recalls another Woolley (Cathy Uncovers a Secret, KR, 1972) but of course St. John's kids -- with Gale's crow Dracula (a pet, familiar and clan totem in one) and brother Jason's gourmet cooking and maddening competence -- are far more fun to know than any number of Cathys and Ginnies.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1973

Categories: FICTION