Kay Tracey Mysteries

Kay Tracey Mysteries was a book series that ran from 1934 to 1942, covering 18 mystery titles. There were 4 different authors of this series whilst the series was tributed to the pen name of Frances K. Judd.

Titles in the Kay Tracey series were: 

1.The Secret of the Red Scarf, 1934

2. The Strange Echo, 1934

3. The Mystery of the Swaying Curtains, 1935

4. The Shadow on the Door, 1935

5. The Six-Fingered Glove Mystery, 1936

6. The Green Cameo Mystery, 1936

7. The Secret at the Windmill, 1937

8. Beneath the Crimson Briar Bush, 1937

9. The Message in the Sand Dunes, 1938

10. The Murmuring Portrait, 1938

11. When the Key Turned, 1939

12. In the Sunken Garden, 1939

13. The Forbidden Tower, 1940

14. The Sacred Feather, 1940

15. The Lone Footprint, 1941

16. The Double Disguise, 1941

17. The Mansion of Secrets, 1942

18. The Mysterious Neighbors, 1942

Main Character Kay Tracey

Age: 16

Lives: Brantwood, with her mother and cousin Bill who is a lawyer.

School: Carmont (travels there by train)

Friends: Twin sisters Wilma ( renamed Wendy in the 80's reprint) and Betty Worth 

Rivals: Ethel Eaton ( renamed Chris Eaton in the 80's reprint)

1. The Secret of the Red Scarf 1934

1. The Secret of the 

Red Scarf 1934

Review to come

Please leave any comments if you have read this book and would like to add a review of this Kay Tracey Mystery.

2. The Strange Echo 1934

2. The Strange Echo, 1934

This is a "vacation" mystery, where Kay is invited by her best friends the Worth Twins to solve the mystery of "Lost Lakes."

I have to say that I am a huge Kay fan. Kay and her friends are involved in a radio show also in this story and cousin Bill has a love interest which I haven't seen in other stories from the series I have read. There is even a rival for Kay's affections as Red and his friends help Kay solve this mystery.

As well as the main mystery the book incorporates other adventures as the boat that Kay is in springs a leak and the girls save a dog that resurfaces later.

The most disappointing aspect of this book is the ending. Kay faints and misses the whole thing of the police arriving and the bad guys being captured, knew I should worry when there was so much to tie up in the story with only 2 chapters to go. Worst part is they all call Kay the mystery solver and the hero. Give me a break, she was out cold and missed it all, that was lamest ending I have read to a Kay Tracey book yet.

Its a pity these books are all inidividual and not a true series in that the characters develop each book, as a result the other love interest aspect was never going to be developed and also poor Bill will be single again by the next book.

3. The Mystery of the Swaying Curtains 1935

3. The Mystery of the Swaying Curtains

Review to come

Please leave any comments if you have read this book and would like to add a review of this Kay Tracey Mystery.

4. The Shadow on the Door 1935

4. The Shadow on the Door

Review to come

Please leave any comments if you have read this book and would like to add a review of this Kay Tracey Mystery.

5. The Six-Fingered Glove Mystery 1936

5. The Six-Fingered

Glove Mystery

Review to come

Please leave any comments if you have read this book and would like to add a review of this Kay Tracey Mystery.

6. The Green Cameo Mystery 1936

6. The Green Cameo Mystery

I have a few Kay Tracey Mysteries on the shelf and this is the first I decided to have a read of for 2 reasons. 1. I was traveling on a train so wanted a paperback that would fit into my bag easy and 2. I love Cameos. That said a mystery involving a dodgy Medium that can hypnotise people, this was a great book to start with.

I was quickly introduced to the Family. Kay lives with her mother who is a widow and her cousin Bill, who is a lawyer.
Kay friends are the Worth twins Betty and Wendy which are both in the story as well as a male friend Ronald and a school nemesis Chris.

The medium subplot was so interesting I had forgotten about the original mystery that Kay had set out to solve. This made the ending a bot harder for me to read as the story shifted back to the main mystery focus rather than the Medium storyline.

School nemesis Chris was a good character to add to the mix as she caused some havoc and brought the school element back into the story.

Overall a good read.