Kay Tracey

The Kay Tracey Mystery Stories
Volumes 1 through 9

  #1 The Secret of the Red Scarf

Kay Tracey regards the pale young man in electrified silence when he stares at her and cries out, "Sis!  Sis!  At last I've found you!"  These strange words are the beginning of a baffling search by Kay for clues that will restore the memory of the appealing youth to whom she gives the nickname of Bro.  This unexpected guest in the Tracey household, a victim of total amnesia, knows only that he must find his beautiful sister Helene.

Kay's striking resemblance to the missing girl is to lead her through many risky episodes, but the young sleuth is determined, even against threats, to assist the unhappy boy.

The Secret of the Red Scarf
Kay has few clues.  Why does Bro become frantic upon catching sight of a red scarf Kay plans to wear to a masquerade?  And after its disappearance, Kay is plunged even deeper into the dangerous mystery.  Her goal is to disprove certain sinister accusations, about which she learns, against Bro and Helene and to bring the brother and sister together.
  #2 The Strange Echo

"Turn back!  Danger ahead!"  The thundering voice, detached from any visible person, transfixes Kay Tracey as the warning fills the sky with a sinister echo.  When the eerie reverberations die, the teen-age detective and her chums, Betty and Wilma Worth, look at one another in horror.

What is the source of the spine-chilling threat that suddenly casts a shadow of fear on the gay outing?  Similar weird occurrences have struck panic into other vacationists at Lost Lake, and could cause the resort to be abandoned, with great loss to friends of Kay.  From the beginning of her stay at the Worths' cottage, Kay is determined to pierce the veil of mystery that envelops the community.

The Strange Echo
For one thing, she has made up her mind to assist kindly, gentle, old Mr. Nelson in his quest for a long-lost family fortune in Faraway Valley.  Then, there is beautiful Hilda Arno, whose strange plight also has touched Kay's heart.  The young woman is depending on the girl detective for help.

Although Betty and Wilma are fearful, Kay feels she must dare the challenge of this nerve-tingling mystery.  But little does she dream of the terrifying web of danger that lies ahead, waiting to engulf her if she should make one false step.

  #3 The Mystery of the Swaying Curtains

Kay's friend, Sissy Weller, unexpectedly learns that she is to inherit a fortune if she can prove that her real name is Christine Cleveland.  The mystery is how anybody could connect Sissy with Christine when Sissy is adopted and has no knowledge of her true identity.  After hearing additional details, Kay is convinced that Sissy is Christine, but how did the lawyer know?  Kay learns that the lawyer received an anonymous letter telling him about Sissy, but who sent him the letter?  How did that person know where Sissy is staying?

Kay investigates but is thwarted at every turn.  The orphan home in which Sissy lived before her adoption has burned down.  The one man who might know the answers to Sissy's past is missing.

The Mystery of the Swaying Curtains
Kay feels that someone is working to prevent Sissy from inheriting the fortune and tries to discover the truth before it is too late.
  #4 The Shadow on the Door

"I can't put my name to this."  Kay is taken aback when Mrs. Van Hutton refuses to sign a paper prepared by her lawyer, Bill Tracey.  When Kay notices that Mrs. Van Hutton has a secret meeting with a man named Stannovi, Kay suspects that Stannovi is influencing Mrs. Van Hutton in her decisions.  Complicating matters, Stannovi is engaged to Mrs. Van Hutton's secretary, Ellen Tremont, who has complete faith in Stannovi.  Kay tries to warn Ellen with no success.

Later, Kay receives a note warning her to stay away from Mrs. Van Hutton and out of her affairs.  Who sent Kay the warning note?  And what is that person afraid that Kay will discover?

The Shadow on the Door
Kay continues her investigation, which is hindered by the antics of Ethel Eaton, her rival.  How Kay discovers the truth makes for an exciting story.
  #5 The Six-Fingered Glove Mystery

The thieves start back to the freight car for another load of stolen goods.  This is Kay's chance.  Quickly she lets herself into the shack and lifts the trap-door.  In the dark cellar, dimly lighted by the lamp, she sees many crates and boxes, undoubtedly the thieves' loot.  Without hesitation Kay descends the ladder.

Too late she hears footsteps overhead.  The men have returned.  Kay is trapped!  Despite her efforts to conceal herself she is found, dragged from her hiding-place and bound and gagged.  Still struggling, she is pushed into a large, empty packing case.  The men nail down the cover.  In terror, Kay feels the case being lifted and carried.  Where are they taking her?  She hears the shrill blast of a train . . .

The Six-Fingered Glove Mystery
How Kay Tracey works herself out of this tight spot is only part of this exciting story that begins with the teen-age detective joining the hunt for the kidnapper of a beautiful movie star.  Playing the part of the glamorous star, Kay finds the trail is hot—and dangerous.  The wearer of the six-fingered glove will stop at nothing to throw her off the scent.  Even Kay's jealous classmate, Ethel Eaton, does everything she can to thwart Kay—and nearly succeeds.
  #6 The Green Cameo Mystery

In a frenzied rage, the medium, Cara Noma, lunges toward Kay Tracey.  "No one can sneer at my power," she cries with an evil look.  "I transfer the Green Cameo curse to you!"  Kay does not believe a word of it.  Kay warns Mrs. Wong about the racket of scheming Cara Noma and thinks the dainty Oriental lady will take her advice.  But the medium has other plans.

From that time on, the young detective's footsteps are dogged by misfortune.  Trouble also comes to Lotus Gardens, the estate of Mr. and Mrs. Wong, when their beautiful daughter, a bride-to-be, disappears.  Although Wilma and Betty Worth, Kay's best friends, entreat her to be extra cautious, Kay feels it her duty to solve the complex case.  This becomes very difficult because of the constant interference of jealous Ethel Eaton.

The Green Cameo Mystery
But Kay will not give up.  The Green Cameo is a good clue to the whereabouts of the missing girl.  Kay finds herself plunged into a hornet's nest of lawbreakers who vow she will never escape to tell the tale.
  #7 The Secret at the Windmill

At the foot of the stairway Kay peers cautiously into the dark living room.  She can see nothing but she feels a presence in the room.  Suddenly her arms are pinned to her sides.  Something soft and feathery is thrust against her face, smothering her.

The girl fights desperately.  The robber must not escape with the money Kay has been guarding.  In an instant she is released, the front door slams, and the intruder is gone!

How is Kay to recover the treasure entrusted to her?  Who really owns it?  The ragged old man in whose clothes it had been found?  Or pretty Juliana Van Camp, whose wedding depends largely on solving the baffling mystery?

The Secret at the Windmill
To add to Kay's difficulties, jealous Ethel Eaton tries her best to wreck both Juliana's happiness and Kay's reputation as a highly successful amateur detective.  She nearly succeeds, but Kay and her friends, Betty and Wilma Worth, team up to solve a triple mystery in the shadow of a strange and forbidding windmill.
  #8 Beneath the Crimson Briar Bush

The weird cry outside sounds almost human . . . Kay Tracey follows the faint cries to a thicket, and bends down to pick up a tiny bundle half-hidden beneath the leaves.  As she draws aside a soft blanket, a tiny baby girl opens her eyes, whimpering as she nestles in Kay's arms.

Whose baby is this, and why has she been abandoned at the lonely farm?  Kay's efforts to find the answer are made infinitely more difficult by another perplexing problem.  Ethel Eaton, her jealous rival at Carmont High School, has disappeared.  Mrs. Eaton, worried to distraction, appeals to Kay to help find her.

Beneath the Crimson Briar Bush
Kay discovers that Ethel has run away from home to become a detective herself.  But this impulsive action leads Ethel into bad company—a scheming couple trying to master-mind a blackmail plot!  Kay's deductions and her efforts to save her rival get her in and out of many tight spots.
  #9 The Message in the Sand Dunes

The two men look at each other in alarm.  The eerie tapping at the window is repeated.  "Someone has seen us!  Run!" one of the burglars exclaims.  In an instant the light goes out and two dark figures run out of the house past the girls concealed in the shrubbery.

Kay Tracey's quick-witted action in tapping on the window pane has foiled the robbery at the home of the queer old Crowley sisters.  But the mysterious adventures of the teen-age detective and her fiends Betty and Wilma Worth are only beginning.  What is so valuable in the old Crowley home that burglars would single it out for attention?

The Message in the Sand Dunes
Searching for clues over the desolate sand dunes, Brantwood's amateur sleuth finds more problems than she has bargained for in the tangled lives of poor Ben Wheeler and a missing young couple.  And adding to the excitement is Kay's coolheaded rescue of a famous airplane pilot downed at sea.

Kay's relentless search for the key to the mysterious happenings finally results in the breathtaking and almost unbelievable solution.

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