The Secret Circle Mysteries

The Secret Circle Mysteries
Summaries

The summaries for #1-10 have been adapted from the front flaps of the dust jackets.
  #1 The Mystery of Monster Lake
Roy Turnbull visits his cousins, Joanne and Bob Garland, in British Columbia.  The children discover in a ruined mill a map showing the location of a lost gold mine.  The map was hidden in the mill years ago by Long Tom Turnbull.

With Mr. Garland, the young people set out to the north to find the gold, but there is something strange about the valley to which the map leads them.  No Indian dares visit the valley or the nearby Monster Lake, because of a strange evil thing which lives there.

But Roy and his cousins aren't the only ones headed for Monster Lake.  Nick Ransome and his cruel accomplice, Duffy, are also out to find the mine and steal the gold from the others.

The Mystery of Monster Lake
  #2 The Riddle of the Haunted River
Neither David nor Susan Doone, nor their cousin Alan, a fishing guide, expect any trouble on a simple fishing trip on the Miramichi, not even when David's father is so badly beaten up that he is unable to accompany them.

But something very strange is happening on the river.  There are no salmon in any of the deep pools as the three paddle along; it is almost as if someone ahead of them has cleared the river of fish deliberately.  And later when they go ashore, their canoe is damaged and Susan kidnapped almost under the boys' eyes.

Finding Susan proves a dangerous and worry-filled task, but it leads to the discovery of the evil that threatens the countryside as well as the solution of the riddle of the haunted river.

The Riddle of the Haunted River
  #3 The Legend of the Devil's Lode
Before his death on the Hubbards' Alberta ranch, old Barbed-Wire Jimmy tells David Hubbard and his cousin Randy of his discovery of a lost silver mine, and of the curse the first owner had put on it.

Accompanied by the trusty ranch hand Wiley, the boys set out for the mountains.  But wild animals threaten both their food and their lives, two unsavory cowboys menace their passage through Kitimoos and, when Wiley injures his leg, it seems wise to call the whole thing off and let the devil keep his lode.

Then an unexpected meeting with Mr. Hubbard's old pilot friend Bud Townsend offers a chance to return to the valley.  But the boys don't know that the two cowboys have gathered a grubstake and are also planning to go back....

The Legend of the Devil's Lode
  #4 The Secret Tunnel Treasure
When Johnny and Gwen Matthews are told of the legend of the lost Citadel treasure, they are certain that it must still be buried somewhere near Quebec.  The children decide to comb the city for old maps.  A French-Canadian chum, Gaston St. Hilaire, joins them in their search, and eventually they find some promising looking maps in a rare book collection.

But the lengthy search through museums and dusty bookshops has not gone unnoticed.  Almost from the beginning, a sinister presence dogs their footsteps.  And when, one moonlit night, they embark on the actual treasure hunt on the fabled Isle of Sorcerers, evil becomes a deadly reality, as two men work to thwart their efforts.  The children find themselves in grave danger in a secret tunnel.

The Secret Tunnel Treasure
  #5 The Mystery of the Muffled Man
Chris Summerville and Dumont LePage aren't too happy waiting for the train from the city to arrive in the little mining town of Canot.  The train is bringing Chris's cousin, Carol, whose visit, they fear, will spoil their plans for ice-fishing in the holidays.  When the train arrives, a muffled stranger has a run-in with Chris's dog, Arthur.  Carol, who proves to be as eager to go ice-fishing as the boys, remarks on the stranger's mysterious behavior on the train.

With Arthur hauling a toboggan load of provisions, the three set off to a northern lake for their ice-fishing.  The children soon find themselves in the middle of a frightening adventure—an adventure which brings them to an abandoned mine and face to face with the muffled man.

The Mystery of the Muffled Man
  #6 The Clue of the Dead Duck
When Young Ab and his chum Morgan skip school to go duck hunting, they refuse to take their next-door neighbor, Sally, along.  But after Morgan is knocked out by an unknown assailant and Young Ab and his dog disappear, Morgan is only too glad to enlist Sally's help to look for his friend.

Morgan needs any help he can get, because he is the prime suspect in the disappearance.  Morgan has been staying with Young Ab's family in foster care, and if Morgan cannot clear his name, he will lose a home he has grown to love.  Despite an anonymous warning, Morgan and Sally begin the risky venture of tracking down everyone who had been duck hunting on the fateful day.  This leads to an exciting high-speed chase down the lake and a discovery which rocks the small community in which they live.

The Clue of the Dead Duck
  #7 The Mystery of the Missing Emerald
Johnny Villairs has no idea that he is carrying a fortune in his pocket.  What he does know is that from the time an emerald disappears from the department store where he is a messenger, every step he takes seems to take him deeper into danger.

A strange man follows Johnny from Ryerson's Department Store to a rendezvous with a bear at the zoo.  But later, it is Johnny's turn to do the following when his sister Beth meets a menacing jewel-cutter at the museum.

The trail of danger leads to a lake boat bound for Cleveland, where Johnny becomes a prisoner.  Finally, Johnny ends up back at Ryerson's Department Store where the mystery is finally solved.

The Mystery of the Missing Emerald
  #8 The Valley of the Vanishing Birds
Jeff Gardner with his sister Mattie, friend Mutt, and pet crow Oscar are exploring the wilderness of northern Alberta on a camping trip.  Suddenly they are swept over the lip of a waterfall into a deep pool thirty feet below. They have found the hidden valley of the whooping cranes and the Tsa'tcu Indians, thought to be an extinct tribe.  When Jeff comes to and smells frying fish, he knows that he has found the valley discovered by his great-grandfather in 1865, and that at least one Tsa'tcu lives there, protected by the guardian spirit of the whooping crane.

But where are Mattie and Mutt?  And do the shots that echo across the valley mean that this last refuge of the whooping crane is destroyed?  Jeff and his new friend Eagle Eye hurry to find the answers before the whooping cranes lose their home.

The Valley of the Vanishing Birds
  #9 The Mystery of the Disappearing Dogs
When Sputnik, mascot of the Annex Gang, is lost in downtown Toronto, the gang blames their rivals, the Spadina Gang.  When the Annex Gang confronts the Spadina Gang, the children learn that the Spadinas have also lost their dog.  In fact, dozens of dogs are missing all over the city.

The children learn that Sputnik and the other dogs might have been stolen for sale to a research institution that uses animals in experiments.  Something must be done quickly before the dogs are killed.  The gangs agree to a temporary truce so that they can work together to find the missing dogs.  The Professor, leader of the Annex Gang, organizes a city-wide drag-net to track down the thieves.  Before the adventure is over there is an exciting chase and a wild ride in store for Red, the Gang's War Leader.

The Mystery of the Disappearing Dogs
  #10 The Secret of Spaniards Rock
Through the fog shrouding Spaniards Rock, Bob and Sue Channing catch a glimpse of mystery at the old lighthouse.  Then as the fog closes in and the Channings attempt to reach their home on Galiano Island, a cruiser from Spaniards Rock almost runs them down. 

The next day Bob and his sister are suspicious of the experiments being carried on by sinister visitors to the lighthouse.  When one of these visitors turns up to claim a thick roll of five-dollar bills that washed ashore, the two are sure they are dealing with criminals.  Their knowledge is so dangerous to the men on Spaniards Rock that Bob and Sue, trapped at the bottom of a cave, find themselves fighting for their lives.

The Secret of Spaniards Rock
      Rory's Wildcat (The Mystery at the Wildcat Well)
Rory Millard has always lived with his mother while his father works on an oil rig.  Rory's mother was recently killed in an accident, and Rory must now live with his father.  While Rory waits for his father at a cafe, he overhears a conversation between two men.  One of the men is a spy at an oil rig and will report on the rig's success to the other man.

Rory's dad doesn't understand children, and he acts like Rory will be a nuisance.  For that reason, Rory doesn't tell his dad about the conversation he overheard.  Rory's dad never believes anything he says.

Soon, Rory has reason to believe that the spy is at their oil rig, but the adults will not listen.  Rory and his two Indian friends must find proof of the spy, but can they do so before the claim is jumped?

The Mystery at the Wildcat Well
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