The Secret of the Musical Tree - Margaret Sutton

This is book 19 from the Judy Bolton series and is set at Christmas time.

Since Applewood have republished The Judy Bolton Series recently and these are available through the book depository it makes choosing which Judy Bolton book to read easier as I am no longer limited by what I can find on ebay at a reasonable price. For Christmas 2012 I decided I wanted to read a Christmas based story so I chose Judy Bolton and The Secret of the Musical Tree.

The story is set shortly before Christmas and Judy and Peter are married. Peter is an FBI Agent. They have a young girl living with them called Roberta.

Judy goes Christmas shopping to prepare for the upcoming festive Christmas lunch where she is having family over including her cousin Roxy Zoller.

Whilst shopping Judy is mistaken for her cousin Roxy. She is told by a Store Clerk of a present she bought the day before and she was told by a friend of Roxy's that Roxy and her father were in a plane accident. The friend that talks to Judy about this is trying to find Roxy to talk to her about a missing emerald.

Judy in talking to Roxy learns that something is wrong and her first big clue comes in the form of the present that Roxy sent which says to open before December 23rd.

Roxy and Judy change places and we learn that Roxy was being held captive by crooks trying to find out where the missing emerald is.

The mystery had is ups and downs. That said I did actually continue to read it with interest to the very end.

Some things did bother me. Judy decides to sneak around the house in Roxy's high heels instead of choosing her rubber soled shoes. This seriously leaves you wondering why Judy would make such a stupid mistake. Secondly just as soon as Judy takes Roxy's place she decides to try and escape the place though I thought she was suppose to be there because they had threatened to hurt Roxy's father if Roxy tried to escape so Judy and Roxy traded places. Also what cousins are identical? I think someone in that family has some explaining to do, you can't get close to identical out of cousins. Anyway in the end all is right for Christmas day which is just what you want in a Christmas mystery.

Trixie Belden Artwork

I am lucky enough to have just added a new painting to my Trixie Belden artwork collection.
The painting was done by Jack Wacker and was on the front cover of the 1970's Cameo Paperback edition of Trixie Belden and the Marshland Mystery.

To see lots of other original Trixie Belden artworks from the Cameo series an other Trixie Belden series visit my website:

http://www.amyaction.com/trixie_belden_cameo_artwork.html

The Saddle Club Adventures at Pine Hollow 2001

'The Saddle Club' is a children's series written by Bonnie Bryant. The popular books were turned into a tv series as a Australian /Canadian co-production. Both the book series and tv series follows the adventures of three friends, Lisa, Stevie and Carole who love horses and train at Pine Hollow Stables.
Two series were produced between 2001 and 2003. A third series was done in 2008 due to the shows popularity and new girls had to be chosen for the roles as the original actresses had grown too old for the parts.
The Saddle Club: Adventures At Pine Hollow (2001) was the pilot film for the Saddle Club television series. The story covers:
Caroles struggle with her mother's death from cancer and her fear over whether she would make a good vet as a chosen career.
Lisa wishes to competes for a part as a actress but decides before auditions that some things are more important and leaves.
Steviethe thrid girl has always been a bit of a tomboy and has dumped her name of Stephanie in preference for Stevie but as she is getting older she is finding it hard at time to fit in.

The girls have a major foe in the form of  Veronica diAngelo a rich spoilt girl who in her attempt to show off and be the best carelessly fatally injures her horse Cobalt.
The girls then discover that Delilah is pregnant by Cobalt and is going to have a foal.

The movie does well as a pilot for the series as it introduces all the main characters and leaves the story open for more follow up of started ideas and stories. Girls that love horses should really enjoy it.

Movie: The Hole

The Hole is the kind of movie that reminds me of  movies like "Lets kill Uncle." As a child I was quite scared watching it but as an Adult I could see that it wasn't really scary at all. This is the kind of thriller that I would imagine would be suiter to a younger audience just startung to get into thrillers.
The story is entertaining enough to keep you interested as The Hole is about confronting what you are scared of.
The 3D affects weren't overboard, just enough to create a good picture to watch without the silly horror tricks of having things come out at you.
The three child actors did a good job and were likable to watch.
The clown puppet was freaky and reminded me I dont like clowns eiither.
The story is wrapped up well after all three children have confronted their fears, with a very minor addition at the end to leave the story open for a Hole 2.

POIROT: The Third Girl

Poirot's The Third Girl has been my favourite Poirot film to watch so far. Not for the storyline or the acting which are both good but because a number of the scenes are shot in Poirot's apartment.
When I use to watch the classic TV series Charlie's Angels I was always fascinated whenever the show showed a glimpse into their private life, in particular where they lived.
The Poirot series did well in its choices for Poirot's apartment. We heard in Mrs McGinty's Dead a comment about Poirot living in a modernist apartment and this apartment is highly fashionable on every account. The wood paneling on the lounge matches the wooden paneling on door. There are so many lovely small details in the room that one can look for ages to soak it all in. lucky there are a number of scenes throughout his apartment so that you get to see different rooms.

Of the actors in this film Jemima Roper is the one that I instantly recognised. Jemima Roper played George in one of The Famous Five TV adaptations. She also is the star of "Lost in Austen" the story of a girl who accidentally falls into the world of Pride and Prejudice and into the place for Mr Darcy's affections. In this Poirot film she pays "The Third Girl." She does a good job in this film as the girl who is confused and feels she is going crazy and confesses to a crime she didn't commit.

Would definitely watch this one again if only to view more of Poirot's apartment.

Poirot: Mrs McGinty's Dead

Agatha Christie is one of the most amazing authors of all time. The book Mrs McGinty's Dead was first published in 1952. The novel features the characters Hercule Poirot and Ariadne Oliver. 


In the plot James Bentley is arrested for the murder of old Mrs McGinty. The man is easy convicted and set to be sent to the gallows but Superintendent Spence who helped convict him is not convinced of his guilt and in his uneasiness at sending an innocent man to his death he turns to Poirot for help. Poirot with the help of his writer friend Ariadne Oliver set out to find the real killer in this whodunnit.


The Poirot TV version from 2008 stars David Suchet. He plays such an intriguing character. Reminds me of The Penguin from Batman and in fact I'm sure that the actor David Suchet would of played a brilliant villain Penguin if ever had been given the opportunity. He gives the character a distinctive waddle. 


The actor portraying James Bentley, Joe Absolom on death row is familiar from the Doc Martin TV series.
I good witty part in the movie has Poirot ringing up Police Superintendent Spence excitedly telling him that someone has attempted to kill him and he is so happy about the fact when he tells him.

David Suchet Poirot wears a charming broach on his jacket in one scene and the clothing, room props, locations and scenery in the movie is warm and gorgeous.
There interesting is a comment to Poirot about him living in one of those "Modenist' places.

Famous Five TV Series Five go off in a Caravan Episode

This is episode 6 of Season 1 and is a single episode in length. With the variety of animals, a circus theme and to die for gypsy caravans that I love the look of I feel that this story could of easily been expanded into a double episode without any problems.

Julian again is quite rude in his dealing with some adults but standing beside the two men he is backchatting he isn't much shorter than them so perhaps it makes his character more believable and the leader of the five.
The bad characters are interesting but by choosing to do this in 30mins means that we don't get any real charactrer developement or analysis.

A good episode though I do feel the story was rushed along unnecessarily. Perhaps if the makers had known they were going to be rejected on adding new stories to the series they may have expanded all books to be several episodes each :)

For those people who collect the Famous Five books with this TV series covers you will notice that a number of the covers were created from this episode.