Three Stuffed Owls

Three Stuffed Owls by Keith Robertson (1954) I’m a big fan of Keith Robertson, and I read The Money Machine (1969) when I was a kid, and a few times since, but I had no idea, until recently, that it was the fourth book in a series known as “The Carson Street Detective Agency Series”—about two high school age guys in small town New Jersey who solve a few mysteries. I had this book for a while (unread) and didn’t realize that it’s the second book in the series—and also has gotten pricey, due to rarity, I guess. I have an old, discarded library copy. I wanted to read them in order, but it seems the first and third books are impossible to find. Some other Keith Robertsons are pricey, now, as well—though not the Henry Reed books—I think they printed a ton of those. Anyway, this is a fine mystery—not the best I’ve ever read or anything—but very good. You see it coming down Fifth Avenue, a bit, but that’s part of the fun of it. The two kids aren’t geniuses—and their hubris almost undoes them—but they’re also smart and practical. I don’t want to give it all away, of course, but the mystery involves a taxidermist that they befriend, which reminded me of how we had taxidermy classes in our high school, and I do regret, now, not taking them. There’s also a really good storm, a cranky, humorless neighbor, a drugstore with a soda fountain, and a pet pig, obtained by chance, named Mildred, and she’s quite charming.

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