Tale of the Witch Doll

Tale of the Witch Doll by Mildred A. Wirt (1939) A Penny Parker Mystery. Toward the end of the book, with the mystery still baffling everyone, nothing coming together, Penny is kind of depressed on a rainy day. Mrs. Weems, the housekeeper, suggests she go to a movie, and Penny says, “They don’t make good pictures anymore.” In 1939! Well, she’s right, in a way. But cheer up Penny! That’s her personality, though—she’s a great character. Another dead mother scenario—what’s with that? There’s a lot of similarity to Nancy Drew, but Penny may be a little more interesting. Her car’s name is “Leaping Lena!” Her dad is newspaper man, and one of her ambitions is writing. This is the first Penny Parker book—the second I’ve read—I’ll try to get to more, but probably not in order. They’re not easy to find. This is a totally nuts mystery involving an arty, interpretive dancer, named Miss Harmon, who Penny befriends, and a local “medium” named Melvin Osandra who has a “hunchbacked” assistant named Spider, a really nasty woman named Mrs. Farmer who muscles a doll shop away from one of Penny’s friends, and an escaped convict. There are some ghostly appearances, superstition, a séance, cross-dressing, and a secret underground chamber—everything you need for a good mystery!

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