This book jumped straight into excitement and mystery as the girls return to Vernon College and decide to go to a gypsy camp to get their fortunes read. Lenora is told she will meet a blonde male and must listen, and Beverly is told she will have three men fighting over her and she will be in danger. It was great that Beverly went missing soon after. What didn't ring true was for her friends at Vernon College not to bother to even go out to search for her and look for clues in the direction of the post office where she had been going. Even though the girls first day back at college meant no classes and at lunchtime Beverly's disappearance was all the talk, still no one bothered to go off campus to look for her. Surely this can't be a sign of the times? Is it just the author not bothering to be sidetracked from her plot? Found some of Sophomore the same. I mean Beverly finds a crate of white powder and her first thought before getting the police is that it's nearly dinner time at Vernon College and she mustn't be late otherwise she will get in trouble. Of course the crate was gone when she returned.
I was thinking before I started this book trying to remember back to my first reading of it that I didn't enjoy the gypsy stories so much. I really enjoyed this second read through though. Don't get me wrong there isn't a Beverly Gray book that I don't love, it's just which ones I prefer. But this I thoroughly enjoyed, and liked the gypsy story a lot more than I remember.
I also think I'll think more about Larry this time around and if I think he and Beverly did ever get married in the end. The first time I read these stories I thought not because he always seemed to take off for one reason or another and having been in the secret service and all I wondered if he could stay around long enough before needing to take off on adventure.
The main mystery finished half way through the book, before the college Christmas holiday break.
This time it was Christmas at Beverly's house for Beverly and Shirley. It made for a great comparison between Shirley's home life and Beverly's as it wasn't that long ago that the Alpha Deltas went to Shirley's house for the holidays. Shirley's lived in busy New York but didn't have friends to introduce the girls too. Shirley's family were not involved in their daughters life and it seemed that everyone in her house
lived separate lives. Outings involved the movies and shopping, things you could imagine that Shirley could also do on her own. Life seemed pretty lonely in a big city where people didn't get to know each other. Home at Beverly's was in contrast, close family involvement, lots of
friends filling the days with group outings and social occasions.
Towards the end of the book I did feel Beverly was a bit too idealistic in her not wanting to accuse the obvious culprit. Lenora even came across as more the sleuth of the pair on this occasion as she was always suspicious and immediately figured things out.
Shirley's character was developed well in this story as she learnt to have a conscious towards how things affect others. I'm glad this series doesn't spend every moment concentrating solely on Beverly as Clair Blank developed some great sidekicks. Both Beverly Gray and Shirley Parker are only children so it's interesting the differences between the two friends in this story including the differences in their parents participation in their lives.
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