Connie Blair

Connie Blair

01: The Clue in Blue – 1948 – A thrilling modeling job involves Connie in a baffling mystery behind the scams in a large department store. When Connie Blair takes a temporary job modeling glamorous clothes at Campion’s in Philadelphia she becomes involved in a baffling mystery taking place behind the scenes of the great department store. It all starts with a missing fur beret. Connie’s dashing young aunt, stylist for Campion’s, is deeply concerned. The hat, a Paris original, is fabulously expensive. But what really worries Aunt Bet is that it is not the first article in her care to vanish mysteriously, only to reappear late even more mysteriously. Connie is faced with one unanswerable question after another. Who was the man in the woman’s hat, that Sunday afternoon in the deserted store? Why was Grace, the little stock girl, sobbing in terror in the models’ dressing room? Most important of all, what unknown enemy is trying to cast the shadow of suspicion on Aunt Bet? Determined to find the culprit, Connie enlists the aid of Larry Stewart, the young display man, and finally comes face to face with a far more ruthless enemy that she had ever imagined in her wildest speculations.

02: The Riddle in Red – 1948 – As receptionist in a glamorous advertising agency, Connie is faced with a mystery that threatens the agency’s biggest campaign. The reception desk of a high-powered advertising agency is a wonderful spot to see everything that goes on, as Connie Blair soon discovers. Nor is she at Reid and Renshaw’s long before she senses big doings afoot. “Cosmetics by Cleo,” Reid and Renshaw’s biggest account, is about to bring out a new revolutionary product made from a closely guarded secret formula. Everyone at the agency is keyed to high pitch as the huge advertising campaign finally gets underway. From the day the glamorous Cleo herself sweeps into the reception room, Connie is caught up in the general excitement. But soon mysterious developments threaten not only the success of the campaign but Cleo Marville herself. The climax comes when Cleo – and the secret formula – suddenly disappear. How Connie’s lively intelligence and ingenuity rise to the challenge of one unanswerable question after another will keep the reader spellbound to the very last page of this gripping mystery story.

03: Puzzle in Purple – 1948 – When Connie Blair goes to art school she enters an exciting new world, but mystery enters too in the form of a purple-cloaked skeleton. When Connie Blair goes to art school she enters an exciting new world in which glamour and mystery mingle. Connie expects to meet unusual and colorful personalities, and she is not disappointed. But she hasn’t bargained for a skeleton named Adam who turns up in a purple cloak at the midwinter fancy dress ball and leaves his signature scrawled across the ceiling. From that moment on, tension mounts in the stately old Philadelphia mansion that houses the art school. Who is back of the debacle of the masked mall? Eric Payson, the shy, sensitive young painter whose mural was the only one not defaced? Roby Woodward, irresistible young dilettante who despises Eric for his ability? Fritz Bachman, sharp faced and sardonic, and determined to win the Fairchild Prize by fair means or foul? Sensing the impending catastrophe that later dwarfs the episode of the ball, Connie tries feverishly to fit into the place the scattered pieces of the puzzle. How she accomplishes this and what she sees when the picture finally becomes clear is told in a thrilling mystery story set against the fascinating background of art school.

04: The Secret of Black Cat Gulch – 1948 – An old turquoise mine, a silent Indian and a talking parrot bring Connie high adventure in picturesque New Mexico. For Connie Blair adventure rings in every syllable of this wire which she receives from the advertising agency while on vacation in Meadowbrook. Indians, adobe, sagebrush- everything Connie has ever heard about New Mexico whirls in her delighted brain. On the trip down Connie and Georgia make friends with Jeff Chandler. Jeff, an enthusiastic young archaeologist, is on the track of a mysterious little man with a limp and a missing finger – who may hold the key to untold historical treasure. Connie throws herself wholeheartedly into Jeff’s quest, and in doing so uncovers a modern mystery in ancient Taos. Why does Dolly Morgan, the ugly but fascinating innkeeper, behave so strangely? Who is trying to keep Connie and Jeff away from the abandoned mine – and why? How Connie solves Jeff’s mystery as well as her own is told in a thrilling story of mystery and romance in colorful New Mexico.

05: The Green Island Mystery – 1949 – A guest book, check stubs and a torn photograph add up to a puzzling mystery on the island paradise of Bermuda. Mystery was the furthest thing from Connie’s mind as she waved good-bye to her family and realized again that she was on her way to Bermuda – on business, with all expenses paid by her employer, Reid and Renshaw! But Connie, running true to form, finds herself knee-deep in mystery long before the Queen of Bermuda docks. While on board, Connie meets David Scott and learns about a missing half of a manuscript that was left to him after his aunt’s sudden death. Later, on the island paradise, Connie finds herself deluged with clues, clues, and more clues… until the whole mystery is jumbled like a jigsaw puzzle. With danger and suspicion dogging her every step, Connie rearranges the clues, until, suddenly, like a jigsaw, the picture becomes clear, and the culprit is exposed.

06: The Ghost Wore White – 1950 – A series of bizarre happenings lead Connie to discover the strange secret of Eagle Rock. Connie is willing to believe almost anything about the eerie old mansion on top of Eagle Rock – but a violin-playing ghost is too much for even her vivid imagination. On vacation in aristocratic Newport, Rhode Island, Connie and her twin sister Kit are invited for a moonlight sail with their cousins Tom and Randy. Passing the long-deserted mansion, Connie and Randy are sure they see a strange light in a window, and Connie is determined to search the imposing old house the first chance she gets. Her chance comes all too soon, and almost spells disaster for our intrepid sleuth. Only her quick wits and daring resourcefulness save her and her friends from something more dangerous than a musical ghost.