The Mystery of the Secret Band

Mary Louise Gay is sixteen, sharp-tongued, and absolutely certain she can solve mysteries better than any grown man. When her father, a private detective in 1935 Philadelphia, asks her to investigate a string of thefts at a women's boarding house just before Christmas, she jumps at the chance. The case involves more than just vanishing valuables: a young girl has gone missing, and the women in the house are keeping secrets. Mary Louise must earn the trust of suspicious tenants, outsmart a cunning thief, and prove that a teenage girl can be just as clever as any detective. Set against the cozy backdrop of a Philadelphia Christmas, this is vintage mystery with an independent heroine who refuses to be underestimated.