Ann Rutherford is visiting a courtesy aunt who has kindly arranged a stay at a ski lodge for her. For awhile it looks as if Ann will have to miss the treat because it's snowing too hard. Then her transportation, in the form of a tall, chubby young man nicknamed 'Bop' instead of 'Rob' or 'Bob', arrives.

Bop is the one to get them into the fine mess they soon find themselves in because he's eager to show his father, who has recently taken him into his real estate firm, what he can do. Bop wants to detour over to the Marshall place, which is about to be put up for sale, and be the one to list it. Ann is agreeable. They get lost.

They do find a big house in the country. Bop is sure it's the Marshall Place even though the name carved near the front door is 'NATH-MAR HALL'. A man opens the door. Ann thinks he must be a secretary because he doesn't look like a butler. His name is Jay. He's the son of the housekeeper, Nida. Although they're described as dark-skinned, they aren't African-Americans. Perhaps the author meant 'olive-skinned'. Both have black hair. Nida's eyes are dark, but Jay's are 'chalk white'. The employer of these spooky-looking, silent servants is one Nathan Emans. The old man mistakes Robert Gilman and Ann Rutherford for Ronald and Josephine Weston, the adopted children of Janet, his deceased daughter by his also-deceased first wife, the lovely and talented Maris.

I read a review of this book at http://www.series-books.com/whitman/whitman.html before writing this. I can understand how the other reader feels about Ann and 'Bop's' behavior. That's true even though my late mother drummed what was considered proper behavior during my childhood so thoroughly into my head that even as late as 1983 I couldn't bring myself to sit on a sidewalk with my friends because 'ladies don't sit on the sidewalk'. It isn't just the dominant personality of Mr. Emans, who refuses to be interrupted with explanations, or the oppressive atmosphere of the house. Ann and Bop are well-behaved. There will be no grabbing Mr. Emans by the lapels and yelling at him to shut up and listen. There will be no sneaking a hatchet out of the tool room in the cellar and using it to chop through one of the locked doors, preferably the front one. (No point in breaking a window -- they're barred.)

Nathan Emans has gathered together all six of his potential heirs (or so he thinks). They are all brother-sister combinations. The beautiful, predatory Lileen Meaker and her brother Richard are the grandchildren of Nathan's sister, Charity. Stuart Palmer and his widowed sister, Muriel Ackerman, are Nathan's stepchildren by his deceased second wife, Grace. Unlike the Meakers, Stuart and Muriel are not physically attractive.

The key to the front door has been hidden. The person who finds it will inherit the house, money, and a big diamond. No one gets to leave until it's been found. Bop and Ann lose interest in announcing their real names after they remember who Stuart and Muriel are. (It may be no coincidence that the author chose a surname that sounds like a tommy gun noise for Muriel's married name.) At one point, during the search, Ann is a secret witness to attempted murder. It doesn't help her nerves. She doesn't care about the inheritence, but she and Bop are searching anyway so they can escape.

The other reviewer remarked that the illustrations of Ann Rutherford seem posed. I agree. In fact, I would guess that they were drawn from movie stills. That would account for her expression not matching the scenes in some of them. Most of the other characters look pretty much as they should for their roles. As a fan of old cartoons, I like the fact that Richard Meaker practically twirls his mustache. Bop is supposed to be chubby, but he looks as if his size is all height and muscle. Jay the servant looks more like a handsome movie star.

The mystery plays fair with the matter of the hidden key. Everything makes sense in the end. Aside from getting a bit irritated with Ann and Bop for not being able to bring themselves to be rude in a good cause, I enjoyed the book.

The 'boards' of my copy are a medium blue with orange or orange-red lettering. ( )