Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Mansion by Julie Campbell was the first Trixie Belden book, published in 1948. Two years later it was followed by The Red Trailer Mystery and so a series was born.

Trixie is a normal, 13-year-old tomboy who wishes for children were own age to hang out with after school. This wish is fulfilled when the Wheelers' move into the Manor House next door with their 13-year-old daughter Honey. Trixie and Honey become fast friends despite their differences, and almost immediately embark on a series of adventures, the first of which is finding Jim Frayne, a 15-year-old orphan, in a decrepit mansion.

There are 39 books in all in this enchanting series following Trixie and her friends getting in and out of scrapes as Trixie and Honey pursue their dreams of becoming detectives. And although the series has been out of print for almost a decade, there is still a dedicated following of fans who grew up on the books or discovered them quite by chance. Imagine my surprise to find Trixie fan fiction on the web! And now that Random House are reprinting the books again, a new generation of readers can become Trixie Belden fans.