My addiction began in the summer of 1961, when my best friend's older sister hesitantly allowed us to read some of her cherished Trixie Belden mystery books. While I don't remember why, it was probably because we were pestering her to death about other things and she wanted to get rid of us.

Well, she succeeded. We were hooked immediately. We spent endless hours that summer (and the entire next two years) reading the books, anxiously waiting for the nearby drug store to get in a new one, talking & plotting about Trixie and all her friends, and riding around on our bicycles in search of our own mysteries to solve.

We even solved one! The Mystery of the Missing Sales Sign. How's that for an alliterative title? After spending a day looking for a Realtor's stolen For Sale sign, we found it using tried and true investigative techniques. While sharing our Coke and French Fries in the shade behind McDonalds we saw where someone had tossed it into the creek.

Always Reading