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* ExtrudedBookProduct: While not originally this, the 1991 revival is one of the most notable examples of this trope within modern literature. Originally published at a rate of eight new books per year (six regular books and two specials), this was reduced in 2004 to just four books per year (all regulars, as specials were discontinued) and as of 2021 the series appears to have been again cut to just two books per year.
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* ExtrudedBookProduct: While not originally this, the 1991 revival is one of the most notable examples of this trope within modern literature. Originally published at a rate of eight new books per year (six regular books and two specials), this was reduced in 2004 to just four books per year (all regulars, as specials were discontinued) and as of 2021 the series appears to have been again cut to just two books per year. Then there are two spin off series; ''The Adventures of Benny and Watch'' (1997-2004), and ''The Jessie Files'' (2022-present).
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* DoesNotLikeSpam: After a long stretch of living off raw eggs stolen from the chicken coop, Andy swears off them.
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* DoesNotLikeSpam: After a long stretch of living off raw eggs stolen from the chicken coop, Andy swears off eating them.
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* PoorCommunicationKills: Benny does not to the glass factory with the rest of the family, instead going to see the local talking horse and saying he'll have a nap afterwards. It takes rather a bit of travel before they realize he didn't make it on board.
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* PoorCommunicationKills: Benny does not go to the glass factory with the rest of the family, instead going to see the local talking horse and saying he'll have a nap afterwards. It takes rather a bit of travel before they realize he didn't make it on board.
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* NoAnimalsAllowed: A motel they stay at doesn't allow pets, so they sneak Shadow in. This proves to be a blessing, when he alerts them to a fire that was caught before it burned the motel down.
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* PoorCommunicationKills: Benny does not to the glass factory with the rest of the family, instead going to see the local talking horse and saying he'll have a nap afterwards. It takes rather a bit of travel before they realize he didn't make it on board.
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* DoesNotLikeSpam: After a long stretch of living off raw eggs stolen from the chicken coop, Andy swears off them.
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Moved "Adult Fear" examples to other tropes, since that trope is being disambiguated. (Also fixed another renamed trope earlier.)
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* DelicateAndSickly: Violet, the shy and more feminine of the girls, has to deal with this from time to time. Near the end of the first book, she becomes sick with a fever, and the other children eventually have no choice but to take her to a friend who's a doctor, even though they know that giving their names means the likelihood that their grandfather will find them. He does, but it turns out for the better. Later, book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery'') sees her, alone among the four children, plagued by mosquito bites.
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* DelicateAndSickly: Violet, the shy and more feminine of the girls, has to deal with this from time to time. Near the end of the first book, time, most prominently in book #1 when she becomes sick with a fever, and the other children eventually have no choice but to take her to a friend who's a doctor, even though they know that giving their names means the likelihood that their grandfather will find them. He does, but it turns out for the better. Later, book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery'') sees her, alone among the four children, plagued by mosquito bites.
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* PromotionToParent: Henry and Jessie, the two oldest, take on the role of mother and father for their younger siblings Violet and Benny. This is most noticeable in the first book, before the Aldens realize their grandfather is kind and go to live with him.
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* PromotionToParent: Henry and Jessie, the two oldest, take on the role of mother and father for their younger siblings Violet and Benny. This is most noticeable in the first book, before when Henry has to be the breadwinner because he's the only one who, at 14, is old enough to work. Even after the Aldens realize their grandfather is kind and go to live with him.him, he's still a father figure to his siblings when they're out on various adventures without adults to help.
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* AdultFear: All of book one.
** You have four orphan kids wandering around the countryside, because they don't want their grandfather, their legal guardian, to find them. At first they think they can spend a few days at a bakery, working there, until the owners plan to take Benny to the orphanage, because he's too young to work, and interrogate the others about their grandfather. The kids hightail it out of there, and the bakers look for them, searching the streets frantically because they fear for their safety.
** Henry has to be the breadwinner because he's the only one who's old enough to work. He also isn't even eighteen.
** One of Henry's employers, the doctor, reveals at the end of the book that he had figured out the kids lived in the woods. Sensing they would run if he busted them, however, he only quietly visited their boxcar to make sure they had enough to eat and pays Henry well.
** Violet's fever and illness. It's at this point that Henry asks the doctor for help.
** You have four orphan kids wandering around the countryside, because they don't want their grandfather, their legal guardian, to find them. At first they think they can spend a few days at a bakery, working there, until the owners plan to take Benny to the orphanage, because he's too young to work, and interrogate the others about their grandfather. The kids hightail it out of there, and the bakers look for them, searching the streets frantically because they fear for their safety.
** Henry has to be the breadwinner because he's the only one who's old enough to work. He also isn't even eighteen.
** One of Henry's employers, the doctor, reveals at the end of the book that he had figured out the kids lived in the woods. Sensing they would run if he busted them, however, he only quietly visited their boxcar to make sure they had enough to eat and pays Henry well.
** Violet's fever and illness. It's at this point that Henry asks the doctor for help.
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* OrphansOrdeal: The whole plot of the first book, where four orphaned children work to survive on their own until their last known relative finds them.
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* OrphansOrdeal: The whole plot of the first book, where four orphaned children wander the countryside and work to survive on their own because they don't want their grandfather, their legal guardian, to find them. At first they think they can spend a few days at a bakery, working there, until they overhear that the owners plan to take Benny to the orphanage, because he's too young to work, and interrogate the others about their last known relative finds them.grandfather. The kids hightail it out of there, and later have to hide when they hear the bakers out looking for them. Fortunately, by the end of the book, they've met their grandfather and moved in with him after he proves to be a kindly father figure.
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* OutOfCharacterAlert: The Aldens are used to their grandfather always being cheerful and happily greeting them when he gets home, so when he comes home, bangs the door shut and barely says "Hello" to Benny, he immediately knows something's wrong and goes to get his siblings so they can talk to Grandfather and see what's wrong. Grandfather confesses that he's just gotten a letter about his estranged sister, including that she wants to see some of the four, thus kicking off the plot.
to:
* OutOfCharacterAlert: The Aldens are used to their grandfather always being cheerful and happily greeting them when he gets home, so when he comes home, home one day, bangs the door shut and barely says "Hello" to Benny, he Benny immediately knows something's wrong and goes to get his siblings so they can talk to Grandfather and see what's wrong. Grandfather confesses that he's just gotten a letter about his estranged sister, including that she wants to see some of the four, thus kicking off the plot.
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* AdultFear: The Aldens are living in a house by themselves for a week or so, with the closest adult being two miles away... and not only does their turn out to be a hostile criminal in the town, he physically attacks Jessie one night and, at another point, actually breaks into the house ''while they're sleeping'' and tears up a chair.
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* AdultFear: The Aldens are living in a house by themselves for a week or so, with the closest adult being two miles away... and not only does their turn out to be a hostile criminal BreakInThreat: Late in the town, he physically attacks Jessie one night and, at another point, actually book, the villain breaks into the house ''while they're the kids are sleeping'' and tears up a chair.chair (which Violet actually hears him doing, though she thinks it's just her imagination until they find the chair the next morning).
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* WouldHurtAChild: During the story, the Aldens are living in a house by themselves for a week or so, with the closest adult being two miles away, but have found out there's a hostile criminal in the town. During their last night in the house, he proves to be an example of this trope when he comes around and physically attacks Jessie while she's outside getting water from the pump; luckily, Henry chases him off in time.
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* AdultFear: When the boxcar is stolen, Watch disappears along with it. The siblings are all very afraid for his safety until he returns on his own, much to their relief.
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* TropeyComeHome: When the boxcar is stolen, Watch disappears along with it. The siblings are all very afraid for his safety until he returns on his own, much to their relief.
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* DelicateAndSickly: Violet, the shy and more feminine of the girls, has to deal with this from time to time. Near the end of the first book, she becomes sick with a fever, and the other children eventually have no choice but to take her to a friend who's a doctor, even though they know that giving their names means the likelihood that their grandfather will find them. He does, but it turns out for the better. Later, book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery'') sees her, alone among the four children, plagued by mosquito bites.
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* IllGirl: Violet, more than once. Near the end of the first book, she becomes sick with a fever, and the other children eventually have no choice but to take her to a friend who's a doctor, even though they know that giving their names means the likelihood that their grandfather will find them. He does, but it turns out for the better. Later, book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery'') sees her, alone among the four children, plagued by mosquito bites.
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* APlotInDeed: Actually subverted. The book revolves around the Aldens trying to prove that the land where the Greenfield Animal Shelter is located is the rightful property of the shelter's founder, Clara Newcombe. The subversion is that while the deed they found is legitimate, it ''isn't'' enough to prove this; they also need to find her father's will, which will confirm that he left the property to her, ''and'' get both documents to the state Land Records Office in time. Very fortunately, Ms. Newcombe already has the will in her possession when she's found, and despite the villains' best efforts, she and the Aldens succeed in their goal.
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* ExtrudedBookProuduct: While not originally this, the 1991 revival is one of the most notable examples of this trope within modern literature. Originally published at a rate of eight new books per year (six regular books and two specials), this was reduced in 2004 to just four books per year (all regulars, as specials were discontinued) and as of 2021 the series appears to have been again cut to just two books per year.
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* ExtrudedBookProuduct: ExtrudedBookProduct: While not originally this, the 1991 revival is one of the most notable examples of this trope within modern literature. Originally published at a rate of eight new books per year (six regular books and two specials), this was reduced in 2004 to just four books per year (all regulars, as specials were discontinued) and as of 2021 the series appears to have been again cut to just two books per year.
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* ExtrudedBookProuduct: While not originally this, the 1991 revival is one of the most notable examples of this trope within modern literature. Originally published at a rate of eight new books per year (six regular books and two specials), this was reduced in 2004 to just four books per year (all regulars, as specials were discontinued) and as of 2021 the series appears to have been again cut to just two books per year.
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* PassedInTheirSleep: Happened long before the events of the book to Billy, the wildcat mascot of a World War II fighter squadron where Edward Marlowe served. He became the first animal in Edward's zoo, where he lived to a ripe old age before dying in his sleep.
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* PassedInTheirSleep: Happened long Long before the events of the book to Billy, the wildcat mascot of book, Edward Marlowe served in a World War II fighter squadron where Edward Marlowe served. He and eventually adopted their wildcat mascot Billy, who became the first animal in Edward's zoo, where he zoo. When asked what happened to him, Edward explains that Billy lived to a ripe old age before dying in his sleep.
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* NewFriendEnvy: Inverted with Beth Simon. It's not any of the Aldens' friends who get jealous of their friendship with her -- it's her own twin sister Heather, who proceeds to try and break up the friendship by playing nasty pranks while disguised as Beth. And apparently she's done this in every town they do, because she's jealous of how easily Beth makes new friends.
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* NewFriendEnvy: Inverted with Beth Simon. It's not any of the Aldens' friends who get jealous of their friendship with her -- it's her own twin sister Heather, who proceeds to try and break up the friendship by playing nasty pranks while disguised as Beth. And apparently she's done this in every town they do, they've lived in, because she's jealous of how easily Beth makes new friends.
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%%[[folder: #061: ''The Growling Bear Mystery'' (1997)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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* BearsAreBadNews: Part of the plot involves the Aldens being warned about bears in Yellowstone, and picking up bear bells to ring in order to chase them away if they come near. As it happens, the one time they hear a bear, it turns out to have been another person trying to scare them away with a tape recording.
* BrotherSisterTeam: [[spoiler: Samuel Jackson Crowe, AKA Sam Jackson for short, and his sister Emily Jackson Crowe, who work at the local inn and as a park ranger in Yellowstone, who turn out to be the closest the books have to villains -- they're searching for the supposed treasure in the lost cabin, because they think their ancestor was one of the miners who left it.]]
* WorthlessTreasureTwist: Book #61 (''The Growling Bear Mystery'') revolves around a hunt for lost gold in an old miner's cabin in Yellowstone National Park. In the end, the Aldens find the cabin, but they find out that the "treasure" isn't gold -- it's just a sack of the yellow stones that give the park its name.
[[/folder]]
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Fixed a redlink.
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* AmicablyEvil: The culprit actually befriends the Aldens and his motives have nothing against them personally, but his actions do inconvenience the entire cruise line and are directly connected to Max Greene's situation.
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* AmicablyEvil: AffablyEvil: The culprit actually befriends the Aldens and his motives have nothing against them personally, but his actions do inconvenience the entire cruise line and are directly connected to Max Greene's situation.
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* AmicablyEvil: The culprit actually befriends the Aldens and his motives have nothing against them personally, but his actions do inconvenience the entire cruise line and are directly connected to Max Greene's situation.
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* BenevolentBoss: Molly Parsons, after discovering that her employee at her Bed and Breakfast had been stealing money and other things from her because he wasn't able to pay for his current college semester of college, is understanding and responds by giving him more hours to pay back for what he took and promising to take him to the bank to arrange for a loan.
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* BenevolentBoss: Molly Parsons, after discovering that her employee at her Bed and Breakfast had been stealing money and other things from her because he wasn't able to pay for his current college semester of college, is understanding and responds by giving him more hours to pay back for what he took and promising to take him to the bank to arrange for a loan.
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[[folder: #073: ''The Gymnastics Mystery'' (1999)]]
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%%[[folder: #074: ''The Poison Frog Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #074: ''The Poison Frog Mystery'' (2000)]]
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[[/folder]]
%%[[folder: #074: ''The Poison Frog Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #075: ''The Mystery of the Empty Safe'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #075: #074: ''The Mystery of the Empty Safe'' Poison Frog Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #014: ''The Home Run Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #014: #075: ''The Home Run Mystery'' Mystery of the Empty Safe'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #076: ''The Great Bicycle Race Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #076: Special #014: ''The Great Bicycle Race Home Run Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #077: ''The Mystery of the Wild Ponies'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #077: #076: ''The Mystery of the Wild Ponies'' Great Bicycle Race Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #078: ''The Mystery in the Computer Game'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #078: #077: ''The Mystery in of the Computer Game'' Wild Ponies'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #015: ''The Honeybee Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #015: #078: ''The Honeybee Mystery'' Mystery in the Computer Game'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #079: ''The Mystery at the Crooked House'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #079: Special #015: ''The Mystery at the Crooked House'' Honeybee Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #080: ''The Hockey Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #080: #079: ''The Hockey Mystery'' (2001)]]Mystery at the Crooked House'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #081: ''The Mystery of the Midnight Dog'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #081: #080: ''The Mystery of the Midnight Dog'' Hockey Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #016: ''The Mystery of the Screech Owl'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #016: #081: ''The Mystery of the Screech Owl'' Midnight Dog'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #082: ''The Summer Camp Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #082: Special #016: ''The Summer Camp Mystery'' Mystery of the Screech Owl'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #083: ''The Copycat Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #083: #082: ''The Copycat Summer Camp Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #084: ''The Haunted Clock Tower Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #084: #083: ''The Haunted Clock Tower Copycat Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #017: ''The Mystery of the Tiger's Eye'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #017: #084: ''The Mystery of the Tiger's Eye'' Haunted Clock Tower Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #085: ''The Disappearing Staircase Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #085: Special #017: ''The Disappearing Staircase Mystery'' Mystery of the Tiger's Eye'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #086: ''The Mystery on Blizzard Mountain'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #086: #085: ''The Mystery on Blizzard Mountain'' (2002)]]Disappearing Staircase Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #087: ''The Mystery of the Spider's Clue'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #087: #086: ''The Mystery of the Spider's Clue'' on Blizzard Mountain'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #018: ''The Candy Factory Mystery'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #018: #087: ''The Candy Factory Mystery'' Mystery of the Spider's Clue'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #088: ''The Mystery of the Mummy's Curse'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #088: Special #018: ''The Mystery of the Mummy's Curse'' Candy Factory Mystery'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #089: ''The Mystery of the Star Ruby'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #089: #088: ''The Mystery of the Star Ruby'' Mummy's Curse'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #090: ''The Stuffed Bear Mystery'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #090: #089: ''The Stuffed Bear Mystery'' Mystery of the Star Ruby'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #019: ''The Mystery of Alligator Swamp'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #019: #090: ''The Mystery of Alligator Swamp'' Stuffed Bear Mystery'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #091: ''The Mystery at Skeleton Point'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #091: Special #019: ''The Mystery at Skeleton Point'' of Alligator Swamp'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #092: ''The Tattletale Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #092: #091: ''The Tattletale Mystery'' (2003)]]Mystery at Skeleton Point'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #093: ''The Comic Book Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #093: #092: ''The Comic Book Tattletale Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #020: ''The Great Shark Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #020: #093: ''The Great Shark Comic Book Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #094: ''The Ice Cream Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #094: Special #020: ''The Ice Cream Great Shark Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #095: ''The Midnight Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #095: #094: ''The Midnight Ice Cream Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #096: ''The Mystery in the Fortune Cookie'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #096: #095: ''The Mystery in the Fortune Cookie'' Midnight Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #021: ''The Black Widow Spider Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #021: #096: ''The Black Widow Spider Mystery'' Mystery in the Fortune Cookie'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #097: ''The Radio Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #097: Special #021: ''The Radio Black Widow Spider Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #098: ''The Mystery of the Runaway Ghost'' (2004)]]
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%%[[folder: #098: #097: ''The Mystery of the Runaway Ghost'' (2004)]]Radio Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #099: ''The Finders Keepers Mystery'' (2004)]]
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%%[[folder: #099: #098: ''The Finders Keepers Mystery'' Mystery of the Runaway Ghost'' (2004)]]
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%%[[folder: #100: ''The Mystery of the Haunted Boxcar'' (2004)]]
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%%[[folder: #100: #099: ''The Mystery of the Haunted Boxcar'' Finders Keepers Mystery'' (2004)]]
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%%[[folder: #101: ''The Clue in the Corn Maze'' (2004)]]
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%%[[folder: #101: #100: ''The Clue in Mystery of the Corn Maze'' Haunted Boxcar'' (2004)]]
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%%[[folder: #102: ''The Ghost of the Chattering Bones'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #102: #101: ''The Ghost of Clue in the Chattering Bones'' (2005)]]Corn Maze'' (2004)]]
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%%[[folder: #103: ''The Sword of the Silver Knight'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #103: #102: ''The Sword Ghost of the Silver Knight'' Chattering Bones'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #104: ''The Game Store Mystery'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #104: #103: ''The Game Store Mystery'' Sword of the Silver Knight'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #105: ''The Mystery of the Orphan Train'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #105: #104: ''The Mystery of the Orphan Train'' Game Store Mystery'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #106: ''The Vanishing Passenger'' (2006)]]
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%%[[folder: #106: #105: ''The Vanishing Passenger'' (2006)]]Mystery of the Orphan Train'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #107: ''The Giant Yo Yo Mystery'' (2006)]]
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%%[[folder: #107: #106: ''The Giant Yo Yo Mystery'' Vanishing Passenger'' (2006)]]
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%%[[folder: #108: ''The Creature in Ogopogo Lake'' (2006)]]
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%%[[folder: #108: #107: ''The Creature in Ogopogo Lake'' Giant Yo Yo Mystery'' (2006)]]
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%%[[folder: #109: ''The Rock and Roll Mystery'' (2006)]]
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%%[[folder: #109: #108: ''The Rock and Roll Mystery'' Creature in Ogopogo Lake'' (2006)]]
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%%[[folder: #110: ''The Secret of the Mask'' (2007)]]
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%%[[folder: #110: #109: ''The Secret of the Mask'' (2007)]]Rock and Roll Mystery'' (2006)]]
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%%[[folder: #111: ''The Seattle Puzzle'' (2007)]]
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%%[[folder: #111: #110: ''The Seattle Puzzle'' Secret of the Mask'' (2007)]]
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%%[[folder: #112: ''The Ghost in the First Row'' (2007)]]
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%%[[folder: #112: #111: ''The Ghost in the First Row'' Seattle Puzzle'' (2007)]]
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%%[[folder: #113: ''The Box that Watch Found'' (2007)]]
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%%[[folder: #113: #112: ''The Box that Watch Found'' Ghost in the First Row'' (2007)]]
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%%[[folder: #114: ''A Horse Named Dragon'' (2008)]]
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%%[[folder: #114: ''A Horse Named Dragon'' (2008)]]#113: ''The Box that Watch Found'' (2007)]]
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%%[[folder: #115: ''The Great Detective Race'' (2008)]]
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%%[[folder: #115: ''The Great Detective Race'' #114: ''A Horse Named Dragon'' (2008)]]
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%%[[folder: #142: #141: ''The Legend of the Irish Castle'' (2016)]]Sleepy Hollow Mystery'' (2015)]]
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%%[[folder: Interactive Mysteries #4: ''Race through White-Water Canyon'' (2021)]]
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%%[[folder: #158: ''The Great Greenfield Bake-Off'' (2021)]]
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%%[[folder: #159: ''The Beekeeper Mystery'' (2021)]]
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%%[[folder: #159: #158: ''The Beekeeper Mystery'' Great Greenfield Bake-Off'' (2021)]]
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%%
%%[[folder: #159: ''The Beekeeper Mystery'' (2021)]]
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%%[[folder: #159: ''The Beekeeper Mystery'' (2021)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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No longer a trope.
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* NotSoDifferent: Katya, the gymnast that befriends the Aldens, is quite enamored with their boxcar. She spends time in it, thinking. Later she reveals that her family back home is poor, with barely enough room in their apartment, so she understood what they were going through during their time living in it after initially thinking they were rich.
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---> "You can tell Jim I am ''not'', and I repeat ''not working on scenery any longer! I'm an actor, not a carpenter."
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---> "You can tell Jim I am ''not'', and I repeat ''not working on scenery any longer! longer!'' I'm an actor, not a carpenter."
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* RealNameAsAnAlias: In this book, the Aldens meet their long-lost cousin John Joseph Alden. Before and after the reveal though, he just goes by "Joe".
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* RealNameAsAnAlias: In the first book, when James Henry Alden meets his grandchildren for the first time (after having found out why they were avoiding him), he uses the name "Mr. Henry" to avoid scaring them off.
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* RealNameAsAnAlias: In the Twice in this book.
** When Henry takes part in a free-for-all race at Silver City's annual Field Day event and wins, he identifies himself as Henry James, his real firstbook, and middle names.
** Later, when James Henry Alden meets his grandchildren for the first time (after having found out why they were avoiding him), he uses the name "Mr. Henry" to avoid scaring them off.
** When Henry takes part in a free-for-all race at Silver City's annual Field Day event and wins, he identifies himself as Henry James, his real first
** Later, when James Henry Alden meets his grandchildren for the first time (after having found out why they were avoiding him), he uses the name "Mr. Henry" to avoid scaring them off.
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Sorted examples into folders for each book and added tropes for just over sixty of them.
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* AdaptedOut: Many characters from the original books, including Mrs. [=McGregor=]'s husband, Aunt Jane's farmhands, Benny's friend Mike Wood, and Grandfather's pilot/former spy friend John Carter nearly or completely disappear in the post-Warner books.
* AdultFear: All of book one:
** You have four orphan kids wandering around the countryside, because they don't want their grandfather, their legal guardian, to find them. At first they think they can spend a few days at a bakery, working there, until the owners plan to take Benny to the orphanage, because he's too young to work, and interrogate the others about their grandfather. The kids hightail it out of there, and the bakers look for them, searching the streets frantically because they fear for their safety.
** Henry has to be the breadwinner because he's the only one who's old enough to work. He also isn't even eighteen.
** One of Henry's employers, the doctor, reveals at the end of the book that he had figured out the kids lived in the woods. Sensing they would run if he busted them, however, he only quietly visited their boxcar to make sure they had enough to eat and pays Henry well.
** Violet's fever and illness. It's at this point that Henry asks the doctor for help.
* AdultFear: All of book one:
** You have four orphan kids wandering around the countryside, because they don't want their grandfather, their legal guardian, to find them. At first they think they can spend a few days at a bakery, working there, until the owners plan to take Benny to the orphanage, because he's too young to work, and interrogate the others about their grandfather. The kids hightail it out of there, and the bakers look for them, searching the streets frantically because they fear for their safety.
** Henry has to be the breadwinner because he's the only one who's old enough to work. He also isn't even eighteen.
** One of Henry's employers, the doctor, reveals at the end of the book that he had figured out the kids lived in the woods. Sensing they would run if he busted them, however, he only quietly visited their boxcar to make sure they had enough to eat and pays Henry well.
** Violet's fever and illness. It's at this point that Henry asks the doctor for help.
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%%Editor's note: Individual book folders without trope entries are currently commented out. They can be uncommented out when tropes are added to them.
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: In general]]
* AdaptedOut: Many characters from the original books, including Mrs. [=McGregor=]'s husband, Aunt Jane's farmhands, Benny's friend Mike Wood,and Grandfather's pilot/former spy friend John Carter and the Beach family next door nearly or completely disappear in the post-Warner books.
* AdultFear: All ofbooks. (Then again, except for the Beaches, they'd pretty much all disappeared during the original series too -- Mike, who lives elsewhere, was last seen in book one:
** You have four orphan kids wandering around6 when he joined them for one vacation, the countryside, because ranchhands/farmhands in book 7 with it being said that they don't want their grandfather, their legal guardian, to find them. At first they think they can spend a few days at a bakery, working there, until the owners plan to take Benny to the orphanage, because he's too young to work, were going back west, John Carter was last seen in book 10, and interrogate the others about their grandfather. The kids hightail it out of there, and the bakers look for them, searching the streets frantically because they fear for their safety.
** Henry has to be the breadwinner because he's theMr. [=McGregor=]'s only one who's old enough to work. He also isn't even eighteen.
** One of Henry's employers, the doctor, reveals at the end of thereal appearance after his debut was in book that he had figured out the kids lived in the woods. Sensing they would run if he busted them, however, he only quietly visited their boxcar to make sure they had enough to eat and pays Henry well.
** Violet's fever and illness. It's at this point that Henry asks the doctor for help.14.)
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: In general]]
* AdaptedOut: Many characters from the original books, including Mrs. [=McGregor=]'s husband, Aunt Jane's farmhands, Benny's friend Mike Wood,
* AdultFear: All of
** You have four orphan kids wandering around
** Henry has to be the breadwinner because he's the
** One of Henry's employers, the doctor, reveals at the end of the
** Violet's fever and illness. It's at this point that Henry asks the doctor for help.
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* AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle: Every mystery book contained some minor science lesson, such as about plankton, or Captain Cook's voyages, or similar. A noteworthy one: Henry's sage observation that "Mashed potatoes don't smell." in book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery'').
** Justified in book #6 (''Blue Bay Mystery''), since they're being tutored while on a trip to a South Sea island during the school year.
** Justified in book #6 (''Blue Bay Mystery''), since they're being tutored while on a trip to a South Sea island during the school year.
to:
* AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle: Every mystery book contained some minor science lesson, such as about plankton, or Captain Cook's voyages, or similar. A noteworthy one: Henry's sage observation that "Mashed potatoes don't smell." in book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery'').
**Mystery''). Justified in book #6 (''Blue Bay Mystery''), since they're being tutored while on a trip to a South Sea island during the school year.year.
* AnimalLover: Every member of the Alden family is this -- Jessie makes friends with Watch when she removes a thorn from his paw in the first book, and all of them are kind to any animal they meet, no matter the circumstances.
**
* AnimalLover: Every member of the Alden family is this -- Jessie makes friends with Watch when she removes a thorn from his paw in the first book, and all of them are kind to any animal they meet, no matter the circumstances.
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* BigBrotherInstinct: In the first book Henry wastes no time looking for work to support his younger siblings.
* BigEater: Benny, whose catchphrase was practically "I'm hungry!"
* BigEater: Benny, whose catchphrase was practically "I'm hungry!"
to:
* CentralTheme: Independence, resourcefulness and making do. As the notes at the end of each book stated:
-->[Warner] never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens' independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do.
* ColorCodedCharacters: Throughout the series, the four children are almost always associated with green, blue, violet and red (for Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny), which are said to be their favorite colors, when they're each receiving one of the same type.
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* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot:
** The Alden kids might have avoided living on the streets and the titular boxcar had they met their grandfather and cleared things up sooner. Henry and Jessie are ''very'' sheepish when they realize it since Violet probably wouldn't have gotten ill in the woods if they had lived with their grandfather in the first place. When the kids go to live with their grandfather, they find themselves missing the independence, so he arranges to have the boxcar moved in their yard.
** In book #33 (''The Pizza Mystery''), the lady with the red hat [[spoiler:reveals that she's been wanting to learn how to make pizzas and sending the kids on deliveries because her family restaurant is failing, and she is worried about her parents going bankrupt. The Piccolos bluntly ask why she didn't tell them, since they would have been happy to help without the subterfuge. They immediately start her on cooking lessons that she can pass on to her parents, for which she is eternally grateful]].
* DecemberDecemberRomance: Aunt Jane and Andy Bean, who marry in their 70s after decades apart. Also a case of TheOneThatGotAway, as Andy had proposed to her unsuccessfully in their youth.
** The Alden kids might have avoided living on the streets and the titular boxcar had they met their grandfather and cleared things up sooner. Henry and Jessie are ''very'' sheepish when they realize it since Violet probably wouldn't have gotten ill in the woods if they had lived with their grandfather in the first place. When the kids go to live with their grandfather, they find themselves missing the independence, so he arranges to have the boxcar moved in their yard.
** In book #33 (''The Pizza Mystery''), the lady with the red hat [[spoiler:reveals that she's been wanting to learn how to make pizzas and sending the kids on deliveries because her family restaurant is failing, and she is worried about her parents going bankrupt. The Piccolos bluntly ask why she didn't tell them, since they would have been happy to help without the subterfuge. They immediately start her on cooking lessons that she can pass on to her parents, for which she is eternally grateful]].
* DecemberDecemberRomance: Aunt Jane and Andy Bean, who marry in their 70s after decades apart. Also a case of TheOneThatGotAway, as Andy had proposed to her unsuccessfully in their youth.
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* DismantledMacGuffin: Book #21 (''The Deserted Library Mystery'') has the Aldens working to clean up an old library in the town of Rock Falls so it can become a historical landmark, and in the process discover the hilt of an old Civil War sword, plus a letter explaining its origin. The rest of the book features them hunting for the other two pieces (the middle and point) so it can be reassembled and displayed as a historical treasure.
* DontSplitUsUp: This is a concern for the title characters, who assume when their parents die that they'll either be adopted by the grandfather their parents hate and they believe is abusive (which proves not to be the case) or be taken into foster care and split up. The latter proves to be a reasonable concern, as when they stay at a bakery overnight, they hear the owner and his wife (who'd previously agreed to let them stay) talking about how they're going to send Benny to the Children's Home since the baker's wife can't take care of a child who's that young. This prompts the four to run away into the woods, where they find the boxcar that becomes their home.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first book had nothing to do with mysteries, and focused on how the children lived in the titular boxcar.
* EvilIsPetty:
** [[spoiler:Mac Thatcher]] in book #26 (''The Mystery of the Mixed Up Zoo'') was fired because he wasn't good at taking care of the animals. [[spoiler:So he uses a duplicate set of keys to break in, start sabotaging the place, and kidnap Amos the monkey to sell him at a pet shop for moving-away money. He quite seriously thinks his old boss and the kids will let him leave after they find the proof]].
** In book #33 (''The Pizza Mystery''), it's revealed that the perpetrator behind the sabotage at the pizza place is [[spoiler:a middle-management business executive at the company next door. When the kids bring him a free pizza as a peace offering, he eats it while gloating he thinks the Piccolos are old enough to be retired and the restaurant would serve better as a work cafeteria. Fortunately, he left the intercom on long enough for his boss to overhear, and she fires him on the spot while apologizing to the kids]].
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Benny is Sanguine, Violet is Phlegmatic, Jessie is Melancholic, and Henry is Choleric.
* FreeRangeChildren: In the first book they live quite alone in the woods. Though they go to live with their grandfather in later books, they continue to move around extremely independently, if to a slightly lesser extent. The children's independence is not only allowed, but encouraged, by their grandfather -- Henry and Jessie, the two oldest, are only 14 and 12, but they usually seem more like high schoolers and act basically as parent figures to Violet and Benny, the two youngest—who are 10 and 6, but also act older. Throughout the series, they've done such varied things as camping out, exploring the Arizona desert, and even caving, all without a lick of supervision. This makes sense, since the premise of the series is that they lived just fine in an abandoned boxcar for several months before learning their grandpa wasn't a jerk.
* DontSplitUsUp: This is a concern for the title characters, who assume when their parents die that they'll either be adopted by the grandfather their parents hate and they believe is abusive (which proves not to be the case) or be taken into foster care and split up. The latter proves to be a reasonable concern, as when they stay at a bakery overnight, they hear the owner and his wife (who'd previously agreed to let them stay) talking about how they're going to send Benny to the Children's Home since the baker's wife can't take care of a child who's that young. This prompts the four to run away into the woods, where they find the boxcar that becomes their home.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first book had nothing to do with mysteries, and focused on how the children lived in the titular boxcar.
* EvilIsPetty:
** [[spoiler:Mac Thatcher]] in book #26 (''The Mystery of the Mixed Up Zoo'') was fired because he wasn't good at taking care of the animals. [[spoiler:So he uses a duplicate set of keys to break in, start sabotaging the place, and kidnap Amos the monkey to sell him at a pet shop for moving-away money. He quite seriously thinks his old boss and the kids will let him leave after they find the proof]].
** In book #33 (''The Pizza Mystery''), it's revealed that the perpetrator behind the sabotage at the pizza place is [[spoiler:a middle-management business executive at the company next door. When the kids bring him a free pizza as a peace offering, he eats it while gloating he thinks the Piccolos are old enough to be retired and the restaurant would serve better as a work cafeteria. Fortunately, he left the intercom on long enough for his boss to overhear, and she fires him on the spot while apologizing to the kids]].
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Benny is Sanguine, Violet is Phlegmatic, Jessie is Melancholic, and Henry is Choleric.
* FreeRangeChildren: In the first book they live quite alone in the woods. Though they go to live with their grandfather in later books, they continue to move around extremely independently, if to a slightly lesser extent. The children's independence is not only allowed, but encouraged, by their grandfather -- Henry and Jessie, the two oldest, are only 14 and 12, but they usually seem more like high schoolers and act basically as parent figures to Violet and Benny, the two youngest—who are 10 and 6, but also act older. Throughout the series, they've done such varied things as camping out, exploring the Arizona desert, and even caving, all without a lick of supervision. This makes sense, since the premise of the series is that they lived just fine in an abandoned boxcar for several months before learning their grandpa wasn't a jerk.
to:
* DontSplitUsUp: This is a concern for the title characters, who assume when their parents die that they'll either be adopted by the grandfather their parents hate and they believe is abusive (which proves not to be the case) or be taken into foster care and split up. The latter proves to be a reasonable concern, as when they stay at a bakery overnight, they hear the owner and his wife (who'd previously agreed to let them stay) talking about how they're going to send Benny to the Children's Home since the baker's wife can't take care of a child who's that young. This prompts the four to run away into the woods, where they find the boxcar that becomes their home.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first book had nothing to do with mysteries, and focused on how the children lived in the titular boxcar.
* EvilIsPetty:
** [[spoiler:Mac Thatcher]] in book #26 (''The Mystery of the Mixed Up Zoo'') was fired because he wasn't good at taking care of the animals. [[spoiler:So he uses a duplicate set of keys to break in, start sabotaging the place, and kidnap Amos the monkey to sell him at a pet shop for moving-away money. He quite seriously thinks his old boss and the kids will let him leave after they find the proof]].
** In book #33 (''The Pizza Mystery''), it's revealed that the perpetrator behind the sabotage at the pizza place is [[spoiler:a middle-management business executive at the company next door. When the kids bring him a free pizza as a peace offering, he eats it while gloating he thinks the Piccolos are old enough to be retired and the restaurant would serve better as a work cafeteria. Fortunately, he left the intercom on long enough for his boss to overhear, and she fires him on the spot while apologizing to the kids]].
* FreeRangeChildren: In the first book they live quite alone in the woods. Though they go to live with their grandfather in later books, they continue to move around extremely independently, if to a slightly lesser extent. The children's independence is not only allowed, but encouraged, by their grandfather -- Henry and Jessie, the two oldest, are only 14 and 12, but they usually seem more like high schoolers and act basically as parent figures to Violet and Benny, the two youngest—who are 10 and 6, but also act older. Throughout the series, they've done such varied things as camping out, exploring the Arizona desert, and even caving, all without a lick of supervision. This makes sense, since the premise of the series is that they lived just fine in an abandoned boxcar for several months before learning their grandpa wasn't a jerk.
Changed line(s) 48,59 (click to see context) from:
* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: Warner rewrote the original book in 1942, changing several details from the 1924 version. Among other things:
** The original version has the father and four children move into town, with one of them stopping at a bakery for bread; during this time, it's established that their mother is already dead and the father a drunk. The next day, he's dead and the two elder children ask the baker's wife to come to their house, which she does, and meets all four children. She later talks to her husband through a window, and they agree the children must go to their grandfather. The siblings wait until the baker is gone, then flee from the house. The 1942 version greatly reduces this to start with the children in front of the bakery, and they stay with the owner and his wife that night until they hear them talking about splitting up the four by sending Benny to a children's home.
** The family's name is originally "Cordyce", and the eldest daughter goes by "Jess". These were changed to "Alden" and "Jessie" in the revised version.
** Henry and Benny are thirteen and five, respectively, in the original. The revised version ages them up to fourteen and six. (Jessie and Violet retain their original ages of twelve and ten.)
* GreenAesop: The focus of book #18 (''Bus Station Mystery''), where the grandfather educates a paint factory owner on ways to cut down on water and air pollution and helps reconcile him with his environmentalist sons.
* HeroicBystander: In book #34 (''The Mystery Horse''), the kids learn that [[spoiler:the horse that the family is boarding is a race star called Wind Dancer. Benny and the kids find thieves trying to steal Wind Dancer, and Benny uses his pouch full of thumbtacks to stop them with a flat tire]].
* IHaveManyNames: In book #12 (''Houseboat Mystery''), Mr. Rivers tells the family that the houseboat he rents out is set up so renters can give it any name they want, by swapping out letters on a special rack. Past names have included ''Rock and Roll'', ''Moon Rocket'', ''The All Inn'', and ''The Blue Heron''; the Aldens swap out names on it every day, naming it after all the members of the family (including Mrs. [=McGregor=]) in turn, ultimately catching the attention of the police who've heard about "the houseboat with many names". (Thankfully, they're understanding when they find out why it keeps changing.) The last name they give the boat is [[spoiler:''Captain Kid'', for Benny]], prompting an amused reaction from Mr. Rivers when he sees it.
* IllGirl: Violet, more than once.
** Near the end of the first book, she becomes sick with a fever. The other children eventually have no choice but to take her to a friend who's a doctor, even though they know that giving their names means the likelihood that their grandfather will find them. He does, but it turns out for the better.
** Book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery'') sees her, alone among the four children, plagued by mosquito bites.
* ILoveNuclearPower: In book #4 (''Mystery Ranch''), it's discovered that the black and yellow rocks in the fireplace at Aunt Jane's ranch are uranium. By the next visit to Aunt Jane, the sleepy ranch town is now home to a massive uranium mine.
* KidDetective: The titular children, at least from book #2 (''Surprise Island'') on.
** The original version has the father and four children move into town, with one of them stopping at a bakery for bread; during this time, it's established that their mother is already dead and the father a drunk. The next day, he's dead and the two elder children ask the baker's wife to come to their house, which she does, and meets all four children. She later talks to her husband through a window, and they agree the children must go to their grandfather. The siblings wait until the baker is gone, then flee from the house. The 1942 version greatly reduces this to start with the children in front of the bakery, and they stay with the owner and his wife that night until they hear them talking about splitting up the four by sending Benny to a children's home.
** The family's name is originally "Cordyce", and the eldest daughter goes by "Jess". These were changed to "Alden" and "Jessie" in the revised version.
** Henry and Benny are thirteen and five, respectively, in the original. The revised version ages them up to fourteen and six. (Jessie and Violet retain their original ages of twelve and ten.)
* GreenAesop: The focus of book #18 (''Bus Station Mystery''), where the grandfather educates a paint factory owner on ways to cut down on water and air pollution and helps reconcile him with his environmentalist sons.
* HeroicBystander: In book #34 (''The Mystery Horse''), the kids learn that [[spoiler:the horse that the family is boarding is a race star called Wind Dancer. Benny and the kids find thieves trying to steal Wind Dancer, and Benny uses his pouch full of thumbtacks to stop them with a flat tire]].
* IHaveManyNames: In book #12 (''Houseboat Mystery''), Mr. Rivers tells the family that the houseboat he rents out is set up so renters can give it any name they want, by swapping out letters on a special rack. Past names have included ''Rock and Roll'', ''Moon Rocket'', ''The All Inn'', and ''The Blue Heron''; the Aldens swap out names on it every day, naming it after all the members of the family (including Mrs. [=McGregor=]) in turn, ultimately catching the attention of the police who've heard about "the houseboat with many names". (Thankfully, they're understanding when they find out why it keeps changing.) The last name they give the boat is [[spoiler:''Captain Kid'', for Benny]], prompting an amused reaction from Mr. Rivers when he sees it.
* IllGirl: Violet, more than once.
** Near the end of the first book, she becomes sick with a fever. The other children eventually have no choice but to take her to a friend who's a doctor, even though they know that giving their names means the likelihood that their grandfather will find them. He does, but it turns out for the better.
** Book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery'') sees her, alone among the four children, plagued by mosquito bites.
* ILoveNuclearPower: In book #4 (''Mystery Ranch''), it's discovered that the black and yellow rocks in the fireplace at Aunt Jane's ranch are uranium. By the next visit to Aunt Jane, the sleepy ranch town is now home to a massive uranium mine.
* KidDetective: The titular children, at least from book #2 (''Surprise Island'') on.
to:
* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: Warner rewrote HarassingPhoneCall: During the post-Warner books, the Aldens often receive these from the book's antagonists, telling them to stay out of whatever suspicious business they're investigating. Naturally, it has the reverse effect, inspiring them to investigate even more. (See individual folders for specific cases.)
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Used for books 20-100 (and the 21 special editions released during the same time). ''Every single title'' in that timeframe was either titled "The Mystery (noun or phrase)" or "The (noun/verb) Mystery" (with four of the originalbook in 1942, changing several details from nineteen also using the 1924 version. Among other things:
** The original version haslatter pattern). After that, the father and four children move into town, series began mixing things up a great deal more, starting with one of them stopping at a bakery for bread; during this time, it's established that their mother is already dead and the father a drunk. The next day, he's dead and the two elder children ask the baker's wife to come to their house, which she does, and meets all four children. She later talks to her husband through a window, and they agree the children must go to their grandfather. The siblings wait until the baker is gone, then flee from the house. The 1942 version greatly reduces this to start with the children in front of the bakery, and they stay with the owner and his wife that night until they hear them talking about splitting up the four by sending Benny to a children's home.
** The family's name is originally "Cordyce", and the eldest daughter goes by "Jess". These were changed to "Alden" and "Jessie" in the revised version.
** Henry and Benny are thirteen and five, respectively, in the original. The revised version ages them up to fourteen and six. (Jessie and Violet retain their original ages of twelve and ten.)
* GreenAesop: The focus of book #18 (''Bus Station Mystery''), where the grandfather educates a paint factory owner on ways to cut down on water and air pollution and helps reconcile him with his environmentalist sons.
* HeroicBystander: In book #34 (''The Mystery Horse''), the kids learn that [[spoiler:the horse that the family is boarding is a race star called Wind Dancer. Benny and the kids find thieves trying to steal Wind Dancer, and Benny uses his pouch full of thumbtacks to stop them with a flat tire]].
* IHaveManyNames: In book #12 (''Houseboat Mystery''), Mr. Rivers tells the family that the houseboat he rents out is set up so renters can give it any name they want, by swapping out letters on a special rack. Past names have included ''Rock and Roll'', ''Moon Rocket'',''The All Inn'', and ''The Blue Heron''; Clue in the Aldens swap out names on it every day, Corn Maze'', though the old naming it after all the members of the family (including Mrs. [=McGregor=]) in turn, ultimately catching the attention of the police who've heard about "the houseboat with many names". (Thankfully, they're understanding when they find out why it keeps changing.) The last name they give the boat is [[spoiler:''Captain Kid'', for Benny]], prompting an amused reaction styles reappeared from Mr. Rivers when he sees it.
time to time.
* IllGirl: Violet, more thanonce.
**once. Near the end of the first book, she becomes sick with a fever. The fever, and the other children eventually have no choice but to take her to a friend who's a doctor, even though they know that giving their names means the likelihood that their grandfather will find them. He does, but it turns out for the better.
** Bookbetter. Later, book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery'') sees her, alone among the four children, plagued by mosquito bites.
* ILoveNuclearPower: In book #4 (''Mystery Ranch''), it's discovered that the black and yellow rocks in the fireplace at Aunt Jane's ranch are uranium. By the next visit to Aunt Jane, the sleepy ranch town is now home to a massive uranium mine.
* KidDetective: The titular children, at least from book #2 (''Surprise Island'') on.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Used for books 20-100 (and the 21 special editions released during the same time). ''Every single title'' in that timeframe was either titled "The Mystery (noun or phrase)" or "The (noun/verb) Mystery" (with four of the original
** The original version has
** The family's name is originally "Cordyce", and the eldest daughter goes by "Jess". These were changed to "Alden" and "Jessie" in the revised version.
** Henry and Benny are thirteen and five, respectively, in the original. The revised version ages them up to fourteen and six. (Jessie and Violet retain their original ages of twelve and ten.)
* GreenAesop: The focus of book #18 (''Bus Station Mystery''), where the grandfather educates a paint factory owner on ways to cut down on water and air pollution and helps reconcile him with his environmentalist sons.
* HeroicBystander: In book #34 (''The Mystery Horse''), the kids learn that [[spoiler:the horse that the family is boarding is a race star called Wind Dancer. Benny and the kids find thieves trying to steal Wind Dancer, and Benny uses his pouch full of thumbtacks to stop them with a flat tire]].
* IHaveManyNames: In book #12 (''Houseboat Mystery''), Mr. Rivers tells the family that the houseboat he rents out is set up so renters can give it any name they want, by swapping out letters on a special rack. Past names have included ''Rock and Roll'', ''Moon Rocket'',
* IllGirl: Violet, more than
**
** Book
Changed line(s) 61,68 (click to see context) from:
* LinkedListClueMethodology: Book #17 (''Mystery Behind the Wall'') has the children discovering a treasure hunt of this type that was set up decades before by a now-deceased girl, and setting out to solve it.
* LongRunningBookSeries: The first book came out in 1924. A shorter, revised version was released in 1942, and the first eighteen sequels came out from 1949 to 1976. Ghostwriters took over in 1991, and multiple books have been released every year since (the only year to ''not'' release a book in the original series was 2017, but that's because the five-book spinoff series ''The Boxcar Children Great Adventures'' was being released instead).
* MeaningfulName: Warner was apparently fond of these, as she used them multiple times in the series:
** Violet's name is one, since she's a ShrinkingViolet.
** In book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery''), the mystery they find involves cooking, and their main suspect's name is Larry Cook.
** In book #11 (''Caboose Mystery''), the train conductor is named Mr. Carr.
** In book #12 (''Houseboat Mystery''), the owner of the houseboat the family rents is Mr. Rivers.
** In book #14 (''Tree House Mystery''), the Aldens' new neighbors who live in a house near the beach are the Beaches.
* LongRunningBookSeries: The first book came out in 1924. A shorter, revised version was released in 1942, and the first eighteen sequels came out from 1949 to 1976. Ghostwriters took over in 1991, and multiple books have been released every year since (the only year to ''not'' release a book in the original series was 2017, but that's because the five-book spinoff series ''The Boxcar Children Great Adventures'' was being released instead).
* MeaningfulName: Warner was apparently fond of these, as she used them multiple times in the series:
** Violet's name is one, since she's a ShrinkingViolet.
** In book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery''), the mystery they find involves cooking, and their main suspect's name is Larry Cook.
** In book #11 (''Caboose Mystery''), the train conductor is named Mr. Carr.
** In book #12 (''Houseboat Mystery''), the owner of the houseboat the family rents is Mr. Rivers.
** In book #14 (''Tree House Mystery''), the Aldens' new neighbors who live in a house near the beach are the Beaches.
to:
* MeaningfulName: Warner was apparently fond of these, as she used them multiple times in the
**
** In book #11 (''Caboose Mystery''),
* MysteriousNote: During the
** In book #12 (''Houseboat Mystery''),
** In book #14 (''Tree House Mystery''),
Changed line(s) 70 (click to see context) from:
* NonResidentialResidence: The boxcar children start the series living in, well, a boxcar.
to:
* NonResidentialResidence: The boxcar children start NoAntagonist: More than half of the series living in, well, Warner-era books have the characters simply solving a boxcar.mystery about something they found, with no real villain involved; book 1 has a pair of adults who want to send the kids to their grandfather but are completely absent from the story after they find the boxcar, and book 3 has some crooks in the backstory who aren't around to impede the Aldens during the actual events of the book, but beyond that, books 4, 5, 10, 12, 15 and 19 are the only ones from this time period with any human antagonists present and out to cause trouble.
Deleted line(s) 72,74 (click to see context) :
* NotSoDifferent: One gymnast that befriends the Aldens is quite enamored with their boxcar. She spends time in it, thinking. Later she reveals that her family back home is poor, with barely enough room in their apartment, so she understood what they were going through after thinking they were rich.
* OrphansOrdeal: The whole plot of the first book, where four orphaned children work to survive on their own until their last known relative finds them.
** Book #21 (''The Deserted Library Mystery'') introduces the Aldens to a boy named Miguel, who's terrified that he's ''become'' an orphan after his father is lost in a storm, and will have to deal with this, especially after the news comes in that his father's boat was confirmed wrecked and only two of the three men in it were rescued. [[spoiler:Very happily for Miguel, his father is one of the two.]]
* OrphansOrdeal: The whole plot of the first book, where four orphaned children work to survive on their own until their last known relative finds them.
** Book #21 (''The Deserted Library Mystery'') introduces the Aldens to a boy named Miguel, who's terrified that he's ''become'' an orphan after his father is lost in a storm, and will have to deal with this, especially after the news comes in that his father's boat was confirmed wrecked and only two of the three men in it were rescued. [[spoiler:Very happily for Miguel, his father is one of the two.]]
Changed line(s) 77,85 (click to see context) from:
* RealNameAsAnAlias: In the first book, when James Henry Alden meets his grandchildren for the first time (after having found out why they were avoiding him), he uses the name "Mr. Henry" to avoid scaring them off.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The doctor who hires Henry for work in the first book. He figured out that Henry and his siblings were living in the woods and had their reasons for not wanting to reveal that; instead of asking about them, he gives Henry fair wages and as many cherries as he and the others can eat, while checking on them discreetly. When Henry revealed that Violet was ill, however, the doctor dropped the act and drove directly to the boxcar, taking the kids in while treating Violet.
* {{Retcon}}: Plenty in the post-Warner books.
** One book features them going on a train for the first time, ignoring two train trips they took in the Warner books
** Mr. [=McGregor=], who the kids reunite with Mrs. [=McGregor=] in book #3 (''The Yellow House Mystery''), disappears after the original books.
** The kids' grown cousin Joe (the son of Grandfather Alden's brother) and his wife Alice are later retconned to be their aunt and uncle ([[AdaptationInducedPlotHole inadvertently raising the question of why the kids don't live with them]]).
** Even within the post-Warner books, the family goes from living in Massachusetts to Connecticut.
* {{Robinsonade}}: They spend part of book #6 (''Blue Bay Mystery'') staying on a tropical island with their grandfather and one of his friends, who had himself been shipwrecked for a time on the same island. [[spoiler:They also rescue a marooned teenage boy from the same situation.]]
* RunawayHideaway: Type 2 (no place to go) -- the Boxcar Children run away with no place in mind and eventually discover their boxcar by chance.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The doctor who hires Henry for work in the first book. He figured out that Henry and his siblings were living in the woods and had their reasons for not wanting to reveal that; instead of asking about them, he gives Henry fair wages and as many cherries as he and the others can eat, while checking on them discreetly. When Henry revealed that Violet was ill, however, the doctor dropped the act and drove directly to the boxcar, taking the kids in while treating Violet.
* {{Retcon}}: Plenty in the post-Warner books.
** One book features them going on a train for the first time, ignoring two train trips they took in the Warner books
** Mr. [=McGregor=], who the kids reunite with Mrs. [=McGregor=] in book #3 (''The Yellow House Mystery''), disappears after the original books.
** The kids' grown cousin Joe (the son of Grandfather Alden's brother) and his wife Alice are later retconned to be their aunt and uncle ([[AdaptationInducedPlotHole inadvertently raising the question of why the kids don't live with them]]).
** Even within the post-Warner books, the family goes from living in Massachusetts to Connecticut.
* {{Robinsonade}}: They spend part of book #6 (''Blue Bay Mystery'') staying on a tropical island with their grandfather and one of his friends, who had himself been shipwrecked for a time on the same island. [[spoiler:They also rescue a marooned teenage boy from the same situation.]]
* RunawayHideaway: Type 2 (no place to go) -- the Boxcar Children run away with no place in mind and eventually discover their boxcar by chance.
to:
* RealNameAsAnAlias: In the first book, when James Henry Alden meets his grandchildren for the first time (after having found out why they were avoiding him), he uses the name "Mr. Henry" to avoid scaring them off.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The doctor who hires Henry for work{{Retcon}}:
** Greenfield is originally identified as being inthe first book. He figured out that Henry and his siblings were living in the woods and had their reasons for not wanting to reveal that; instead of asking about them, he gives Henry fair wages and as many cherries as he and the others can eat, while checking on them discreetly. When Henry revealed that Violet was ill, however, the doctor dropped the act and drove directly to the boxcar, taking the kids in while treating Violet.
* {{Retcon}}: Plenty in the post-Warner books.
** One book features them going on a train for the first time, ignoring two train trips they took in the Warner books
** Mr. [=McGregor=], who the kids reunite with Mrs. [=McGregor=] in book #3 (''The Yellow House Mystery''), disappears after the original books.
** The kids' grown cousin Joe (the son of Grandfather Alden's brother) and his wife Alice areMassachusetts. It's later retconned said to be their aunt in Connecticut.
** During the initial release, special #1 was released between books 37 anduncle ([[AdaptationInducedPlotHole inadvertently raising 38, and special #4 between books 43 and 44. Later editions changed the question of why order so that special #1 was set between books 36 and 37, and special #4 was set between books 45 and 46, matching the kids don't live with them]]).
** Even within the post-Warner"one special, three regular books, one special" pattern that had been the family goes norm from living in Massachusetts to Connecticut.
* {{Robinsonade}}: They spend part of book #6 (''Blue Bay Mystery'') staying on a tropical island with their grandfather and one of his friends, who had himself been shipwrecked for a time on the same island. [[spoiler:They also rescue a marooned teenage boy from the same situation.]]
* RunawayHideaway: Type 2 (no place to go) -- the Boxcar Children run away with no place in mind and eventually discover their boxcar by chance.special #5 on.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The doctor who hires Henry for work
** Greenfield is originally identified as being in
* {{Retcon}}: Plenty in the post-Warner books.
** One book features them going on a train for the first time, ignoring two train trips they took in the Warner books
** Mr. [=McGregor=], who the kids reunite with Mrs. [=McGregor=] in book #3 (''The Yellow House Mystery''), disappears after the original books.
** The kids' grown cousin Joe (the son of Grandfather Alden's brother) and his wife Alice are
** During the initial release, special #1 was released between books 37 and
** Even within the post-Warner
* {{Robinsonade}}: They spend part of book #6 (''Blue Bay Mystery'') staying on a tropical island with their grandfather and one of his friends, who had himself been shipwrecked for a time on the same island. [[spoiler:They also rescue a marooned teenage boy from the same situation.]]
* RunawayHideaway: Type 2 (no place to go) -- the Boxcar Children run away with no place in mind and eventually discover their boxcar by chance.
Changed line(s) 87,88 (click to see context) from:
* SnapBack: Over the course of the first nineteen books, the children aged at least five years. In book #20 (''The Haunted Cabin Mystery''), they're suddenly back to their original ages of 14, 12, 10, and 6.
* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: TruthInTelevision at the time the first book was released -- social services as we know it really didn't exist, with the exception of orphanages that focused on caring for the children they had, not tracking down runaways. The children ''are'' figured out and united with their grandfather in a matter of a few months, though.
* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: TruthInTelevision at the time the first book was released -- social services as we know it really didn't exist, with the exception of orphanages that focused on caring for the children they had, not tracking down runaways. The children ''are'' figured out and united with their grandfather in a matter of a few months, though.
to:
* SnapBack: Over SixthRanger: Or fifth, in this case. Soo Lee, the course Alden's seven-year-old adopted cousin, becomes the fifth member of the first nineteen books, the children aged at least five years. In group on many of their adventures, starting in book #20 #41 (''The Haunted Cabin Mystery''), they're suddenly back to their original ages Mystery of 14, 12, 10, and 6.
* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: TruthInTelevision atthe time the first book was released -- social services as we know it really didn't exist, with the exception of orphanages that focused on caring for the children they had, not tracking down runaways. The children ''are'' figured out and united with their grandfather in a matter of a few months, though.Hidden Beach").
* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: TruthInTelevision at
Changed line(s) 94 (click to see context) from:
* TwoferTokenMinority: The Boxcar Kids' new cousin, introduced in special #1 (''The Mystery on the Ice'') is an adopted Korean girl.
to:
* TwoferTokenMinority: The Boxcar Kids' new cousin, introduced in special #1 (''The Mystery on the Ice'') Ice''), is an adopted Korean girl.girl.
* VacationEpisode: Many, many books revolve around the Aldens vacationing in some exotic locale, starting in book 2.
* VacationEpisode: Many, many books revolve around the Aldens vacationing in some exotic locale, starting in book 2.
Changed line(s) 96 (click to see context) from:
* WhammyBid: In book #48 (''The Mystery Bookstore''), bidding on an old bookstore and its contents starts at 50,000 dollars and, in just seven bids, quickly hits 80,000. Then a final bidder outdoes everyone and wins by jumping the price to 100,000 dollars. [[spoiler: It's Grandfather Alden, who bought the bookstore as an investment and hires one of the earlier bidders, who happens to be a friend of his, to run the place.]]
to:
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Violet receives a kitten, Sugar Cookie, in book 16. Aside from a single mention in book 17 (and then not even by name), he disappears afterward with no explanation; book 22 mentions that they've had multiple pets, but doesn't give specifics.
* WrittenInAbsence: More than a few books, usually involving the four kids being on vacation somewhere, often state that Watch is staying at home with Grandfather or Mrs. [=McGregor=] to explain why he's not involved in the adventure.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: ''The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm'' (2012)]]
* DeathByOriginStory: The Aldens' parents, who die offscreen in a car crash near the end of the book, causing the siblings to run away so they won't be sent to live with their only known relative (whom they believe to be mean).
* {{Prequel}}: Released sixty-three years after the revised edition of the original book, this book depicts the Alden children's life on their parents' farm, explaining how the Alden parents died and why the children ran away afterward, setting up the start of the original story.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #001: ''The Boxcar Children'' (1924 / 1949)]]
* AdultFear: All of book one.
** You have four orphan kids wandering around the countryside, because they don't want their grandfather, their legal guardian, to find them. At first they think they can spend a few days at a bakery, working there, until the owners plan to take Benny to the orphanage, because he's too young to work, and interrogate the others about their grandfather. The kids hightail it out of there, and the bakers look for them, searching the streets frantically because they fear for their safety.
** Henry has to be the breadwinner because he's the only one who's old enough to work. He also isn't even eighteen.
** One of Henry's employers, the doctor, reveals at the end of the book that he had figured out the kids lived in the woods. Sensing they would run if he busted them, however, he only quietly visited their boxcar to make sure they had enough to eat and pays Henry well.
** Violet's fever and illness. It's at this point that Henry asks the doctor for help.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Watch the dog stays with the Aldens after Jessie shows kindness by removing a thorn from his foot, and prefers to stay with them even when his former owner, who had given him away to another person, comes to try and retrieve him for her.
* BigBrotherInstinct: In the first book Henry wastes no time looking for work to support his younger siblings.
* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: The Alden kids might have avoided living on the streets and the titular boxcar had they met their grandfather and cleared things up sooner. Henry and Jessie are ''very'' sheepish when they realize it since Violet probably wouldn't have gotten ill in the woods if they had lived with their grandfather in the first place. When the kids go to live with their grandfather, they find themselves missing the independence, so he arranges to have the boxcar moved in their yard.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first book had nothing to do with mysteries, and focused on how the children lived in the titular boxcar.
* DontSplitUsUp: This is a concern for the title characters, who assume when their parents die that they'll either be adopted by the grandfather their parents hate and they believe is abusive (which proves not to be the case) or be taken into foster care and split up. The latter proves to be a reasonable concern, as when they stay at a bakery overnight, they hear the owner and his wife (who'd previously agreed to let them stay) talking about how they're going to send Benny to the Children's Home since the baker's wife can't take care of a child who's that young. This prompts the four to run away into the woods, where they find the boxcar that becomes their home.
* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: Warner rewrote the original book in 1942, changing several details from the 1924 version. Among other things:
** The original version has the father and four children move into town, with one of them stopping at a bakery for bread; during this time, it's established that their mother is already dead and the father a drunk. The next day, he's dead and the two elder children ask the baker's wife to come to their house, which she does, and meets all four children. She later talks to her husband through a window, and they agree the children must go to their grandfather. The siblings wait until the baker is gone, then flee from the house. The 1942 version greatly reduces this to start with the children in front of the bakery, and they stay with the owner and his wife that night until they hear them talking about splitting up the four by sending Benny to a children's home.
** The family's name is originally "Cordyce", and the eldest daughter goes by "Jess". These were changed to "Alden" and "Jessie" in the revised version.
** Henry and Benny are thirteen and five, respectively, in the original. The revised version ages them up to fourteen and six. (Jessie and Violet retain their original ages of twelve and ten.)
* NonResidentialResidence: The boxcar children start the series living in, well, a boxcar.
* OrphansOrdeal: The whole plot of the first book, where four orphaned children work to survive on their own until their last known relative finds them.
* RealNameAsAnAlias: In the first book, when James Henry Alden meets his grandchildren for the first time (after having found out why they were avoiding him), he uses the name "Mr. Henry" to avoid scaring them off.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The doctor who hires Henry for work in the first book. He figured out that Henry and his siblings were living in the woods and had their reasons for not wanting to reveal that; instead of asking about them, he gives Henry fair wages and as many cherries as he and the others can eat, while checking on them discreetly. When Henry revealed that Violet was ill, however, the doctor dropped the act and drove directly to the boxcar, taking the kids in while treating Violet.
* RunawayHideaway: Type 2 (no place to go) -- the Boxcar Children run away with no place in mind and eventually discover their boxcar by chance.
* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: TruthInTelevision at the time the first book was released -- social services as we know it really didn't exist, with the exception of orphanages that focused on caring for the children they had, not tracking down runaways. The children ''are'' figured out and united with their grandfather in a matter of a few months, though.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #002: ''Surprise Island'' (1949)]]
* LongLostRelative: During their adventure on the island, the Alden children make friends with Joe the handyman, who's been living there for a long time. Late in the book, they discover he's actually their long lost cousin, the son of their grandfather's brother.
* NonResidentialResidence: The children spend the summer living in a barn on the island.
* TantrumThrowing: Benny does this towards the end, which his siblings note is unusual for him, when he's told they can't be on the island when a group of people are going to be blasting the roof off the cave they'd discovered earlier, which will make it easier for them to excavate the Indian artifacts buried in it.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Benny and Mike Wood (the latter of whom is introduced in this book) are friends, but they spend more of their time arguing than getting along when Mike's visiting the island for a day.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #003: ''The Yellow House Mystery'' (1953)]]
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Early on, Joe's childhood school friend Alice Wells, who's been away for a long time, returns to work with him on Surprise Island. Just a few months later, they get married.
* CuttingTheKnot: During the events of ''Surprise Island'', the Alden children found a cave full of Indian artifacts, but it was below the tide line, meaning they'd only have had a relatively short time to remove things and get out. The museum people have a quicker and easier solution: blowing the roof off, so as to allow easier access to the artifacts without the risk of drowning. While this event is discussed in ''Surprise Island'', the blast doesn't actually take place until book 3, with the Aldens present and observing after it was decided it was safe for them to attend after all.
* DeathFakedForYou: Done not only against the subject's will, they didn't even ''know'' about it -- while Bill [=McGregor=] was away, his brother's "friends" told him his wife had died. He became depressed and went into hiding, while Mrs. [=McGregor=] was left to spend forty years completely unaware that her husband thought she was dead until a clue was found that led to the Aldens finding him and telling him he'd been tricked.
* TheHermit: When the Aldens reach the end of Bear Trail, they find there's a hermit living near the town there, who goes by the name of Dave Hunter. He turns out to be Bill [=McGregor=], the man they've been looking for, under an alias.
* TheLostLenore: Margaret [=McGregor=] was this for her husband Bill, as he decided to stay where he was and live as a hermit when some "friends" of his late brother lied to him and told him his wife had died in a fire while he was away. Happily, he later learns this ''was'' a lie, as the Aldens find him and tell him truthfully that not only is his wife alive and well, she works for their family as their housekeeper, resulting in his happily returning home to her.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Subverted -- Bill [=McGregor=] is led to believe this was the case, due to his brother's friends (who were searching for the money Sam [=McGregor=] had hidden away) lying to him and telling him his old home had burned, with his wife dying in the blaze. He doesn't realize they were lying about both these things until the Aldens find him and tell him the truth.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #004: ''Mystery Ranch'' (1958)]]
* TheCon: Of the Real Estate Scam variety. Jane Alden is targeted by three men who attempt this, telling her her land is no good and trying to buy it for cheap because they know the area is actually full of uranium, and they could make a fortune off of it. Fortunately, the Aldens and John Carter discover the uranium too, and realize what the three men were up to.
* ILoveNuclearPower: In book #4 (''Mystery Ranch''), it's discovered that the black and yellow rocks in the fireplace at Aunt Jane's ranch are uranium. By the next visit to Aunt Jane, the sleepy ranch town is now home to a massive uranium mine.
* NoNameGiven: The three men who try to con Jane Alden out of her ranch are never identified by their names in this book, or in its direct sequel.
* OutOfCharacterAlert: The Aldens are used to their grandfather always being cheerful and happily greeting them when he gets home, so when he comes home, bangs the door shut and barely says "Hello" to Benny, he immediately knows something's wrong and goes to get his siblings so they can talk to Grandfather and see what's wrong. Grandfather confesses that he's just gotten a letter about his estranged sister, including that she wants to see some of the four, thus kicking off the plot.
* {{Pride}}: Jane Alden's main flaw in this book. She's kept up the family ranch by herself for years after her brother went back east, but even though it's been failing for so long, she won't accept help or money from anyone. With time and effort though, her great-nieces, and later Henry and Benny, are able to help her work past this and reconcile with her brother.
* UndercoverCopReveal: Early on, Jessie and Violet are helped out by a strange man when they get off at the town near their aunt's ranch; Henry is a little suspicious of the stranger when he finds out about the man, since nobody else in town seems to know him. The man is later revealed to be John Carter, their Grandfather's friend and a former F.B.I. agent who still consults for them from time to time, making his debut in the series.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #005: ''Mike's Mystery'' (1960)]]
* IfICantHaveYou: Non-romantic version. One of the men who tried to buy Mystery Ranch the year before has escaped from jail, and decided that if he and his partners couldn't own the uranium mine, they'd destroy it. Thankfully, the explosives he set are discovered in time.
* LeaveNoWitnesses: The villain in the book tries this. When Mike Wood's dog Spotty growled at him and recognized him as a bad man, the man heard Mike saying he'd know the man on sight if he ever saw him again... so, to prevent himself from being recognized (along with [[WeNeedADistraction one other reason]]), he burns down Mike's house, intending to kill the entire family. Luckily, everyone survives.
* WeNeedADistraction: The ''other'' reason Mike's house was burned -- while everyone was at the fire, the culprit was able to set explosives at the uranium mine, intending to destroy it. Fortunately, they're discovered before they can be used.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #006: ''Blue Bay Mystery'' (1961)]]
* DesertedIsland: The island where Blue Bay is located, in the south Pacific (some ways from Tahiti). It's indicated that there ''used'' to be people there (as evidenced by a giant statue of a human), but other than shipwreck survivors and the Aldens (who are vacationing there for a while), they've all moved on.
* EenieMeenieMinyMoai: While the family is vacationing on an uncharted Pacific island, they discover a fallen statue, which they are told is similar to the ones on Easter Island.
* {{Robinsonade}}: The Aldens spend part of book #6 (''Blue Bay Mystery'') staying on a tropical island with their grandfather and one of his friends, who had himself been shipwrecked for a time on the same island. [[spoiler: They also rescue a marooned teenage boy from the same situation.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #007: ''The Woodshed Mystery'' (1962)]]
* AbandonedArea: The old Alden farm where James and Jane Alden grew up before they moved west with their parents was this for years -- people would buy it, but then move away and leave it deserted. It's finally subverted when Grandfather Alden buys back his family's old property and renovates it so Jane can move in.
* DecemberDecemberRomance: Aunt Jane and Andy Bean, who marry in their 70s after decades apart. Also a case of TheOneThatGotAway, as Andy had proposed to her unsuccessfully in their youth.
* LiteralMinded: Willie, the Bean family's hired hand, who takes Jane's frustrated shout of "I'd like to shoot Andy Bean!" as a serious threat and not just hyperbole, and goes to warn Andy.
* NonResidentialResidence: Early on, it's found that someone's living in the old woodshed on the family property. It turns out to be the long-missing Andy Bean, who's come home to see what's happening around the area after finding out the Aldens have bought back their family farm.
* TheQuietOne: Willie, the Bean family's hired hand, who rarely says more than one word at a time.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #008: ''The Lighthouse Mystery'' (1963)]]
* FantasyForbiddingFather: Tom Cook, who refuses to support his son Larry's interest in science or to let him go away to college, even though it's what Larry wants. By the end of the book though, after nearly losing Larry in a storm, he changes his mind.
* MeaningfulName: In book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery''), the mystery they find involves cooking, and their main suspect's name is Larry Cook.
* {{Pride}}: Tom Cook's main flaw in the book. He's too proud to let his son work to help support the family, insisting on doing everything himself (though it later comes out that he's plenty able to afford what they need all on his own), or to let him go away to college, since he did just fine without it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #009: ''Mountain Top Mystery'' (1964)]]
* LongLostRelative: During the events of the story, the Aldens meet an elderly Indian woman, Lovan Dixon, and help her reunite with her grandnephew David, whom she'd thought had died as a baby.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #010: ''Schoolhouse Mystery'' (1965)]]
* TheBet: Benny's friend Max starts an unofficial one with him -- there's no actual wager, but he says he's sure that even an Alden, adventure-prone as they all are, can't find a adventure in the sleepy fishing town of Port Elizabeth where Max's father works during the summer. Naturally, he's proven wrong.
* TheCon: The villain of the book, a Mr. Fred Willet, is a smuggler who pulls this on the people of Port Elizabeth and other towns, buying antiques from them for far less than they're worth and reselling them.
* IHaveManyNames: The villain of the book, a Mr. Fred Willet, also goes by Harold K. Frederic, Mr. North and Mr. Bensen.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #011: ''Caboose Mystery'' (1966)]]
* BerserkButton: Early on, the Beaver Man reacts angrily at any mention of Caboose 777. It's later revealed that his friend the Thin Man had had to run away from the circus that the caboose belonged to after his coworkers believed he stole the missing diamond necklace from his fellow performer Chi-Chi before her death, and Beaver Man blames the caboose for his friend's troubles. It's never stated if he got over this after the Thin Man's name is finally cleared by the end of the story.
* ChekhovsGunman: The day that the Aldens board the caboose to start their trip, they meet a postman, Sid Weston, who wants to have a look at the caboose before it goes, but is told there isn't enough time. Later in the book, he returns, [[spoiler: and turns out to be John Mann -- the Thin Man, whom the Aldens have just proven innocent of the theft he was accused of]].
* ClearTheirName: When Chi-Chi the tightrope walker died, her diamond necklace was found to be missing. The last person who was seen with it, John Mann (AKA the Thin Man), is suspected of having stolen it; he insists he gave it back, but nobody believes him, forcing him to run away and hide until the Aldens discover he had indeed given it back and that Chi-Chi had put it in her usual hiding place, which nobody but herself knew, afterward (she'd left a postcard with a riddle about it for her husband Cho-Cho, but he never saw it). When the Aldens announce the discovery over the radio, Mann is able to come out of hiding and reunite with Cho-Cho.
* DisneyVillainDeath: Non-villain example -- it's explained that the tightrope walker Chi-Chi fell to her death when she slipped on a wire one night during a performance.
* MeaningfulName: In book #11 (''Caboose Mystery''), the train conductor is named Mr. Carr.
* NeverHeardThatOneBefore: Mr. Carr, who runs the train, mentions that he hears a lot of jokes about his name. Fortunately, he has a good sense of humor about it.
* TalkingInYourSleep: Benny does this at one point, yelling "I'll tell you in the morning!" while asleep and waking up Henry and Grandfather, though he himself sleeps right through it. It's never explained just what he meant by that.
* {{Ventriloquism}}: When Cho-Cho the former clown is introduced, it's revealed he had a talking horse, who could answer questions through body language (nodding, shaking his head, pawing the ground or sitting or laying down). Later though, when Cho-Cho and Major are reunited, it turns out Cho-Cho is also a master ventriloquist who can make it look like Major is literally speaking English.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #012: ''Houseboat Mystery'' (1967)]]
* {{Auction}}: The Aldens attend one in this book. During the event, a small gold vase goes missing; the Aldens later discover it was hidden in a box of clothes, which the thieves paid a local boy to buy for them, allowing it to be smuggled out of the auction without anyone realizing it.
* {{Blackmail}}: One of the crimes done by the crooks in this book. They tell one man, Sam, that his brother Jeff is guilty of something, and threaten to go to the cops unless he gives them half of every paycheck. They then tell Jeff that ''Sam'' is the guilty one to get money from him for the same reason.
* IHaveManyNames: In book #12 (''Houseboat Mystery''), Mr. Rivers tells the family that the houseboat he rents out is set up so renters can give it any name they want, by swapping out letters on a special rack. Past names have included ''Rock and Roll'', ''Moon Rocket'', ''The All Inn'', and ''The Blue Heron''; the Aldens swap out names on it every day, naming it after all the members of the family (including Mrs. [=McGregor=]) in turn, ultimately catching the attention of the police who've heard about "the houseboat with many names". (Thankfully, they're understanding when they find out why it keeps changing.) The last name they give the boat is [[spoiler: ''Captain Kidd'', for Benny]], prompting Mr. Rivers to crack up laughing when he sees it.
* MeaningfulName: In book #12 (''Houseboat Mystery''), the owner of the houseboat the family rents is Mr. Rivers.
* NoNameGiven: The two men who are responsible for the crimes in this book, the theft of a valuable vase and tricking two locals into paying them a lot of money ''not'' to go to the cops, are never named.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #013: ''Snowbound Mystery'' (1968)]]
* SecretIngredient: Part of the plot revolves around the Aldens finding a recipe that's been carved into the wooden shelf of the cabin they're staying in, which has a ''?'' for one ingredient. When the Nelson family (who run the general store a few miles away) come up to the cabin and find out, they explain that it's a bun recipe that was used by Tom Nelson's father and grandfather, but neither ever told Tom the ingredient before they died, though his father indicated that the answer was in their old cabin (which had since been sold to the local Sportsman's Club) with his dying breath. Their family's been trying to figure out what the missing ingredient ever since, and finally succeed when a bedroom roof caves in, bringing with it a squirrel nest containing blue cards... each with a recipe, including the bun recipe with its secret ingredient. It's never identified in-story, but according to the tie-in cookbook that was published in the 1990s, [[spoiler: it's cinnamon]].
* SnowedIn: Happens to the Aldens while they're staying in the cabin, due to a sudden blizzard that takes them all by surprise. With the help of the Nelsons (who struggle their way through the snow up to help) and a helicopter that was sent by their grandfather with emergency supplies, the Aldens manage just fine until they can be dug out and taken home.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #014: ''Tree House Mystery'' (1969)]]
* MeaningfulName: In book #14 (''Tree House Mystery''), the Aldens' new neighbors who live in a house near the beach are the Beaches.
* SecretRoom: The Aldens and their new friends Sammy and Jeffrey find one in the attic of the pair's house, which turns out to have belonged to a young boy who was visiting his grandmother. After much research, they find she sealed it up because he'd gone home and, since she was going with him and would be renting the house out to another family, she couldn't bear to have their children playing with his things while he was away.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: This turns out to be the case with John Beach and his older brother Max, who were never as close after their spyglass went missing and each thought the other had taken it. When John and his family move back to the house he grew up in, his sons discover it had been placed in a hole in the tree where their old treehouse used to be (and the man who did so forgot to tell them), allowing the brothers to make up and reconnect again.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #015: ''Bicycle Mystery'' (1970)]]
* ContinuityNod: During the Aldens' bicycle trip to their Aunt Jane's farm, they point out the road leading to the houseboat they stayed on in book 12, and even stop at the town of Second Landing on the way to and from the farm. Later, they pass by the lighthouse they lived in in book 8.
* FrameUp: During their trip, the Aldens have two run-ins with a suspicious couple who try to get them to give up "Shadow". The Aldens always refuse, so the couple (who happen to be dog thieves) put an article in the paper that makes it look like the siblings are the ones who stole "Shadow". Fortunately, almost nobody falls for it, least of all his rightful owners, who knew both that "Shadow" had escaped on his own, and that the Aldens were good people from meeting and being helped by them the day after he went missing and a day before the siblings found the dog.
* NoNameGiven: Twice, the Aldens have a run-in with a suspicious couple who see them with their temporary dog companion Shadow. The pair's names are never revealed.
* PetContestEpisode: In the last chapter of the book, after "Shadow" is successfully returned home, it's been revealed that he's actually Smokey, a show dog, and is back just in time to enter a local dog show.
* TropeyComeHome: During the Aldens' bicycle trip, they have to stay in an abandoned house overnight and are found by a strange dog, whom they name Shadow, and start asking around to see if anyone knows his owner. The last few chapters see him reunited with his family, who reveal he'd wriggled his way out of their car while it was parked and ran away until he found the Aldens, who then cared for him until they could find his rightful owners.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #016: ''Mystery in the Sand'' (1971)]]
* {{Beachcombing}}: Early in the book, the children meet Daniel Lee, an older man who likes walking up and down the beach with his metal detector and finding things that he can return to their owners. When Benny first gives it a try, all he finds is a bottle cap, but the second time he finds an old locket, setting off a quest to find whom it belongs to.
* BeachEpisode: This book revolves around the Alden siblings spending a week or so at the beach during the summer, relaxing in their great-aunt and uncle's mobile home after the two suddenly take off for another vacation spot, though once again they wind up finding a mystery.
* CrazyCatLady: Miss Mary Smith, who lives in the Tower House in Beachwood, has a reputation for being one; rumor says she has a hundred cats. She's actually the housekeeper and friend of the house's actual owner, who only has ''ten'' cats.
* InterspeciesFriendship: Late in the book, Violet receives a kitten, Sugar Cookie, for a present. When she brings him home, he and Watch meet for the first time, and quickly become friends.
* ReclusiveArtist: InUniverse, Ruth Lane, a painter who lives in the Tower House with her housekeeper and ten cats, and rarely interacts with people other than her housekeeper. She only goes out at night, for walks on the beach, to the point where hardly anyone knows she lives there.
* ThemeInitials: An interesting variation. When the locket with the initials "R. L." is finally returned to its owner, she reveals that three generations of women in her family have all had those initials, but the names themselves never repeated.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #017: ''Mystery Behind the Wall'' (1973)]]
* ConcealingCanvas: The Aldens and their new friend Rory discover the mystery when they find an old cloth coin case inside the closet wall, along with a related journal and the first clue to where the coins themselves are kept. Later, [[spoiler: Stephanie Shaw's long-lost coin collection, the Blue Collection, turns out to be hidden inside a picture of her house, where the Aldens now live.]]
* LinkedListClueMethodology: Book #17 (''Mystery Behind the Wall'') has the children discovering a treasure hunt of this type that was set up decades before by a now-deceased girl, and setting out to solve it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #018: ''Bus Station Mystery'' (1974)]]
* ArchnemesisDad: Jud and Troy, the two environmentalist boys at the bus station, turn out to be the sons of Mr. Pickett, the man whose paint factory is polluting the river and sky in the town where it's located.
* BothSidesHaveAPoint: In the matter of Pickett's Perfect Paints versus the environmentalists. Pickett is right in that his factory brings work to the area, which is a benefit, but his sons and Frank Timmons are also right in that it's ruining the land by dumping dirty water and releasing chemicals into the air. Fortunately, the disagreement is resolved when Grandfather Alden explains how his own factories used to have the same problems and found solutions to fix them up without closing down entirely, which can be implemented in Pickett's factory too.
* GreenAesop: The focus of book #18 (''Bus Station Mystery''), where Grandfather Alden educates a paint factory owner on ways to cut down on water and air pollution and helps reconcile him with his environmentalist sons.
* HeelFaceTurn: Mr. Pickett starts off as not caring about causing pollution and seeking ways to shut down those who oppose him, but quickly changes his ways after Grandfather Alden steps in and offers to teach Pickett ways to improve his paint factory so it won't pollute anymore, which Pickett accepts after hearing him out and realizing he can indeed fix things.
* MoodSwinger: Frank Timmons, the bus station manager, who goes from gruff and angry one minute to polite the next, depending on who he's talking to or what he's talking about.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Mr. Pickett certainly thinks he can buy any land and pollute all he wants because he's rich, and has been plotting to drive away one of the men who's most opposed to him, buying all the land around his house to keep him from getting to it if he feels the need.
* SupremeChef: Frank Timmons, the bus station manager, is a ''very'' good cook, preparing a big dinner of stuffed fish for the Aldens as a way of thanking them for their help in the matter of the paint factory.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #019: ''Benny Uncovers a Mystery'' (1976)]]
* FiveFingerDiscount: Discussed, as Mr. Furman warns the Alden brothers to be on the lookout for shoplifters.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Mr. Fogg, the first floor manager, is generally cranky, and doesn't hold back when dealing with customers. But he's also a hard and dedicated worker.
* KingIncognito: One of the recurring and more irritating customers (who's always offering unsolicited advice and asking difficult questions about the merchandise) at Furman's Department Store, Maggie Douglas, turns out to the store's new owner who's deliberately acting this way to check out the employees and their work habits without their realizing it.
* NobodyHereButUsStatues: During one incident, the night watchman discovers a dress dummy in the display window, which he didn't remember being there, and later sees was gone. It turns out to have been their new boss, who was sneaking around after hours on business of her own.
* SamusIsAGirl: When Henry and Benny get jobs at Furman's Department Store for the month, they learn the place has recently been sold to a new owner, M. D. Squires. Per the trope, the supposed "Mr." Squires turns out to be a woman -- Maggie Douglas Squires.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Mr. Fogg, one of the store managers, is convinced that the Alden brothers just got their jobs on the strength of their family name. It turns out he's only half right -- the new owner ''does'' know and is known by James Alden, but the boys are hired because they're good people and hard workers.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #020: ''The Haunted Cabin Mystery'' (1991)]]
* HarassingPhoneCall: Cap Lambert reveals he had his phone disconnected because he was getting strange calls where all he could hear was heavy breathing. It eventually turns out to have been his long-lost son Jason, who was calling him but couldn't get up the nerve to actually say anything.
* NotMeThisTime: When Cap Lambert discovers his neighbor's children have been digging holes on his property and swiping things from his garden and the eggs from his henhouse, he accuses them of taking his prize red hen Rhoda, who'd also gone missing. They swear more than once that they never took a chicken, which is proven to be true when [[SurpriseLitterOfPuppies Rhoda and her new clutch of chicks]] return home not long afterward.
* PirateBooty: It's widely believed that there's treasure buried somewhere near Cap Lambert's cabin. The two children who turn out to be behind the mysterious noises and lights at night turn out to be digging for it (along with swiping fruits and vegetables from the garden and orchard and eggs from the henhouses), since their mother's job only pays their mortgage and she can't afford food.
* TheRunaway: Cap Lambert and his son Jason had a falling-out years ago. Jason wanted to follow in his father's footsteps as a sailor; Cap wanted him to be a doctor or lawyer. Jason finally ran away from home, but what he's wanted for a very long time, more than anything, is to be able to come back, though he was afraid he wouldn't be welcome. When Cap informs Grandfather otherwise, Grandfather (who's been writing back and forth with Jason for the past year) tells him Jason is actually in town, and goes to get him, resulting in a happy reunion.
* SnapBack: Over the course of the first nineteen books, the children aged at least five years. In this book, they're suddenly back to their original ages of 14, 12, 10, and 6, and haven't aged since.
* SurpriseLitterOfPuppies: During the course of the book, Cap Lambert's prize red hen Rhoda goes missing, and is believed to have been taken by a fox. In the last chapter, she returns home with a number of chicks in tow, to Cap's happy surprise.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #021: ''The Deserted Library Mystery'' (1991)]]
* AdultFear: The Aldens are living in a house by themselves for a week or so, with the closest adult being two miles away... and not only does their turn out to be a hostile criminal in the town, he physically attacks Jessie one night and, at another point, actually breaks into the house ''while they're sleeping'' and tears up a chair.
* DismantledMacGuffin: Book #21 (''The Deserted Library Mystery'') has the Aldens working to clean up an old library in the town of Rock Falls so it can become a historical landmark, and in the process discover the hilt of an old Civil War sword, plus a letter explaining its origin. The rest of the book features them hunting for the other two pieces (the middle and point) so it can be reassembled and displayed as a historical treasure.
* FryingPanOfDoom: One evening, while Jessie's outside filling a water pitcher, she hears a prowler. Henry promptly goes after them with a cast-iron skillet in hand, though they escape before he can catch them.
* MissingMom: Miguel's mother died when he was seven, leaving he and his father alone.
* OrphansOrdeal: Book #21 (''The Deserted Library Mystery'') introduces the Aldens to a boy named Miguel, who's terrified that he's ''become'' an orphan after his father is lost in a storm (his mother had already died three years before), and will have to deal with this, especially after the news comes in that his father's boat was confirmed wrecked and only two of the three men in it were rescued. [[spoiler: Very happily for Miguel, his father turns out to be one of the two.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #022: ''The Animal Shelter Mystery'' (1991)]]
* AnimalLover: Clara Newcombe, founder of the Greenfield Animal Shelter, who not only started the shelter to help animals in need but owns and cares for several pets of her own.
* HarassingPhoneCall: During the time that the Aldens are looking for the missing Clara Newcombe, they receive multiple hang-up calls whenever Grandfather or Mrs. [=McGregor=] answers. Finally, when Violet answers, the person on the other end tells them to stop looking for Miss Newcombe, or else.
* MysteriousNote: During the time that the Aldens are looking for the missing Clara Newcombe, they find a threatening letter from the book's villains in their newspaper, warning them to stop investigating.
* SavingTheOrphanage: The book revolves around the Aldens trying to save the Greenfield Animal Shelter; it turns out it was built on land owned by a man who died just under fifty years ago, and unless a deed transferring the property to someone else is found and filed in the state Land Records Office before fifty years to the day after the last known owner died (which is just a few days away), the land will go up for sale. And to top it off, a demolition company has tricked the rightful owner into thinking they've already bought the land. Luckily, the Aldens find the deed ''and'' the daughter of the man whom the property was sold to, who has a copy of his will proving he left it to her; with both deed and will, she's able to prove the land with the shelter and her house is rightfully hers.
* VehicularSabotage: The men working for the Wolf Demolition Company do this twice, first draining the gas from Grandfather's car and tampering with the gas gauge so he won't realize the problem until it's too late, and then trying to slash his tires. Both are meant to delay him from getting to the Land Records Office in time to keep the men from claiming the land they're after. Fortunately, the cops catch them in the action the second time, and the one damaged tire is replaced in time to let Grandfather deliver Clara Newcombe to the office before the deadline.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #023: ''The Old Motel Mystery'' (1991)]]
* CatScare: Late one night, while trying to sleep, Violet sees a shadow going by her window, waking up the others in her panic. Then they hear noises on the roof and see a pair of glittering yellow eyes... which turn out to belong to Willie, the owner's cat, much to their relief.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While the Aldens deal with the physical saboteur, the real mastermind behind the plot is Mr. Warner, the manager of the Great Adventure Hotel chain, who told them what to do to try and shut down the motel so the hotel chain could buy it up and build one of their own hotels in its place.
* INeverGotAnyLetters: One of the suspicious happenings at the motel is that Kay isn't getting any reservations from visitors. It turns out the saboteur has been stealing them from her mailbox, but hands them over at the end.
* PlotAllergy: One character in the book is allergic to cats. This same allergy later exposes them when they're trying to flee in disguise.
* SavingTheOrphanage: Or the motel, in this case. Its owner Kay Kingsley has been pressured to sell out to a larger hotel chain, but the Aldens work to fix the place up so she can keep it, despite the chain's efforts at sabotage.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #024: ''The Mystery of the Hidden Painting'' (1991)]]
* AgelessBirthdayEpisode: The plot of the book is kicked off when the children decide to prepare for their Grandfather's birthday. His age is never given though.
* TheAtoner: Lorraine Newton, feeling guilty for her son's crime and her own cover-up of it, ultimately returns the property he stole to its rightful owners years after her son's death.
* EasilyForgiven: The Aldens all accept Lorraine Newton's apology for her actions in continuing to hide their grandmother's necklace, and Grandfather Alden himself, after his own acceptance, declines to prosecute the family since the actual thief has been dead for years and he can understand Lorraine's reason for hiding his crime.
* HiddenInPlainSight: Years ago, someone stole a valuable necklace belonging to Celia Alden (Grandfather Alden's now deceased wife). When his mother found the stolen item among his things, she took it and donated it to a museum, where it's eventually discovered after being loaned out to a friend of hers, who appears in a news article wearing it.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Lorraine Newton admits that she did what she had to do -- taking the stolen Alden necklace and hiding it -- to protect the real thief, her son, so he wouldn't go to jail for the crime and his children wouldn't find out he ''was'' a thief.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #025: ''The Amusement Park Mystery '' (1992)]]
* BribeBackfire: Variant -- the villains bribed a supposed expert to claim the copies of the stolen merry-go-round horses were the real deal. It's not the person being bribed who turns on them, but the fact that they did this ''in plain sight'', where the Aldens could see it, as it makes them realize that of their suspects, these two are the real crooks.
* TheBusCameBack: This book marks the first in-person appearance of Joe and Alice Alden since book 3 (and their first ''mention'' since book 9).
* CutAndPasteNote: The Aldens receive one, a warning to stay away from the amusement park and quit investigating, at one point. As with the {{Harassing Phone Call}}s they've gotten, it has the opposite effect.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Late in the book, one of the villains shuts off the Ferris Wheel at the park, leaving the Aldens stranded at the top. For her husband though, this is a step too far, as he fights her off and restarts the wheel to bring them down.
* HallOfMirrors: The amusement park has recently had a House of Mirrors installed, and Karen, the owner's daughter, is always encouraging people to go for it and more modern attractions. The Aldens actually do try it out once, but Jessie nearly gets lost inside, causing a small panic until she finds her way back to her siblings. Later, one of the villains escapes into it to try and evade capture, but fails.
* HarassingPhoneCall: The Aldens get more than one of these over the course of the book, always telling them to stay away from the amusement park. Naturally, it has the opposite effect, as they continue to investigate.
* ReplacedWithReplica: The villains of the book have been stealing valuable merry-go-round horses from the amusement park (with the intention of selling them and getting rich), and replacing them with copies, each of which had some flaw that led to their being exposed as fakes.
* VillainBall: During the story, two of the villains make the ''colossal'' mistake of paying off one of their helpers out in plain sight, where the heroes can see them -- confirming their suspicions that the two are behind the mysterious happenings at the amusement park. They even acknowledge this at the end.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #026: ''The Mystery of the Mixed Up Zoo'' (1992)]]
* AnimalLover: Edward Marlowe, owner of the titular zoo. And not just zoo animals, but regular ones too -- after the villain is arrested, Edward adopts his dog, who was being neglected.
* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: The villain of the book. He neglects his dog, did the same thing to the zoo animals, and then went out of his way to cause trouble for them, from stealing their food and medicine to draining the seal pool and tampering with the temperatures in various exhibits, which could have made them very sick if it wasn't caught in time. Happily, no lasting damage is done.
* BigEater: The larger animals at the zoo, naturally. One bear's dinner alone consists of three oranges, half a pound of cabbage, half a pound of carrots, five apples, a pound of beef mix... and all mixed together with honey. Meanwhile, Zelda the Bengal tiger eats ten pounds of meat every day.
* EvilIsPetty: [[spoiler: Mac Thatcher]] in book #26 (''The Mystery of the Mixed Up Zoo'') was fired because he wasn't good at taking care of the animals. [[spoiler: So he uses a duplicate set of keys to break in, start sabotaging the place, and kidnap Amos the monkey to sell him at a pet shop for moving-away money.]]
* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Helen Brooks, a member of the town council, has been wanting to shut down the zoo, and plans to bring it up at the next council meeting. However, when she talks to some of the other members and they tell her they'd ''never'' support shutting down the zoo, she knows she's beaten and gives up.
* MenCantKeepHouse: For all that he loves his animals and does a good job of running his zoo, Edward Marlowe's a pretty poor housekeeper -- the place is covered in dust and cobwebs and the sink is full of dirty dishes. He admits to this lack, stating that "An old bachelor like me doesn't pay much attention to the house", and is very grateful when the Aldens offer to fix things up for him.
* PassedInTheirSleep: Happened long before the events of the book to Billy, the wildcat mascot of a World War II fighter squadron where Edward Marlowe served. He became the first animal in Edward's zoo, where he lived to a ripe old age before dying in his sleep.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #027: ''The Camp Out Mystery'' (1992)]]
* CampingEpisode: While not the first time the Aldens have gone camping out, this is the first book dedicated to it, with them staying at the campgrounds in Blue Mound State Park.
* GreenAesop: The troublemaker in the book has been chasing away campers partly because they're so careless with their trash, leaving mess all over the place. When this is explained, the people running the campgrounds make plans to install extra cans for trash and recycling to help keep the place clean from then on.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Hildy, the grouchy sister of the woman who's in charge of the Blue Mound State Park. She doesn't like people, and yells at the Aldens for daring to come near her property, but she also goes to investigate when she gets suspicious of the real culprit who's behind the strange events.
* LoudOfWar: One of the troublemaker's methods of chasing away campers is to go by their campsites with a radio playing loud music. It works on some, but not the Aldens.
* MysteriousNote: While the Aldens are out looking for Grandfather (who'd gone out the day before and never came back), someone changes their "Went hiking. Back soon." note to read "Went home. Back never.", and pins it to a tree with an arrow. Given that it was meant for Grandfather, and he ''knows'' they hadn't gone home (since they'd gone to find and, as it turns out, ''rescue'' him), it doesn't fool them for a minute. Another set of campers, however, also get a strange note and decide it's the last straw, prompting them to leave.
* RoadSignReversal: One of the first things the troublemaker did to try and keep campers away, reversing the sign so it leads to a dead end instead of the ranger station.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: The troublemaker in this book is one, attempting to chase away campers who can't respect the peace and beauty of the forest, leaving messes and playing loud music. He turns their own methods against them, stealing food and lanterns and playing loud music of his own at night, and ultimately leaving threatening notes. He's ultimately persuaded to turn himself in and is made to perform community service in return, educating campers on what to do and what not to do.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #028: ''The Mystery Girl'' (1992)]]
* TheKlutz: Nancy Baldwin, the titular mystery girl, is always dropping things when she's nervous.
* MyBelovedSmother: A full family variant. Nancy loves her family, but has gotten tired of them always controlling her life, deciding everything for her, even what college she's going to. It got to the point where she ran away from home to escape it.
* TheRunaway: Nancy Baldwin, the titular mystery girl, who's revealed to have run away from home so she could live her own life without her parents deciding everything for her.
* SecretlyWealthy: Nancy, the titular mystery girl, who comes from a rich family but has run away from them so she can live her own life.
* UndercoverCopReveal: One of the characters in the book, a Mrs. Edwards, earns the suspicion of the Aldens. In the climax, it turns out she's a private investigator who's been looking for Nancy on her family's behalf.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #029: ''The Mystery Cruise'' (1992)]]
* OnOneCondition: Max Greene, a new friend the Aldens make on their cruise, learns that he'll inherit his great-aunt Edith's property and money, but only if he's physically present at the official will reading. If he isn't, everything will go to his cousin Carla, who's a mean and selfish person who would undoubtedly sell off everything and have the house torn down. Thankfully, despite attempts at delaying the cruise ship he's on, he makes it home in time to meet the condition.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #030: ''The Disappearing Friend Mystery'' (1992)]]
* AnonymousBenefactor: Early on, the Aldens start a helper service to raise money for Greenfield Hospital's new wing. They also learn that an anonymous wealthy donor (whose identity is never revealed in the story) has agreed to match any donations made.
* IdenticalTwinMistake: Early on, the Alden children make friends with new girl in town, Beth Simon. Later that night, they see her again, and talk to her... except it was actually Beth's twin sister Heather, who goes on to cause trouble for them while pretending to be Beth.
* KeyUnderTheDoormat: When hired to feed the cats of a woman who will be out of town for two days, the Aldens are told the key will be under the mat, but can't find it when they arrive. Fortunately, they find another way into the house; shortly after their friend Beth leaves, they discover the missing key by a flower pot, where they ''know'' they'd searched before. [[spoiler: It turns out this was one of the times that Heather had impersonated her sister and swiped it to cause trouble for them on purpose.]]
* NewFriendEnvy: Inverted with Beth Simon. It's not any of the Aldens' friends who get jealous of their friendship with her -- it's her own twin sister Heather, who proceeds to try and break up the friendship by playing nasty pranks while disguised as Beth. And apparently she's done this in every town they do, because she's jealous of how easily Beth makes new friends.
* ReallyMovesAround: The Simon family, since their parents are consultants and often move around to work for new companies. The story begins when they've just moved to Greenfield.
* RedHerring: During the story, the Aldens suspect two different people of being behind the troubles at their helper service, but both end up disqualifying themselves.
** One, a doctor who felt Silver City needed a new hospital more than Greenfield Hospital needed a new wing, ends up hiring them to babysit because she really does need the help, and begrudgingly admits that while she'd still rather have the new hospital, the new wing is better than nothing.
** The second, a man who does the same kind of helper work as them and whom they think might have been sabotaging the competition, disqualifies himself as a suspect when he not only hires them to wash his truck, he tells them there's plenty of work for both sides, and he actually recommended them for some of it because he was too busy to help all his customers.
* TwinSwitch: Early on, the Alden children make friends with Beth Simon, a new girl in town. When her twin sister Heather finds out about this, she proceeds to pretend to be Beth, allowing her to get close to the Aldens and mess up their work, making them think Beth might be the one responsible. And it's explained during the big reveal that this isn't the first time she's pulled this.
* VehicularSabotage: As one of the pranks Heather pulls, she let the air out of the tires on Benny's bicycle while he, his siblings and Beth were in town.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #031: ''The Mystery of the Singing Ghost'' (1992)]]
* CrankyNeighbor: Mr. Carter, who lives next door to the Roth house with his wife, is pretty darn cranky and upset at the idea of anyone moving into the house, saying he doesn't want any new neighbors. It turns out he and his wife want to buy the house themselves, and he's annoyed at the prospect of anyone getting there first.
* INeverGotAnyLetters: In two directions. When she ran away to get married, Celia Roth left a letter in her father's desk, but it ended up behind a drawer and he never found it. Later, he placed an ad in a Boston paper addressed to her; she only sees it years after the fact, learning he had forgiven her.
* ParentalMarriageVeto: Robert Roth tried this with his daughter Celia, saying she was too young to get married (she was seventeen). Ultimately, she ran away and married her beloved George anyway, before he went off to fight in Europe during World War I.
* PrecociousCrush: Charles Farley admits that as a child, he had a crush on his next door neighbor Celia Roth, who was ten years older than him and disappeared when he was seven and she was seventeen. He actually admits this to her face when they meet again late in the book, and that part of the reason he wanted to believe her ghost was haunting her house was so he could pretend she was still there.
* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: The house that Joe and Alice are moving into is supposedly haunted by the ghost of Celia Roth, a young girl who lived there years ago. Turns out she's alive and well, and comes to visit them at the end of the book after the Aldens track her down.
* ScoobyDooHoax: The "singing ghost", which turns out to just be a tape-recorded song, plus someone sneaking roses and an antique dress inside to make it look like a ghost was around. It turns out one set of neighbors was trying to keep the house empty so they could buy it for themselves eventually.
* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: Charles Farley may be rather obsessed with ghosts, but when an artist who's been doing a painting of the Roth house and doesn't want its looks to be changed (which would spoil his hard work) tries to bribe him to watch the Aldens and report their movements to said artist, he refuses.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #032: ''The Mystery in the Snow'' (1993)]]
* FrameUp: When things are sabotaged, items belonging to other people are found near them, implicating that person. However, the Aldens -- and later the other competitors -- catch on quickly.
* ParentalNeglect: Downplayed. Jimmy's parents are always dropping him off at Snow Haven Lodge and taking off on their own vacation for the winter, because they think he likes being independent and having time without them. However, he admits that he feels abandoned, and tried to sabotage the winter events so they'd have to close up and his parents would have to take him with them. By the end of the book, they learn about this and promise that they'll take their next vacation together.
* VehicularSabotage: One of the methods used by the saboteur to try and close down the lodge -- he let the air out of the tires in the owner's personal vehicle.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #033: ''The Pizza Mystery'' (1993)]]
* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: In book #33 (''The Pizza Mystery''), the lady with the red hat [[spoiler: reveals that she's been wanting to learn how to make pizzas and sending the kids on deliveries because her family restaurant is failing, and she is worried about her parents going bankrupt. The Piccolos bluntly ask why she didn't tell them, since they would have been happy to help without the subterfuge. They immediately start her on cooking lessons that she can pass on to her parents, for which she is eternally grateful]].
* EvilIsPetty: In book #33 (''The Pizza Mystery''), it's revealed that the perpetrator behind the sabotage at the pizza place is [[spoiler: a middle-management business executive at the company next door. When the kids bring him a free pizza as a peace offering, he eats it while gloating he thinks the Piccolos are old enough to be retired and the restaurant would serve better as a work cafeteria. Fortunately, he left the intercom on long enough for his boss to overhear, and she fires him on the spot while apologizing to the kids]].
* MeanBoss: Maxwell Irons, manager at the Mighty Muffler factory, who's seen yelling at his secretary when the Aldens visit him. He's also mean enough that his secretary's fiancé thinks she'd be fired if Irons knew said fiancé was working for a business he didn't like.
* NotMeThisTime: While Laurie Baker admits that she came to work for the Piccolos under not-so-honest reasons, and that she called the health inspector on them because she thought that way they'd have to teach her now to make new supplies to replace what would have been thrown out, she honestly denies being behind the other sabotage events like cancelling their gas line repair and the prank calls they got.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: A number of the customers at the pizzeria, who go by things like "The Lady in the Red Hat" (whose real name is revealed partway through), "The Man With the Walking Stick" and "The Woman with the Earmuffs" to the Piccolos.
* PrankCall: The villain behind the book, as part of their campaign to drive the Piccolos out of business, makes calls where they don't say anything and hang up, and later to make a "Is your refrigerator running? Well, you'd better go catch it!" joke. They also get orders for empty addresses over the phone.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Lydia Sturgis, the owner of the Mighty Muffler factory, is ''much'' nicer than her manager Maxwell Irons; [[spoiler: she considers the Piccolos to be friends, and fires Irons for trying to drive them out of business]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #034: ''The Mystery Horse'' (1993)]]
* HeroicBystander: In book #34 (''The Mystery Horse''), the kids learn that [[spoiler: the horse the family is boarding is a race star called Wind Dancer. Benny and the kids find thieves trying to steal Wind Dancer, and Benny uses his pouch full of roofing nails to stop them with a flat tire]].
* SeriesContinuityError: Book 34 is set on a farm, which is said to be the first time the Aldens have ever been on one. Not only does this contradict how they've been to their Aunt Jane's farm (which, admittedly, isn't a working farm by the time she moved there), it would be contradicted by the prequel published nineteen years later, which would reveal that the Aldens grew up on a farm before they ran away after their parents died.
* UndercoverCopReveal: [[spoiler: Jed Owens, a man the Morgan family hires as a farmhand, turns out to be an undercover agent working for Wind Dancer's owners, whom they sent to keep an eye out for the people trying to steal him.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #035: ''The Mystery at the Dog Show'' (1993)]]
* CheatersNeverProsper: The villain in this book is a competitor in a dog show who stoops to cheating in order to knock out some of the other entrants, up to and including kidnapping one of his chief rivals and dropping her off at the vet's office for a day or so. Naturally, when Sunny shows up at the final round after being rescued, he reacts with disbelief and accidentally exposes himself as having been the one who stole her, which gets him disqualified.
* GentleGiant: While out walking some beagles for one contestant, the Aldens meet a massive Great Dane, named Berries, whom Benny's a little nervous around at first from his size. He turns out to be a great big sweetheart though.
* InterspeciesFriendship: Zonker the dalmatian and a similarly black-and-white cat named Spike are best friends, according to their owner.
* NoNameGiven: Zonker the dalmatian's owners are never identified by name. Nor is the suspicious man the Aldens see many times, [[spoiler: who turns out to be a reporter poking around for a good story]].
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Two of the dogs, a golden retriever known as Sunny and an Old English sheepdog called Plum, are registered under longer names but go by shortened versions most of the time -- their full names are Champion Gold Doubloon's Morning Sun, and Burger Plum Pudding, respectively.
* PetContestEpisode: As the title says, the book revolves around a dog show, with a visiting friend of the Aldens entering her prize-winning golden retriever Sunny.
* SeriesContinuityError: The Aldens say this is their first dog show, having apparently forgotten the one they attended in book 15.
* ThisCannotBe: This is the villain's reaction when the dog he stole shows up in the final round, and in doing so, he exposes himself and gets disqualified from the competition.
* UncattyResemblance: During the dog show, the Aldens notice this to be true of some of the contestants, like "two full-coated collies being walked by a stately man with long, flowing golden hair, and a bulldog being walked by a thickset old man with a mashed-in nose". Invoked by Sunny's owner Caryn Teague, who tends to dress up to match Sunny's coat, and by Zonker the dalmatian's owners, who both also wear white-and-black spotted clothing to match him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #036: ''The Castle Mystery'' (1993)]]
* PassedOverInheritance: [[spoiler: The crook's motivation. He turns out to be the son of the late Mr. Drummond's niece, and feels that the man's priceless violin rightfully belongs to him instead of in a museum, since Mr. Drummond had left in his will that his castle was to become one and the violin was to be one of the exhibits.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Special #001: ''The Mystery on the Ice'' (1993)]]
* InsuranceFraud: For a little while, the Aldens wonder if this is the reason behind the theft of the jewels. Grandfather, however, assures them that the Murpheys are very wealthy and had just made a large donation to a cause, so they have no need to pull this trope off.
* NonIronicClown: Ollie, the Starlight Troupe's skating clown. He's always cheerful and goofy on and off the ice, and very friendly to everyone he meets.
* SeriesContinuityError: There's a moment where the Aldens are reminiscing about how they fixed up Joe and Alice's current house in book #31, and mention how one of the stairs broke when Joe stepped on it. It was actually Henry whom that happened to.
* ThrowingOffTheDisability: [[spoiler: Marcia Westerly, the thief, has been faking an injury that requires her to use crutches. When the Aldens see her moving just fine without them, it's the final piece in the puzzle that makes them realize she's the thief.]]
* WackyMarriageProposal: Carl, one of the skaters in the Starlight Troupe, surprises his girlfriend Alex by hiding a diamond ring in the hand of his mermaid ice sculpture.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #037: ''The Mystery of the Lost Village'' (1993)]]
* GhostTown: The titular lost village, which its occupants abandoned because of a drought, and was eventually buried by the earth. The plot of the book revolves around searching for evidence it was there, so the area can be marked for as a site for historical preservation and excavation, rather than letting a developer build houses over it.
* HeelFaceTurn: During the climax, one of the suspects -- who works for a developer who wanted to build houses on what's quickly revealed to be a historical site that needs to be preserved -- reveals he's quit his job and comes to work at the dig, since he couldn't hurt his own people.
* IAmOneOfThoseToo: Early on, one of the suspects poking around claims to be of Navajo descent and to have come to research his roots, but he manages to know ''nothing'' about their background, not recognizing key pieces of their culture and claiming his ancestors were from New England when all the Navajo lived in the southwest. Naturally, he's a fraud.
* MysteriousNote: Unusually for the trope, it's one of the ''suspects'' who gets one, warning them to stay away from the dig, and she suspects the Aldens did it. [[spoiler: The last chapters reveal that it was in fact the village storyteller Kinowok, who knew she was up to no good and was warning her off.]]
* UnholyMatrimony: The active villains of the book turn out to be husband and wife, who are just interested in the titular lost village as a source of "treasure", and don't care about its historical value.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #038: ''The Mystery of the Purple Pool'' (1994)]]
* HypercompetentSidekick: One of the employees at the Plymouth Hotel, a man named Malcolm, proves to be very good and intelligent at his job. His boss, in fact, thinks he's ''too'' competent, and might be able to figure out that said boss is behind all the trouble at the hotel, so he fires him. When said boss is himself fired, the actual manager mentions she'll hire him back and now has an opening for an assistant manager.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Malcolm, a very competent employee at the Plymouth Hotel, was wrongfully fired at one point for supposed incompetence. When it turns out his boss fired him because he considered Malcolm to be ''too'' competent, the manager not only says she'll hire him back, but into the assistant manager position that just got vacated when she fired the man who fired Malcolm.
* PaperThinDisguise: During the events of the book, the Aldens see a man a few times in a hat, glasses and coat, or a robe and sunglasses the one time he's coming away from the pool. However, he has a distinctive hairstyle and nose. In the final chapter, they see him again and those features allow them to recognize him. It turns out that he's [[spoiler: Frederick Astor, identified as one of Broadway's biggest stars -- they just weren't familiar enough with him to recognize him. A little while later, a woman in a similar disguise turns up in the hotel, but this time someone else ''does'' recognize her as a celebrity in a poor disguise]].
* PointyHairedBoss: Subverted. The villain of the book turns out to be setting his boss up to ''look'' like one of these, pulling all sorts of pranks (such as dumping purple dye in the pool, swiping random hotel things like phones, pillows, shower curtains and the like from the rooms, switching around the salt and sugar in the dining room and cancelling guests' reservations) to make said manager look incompetent and thus get fired so he'd get their job.
* SimilarItemConfusion: Done deliberately by the villain, who switched the contents of the salt shakers with those of the sugar bowls.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #039: ''The Ghost Ship Mystery'' (1994)]]
* TreacheryCoverUp: Inverted. After one character has spent so long trying to paint one long-deceased man as a villain, then discovers evidence that he ''wasn't'', they try to hide the truth. [[spoiler: Specifically, Prudence Coffin has long been claiming, based on what evidence they had at the time, that Eli Hull, first mate of the ''Flying Cloud'', had led the crew in a mutiny against her great-grandfather, Captain Jeremiah Coffin, before the ship sank. She even wrote a book about it. During the events of the story, a logbook from the ship turns up that reveals Eli ''had'' taken charge of the ship... because Captain Coffin was feverish with malaria, and had to be confined to his cabin because he kept ignoring his illness and trying to order his crew to go back to sea when all they wanted was to get him help.]] Eventually, they decide to admit they were wrong and publish the truth.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Special #002: ''The Mystery in Washington, DC'' (1994)]]
* BenevolentBoss: Molly Parsons, after discovering that her employee at her Bed and Breakfast had been stealing money and other things from her because he wasn't able to pay for his current college semester of college, is understanding and responds by giving him more hours to pay back for what he took and promising to take him to the bank to arrange for a loan.
* StealingFromTheTill: The culprit has been doing this, and admits that he stole from his employer because he needed money to pay for his current semester of college.
* UndercoverCopReveal: [[spoiler: Throughout the book, the Aldens and their new friend Amira have been watched by two men in suits and sunglasses. The final chapter reveals that Amira's father works for the Egyptian embassy, and the men are actually her bodyguards.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #040: ''The Canoe Trip Mystery'' (1994)]]
* ContinuityNod: On their way out of town, the Aldens stop at Piccolo's Pizzeria, previously the setting of book #33 (''The Pizza Mystery'').
* RiddleMeThis: Early on in the trip, the Aldens find a riddle written on a stone. It turns out to be a clue leading them to a stolen coin collection.
* UndercoverCopReveal: During their trip, the Aldens meet several suspicious people, including a man named Rob Wilson. He turns out to be a private detective, hired to find the stolen coin collection by its owner Mr. Withington, and already on the trail of the real thief.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #041: ''The Mystery of the Hidden Beach'' (1994)]]
* SeriesContinuityError: The kids' grown cousin Joe (the son of Grandfather Alden's brother) and his wife Alice are referred to as their aunt and uncle in this book.
* UndercoverCopReveal: During their stay at Camp Coral, the Aldens meet Nick Simon, who claims to be a marine biologist (and that his friend is a fisherman), but evidently knows nothing about fish. He turns out to be an undercover police officer, investigating the coral thefts.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #042: ''The Mystery of the Missing Cat'' (1994)]]
* ContinuityNod: The events of book #22 (''The Animal Shelter Mystery'') and #35 (''The Mystery at the Dog Show'') are referenced as times when Dr. Scott, the Aldens' veterinarian, helped them with mysteries they had to solve.
* HarassingPhoneCall: During the events of the book, the Aldens receive one of these, once again telling them to stop snooping and quit trying to solve their current mystery (finding a stolen cat). Once again, it doesn't do the culprit any good.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Special #003: ''The Mystery at Snowflake Inn'' (1994)]]
* ContinuityNod:
** The events of book #26 (''The Mystery of the Mixed-Up Zoo'') are referenced when the Aldens and the other guests see a porcupine, and the one from the zoo is mentioned.
** The events of special #1 (''The Mystery on the Ice'') are referenced when the Aldens explain how Jessie can skate so good.
* NotMeThisTime: In the climax, when the troublemaker confesses, they deny being responsible for the mouse in the wastebasket in Jessie and Violet's bedroom. Two of the other kids in the inn then admit to having done that one as a joke.
* SecretRoom: There's one in Snowflake Inn, which dates back to the Revolutionary War and was used to hide people who'd been spying on the British. It's also got a second entrance that opens into the kitchen.
* TakeThisJobAndShoveIt: Greta, the cook at Snowflake Inn, walks off the job after one too many problems in her kitchen.
* UndergroundRailroad: The real-life version is discussed in the book, when a secret room that dates back to the Revolutionary War is shown, and it's noted that it was also used as part of the Underground Railroad to help slaves get to safety.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #043: ''The Mystery on Stage'' (1994)]]
* FantasyForbiddingFather: [[spoiler: Mr. Bellamy, father of Sarah Bellamy, the girl playing Dorothy, strongly disapproves of her desire to be an actress, since her mother was also one, but died during a performance. He changes his mind after being exposed.]]
* HarassingPhoneCall: Early on, director Jim Maynard gets one warning him not to go on with the show. It's the first sign that something strange is going on.
* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: At one point, Richard, the actor playing the Wizard, has been recruited to work with scenery, but isn't too happy about it until, after letting out a yelp in pain, he finally calls it quits with the following line:
---> "You can tell Jim I am ''not'', and I repeat ''not working on scenery any longer! I'm an actor, not a carpenter."
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #044: ''The Dinosaur Mystery'' (1995)]]
* DrivenByEnvy: Dr. Skyler, who runs the planetarium at the Pickering Natural Museum, admits in the climax to being envious of the new dinosaur exhibit and trying to delay the Aldens from doing anything to help it via keeping them busy in her section of the museum, while also trying to get rid of the posters advertising the exhibit.
* NeedleInAStackOfNeedles: Late in the book, the culprit in the theft of the dinosaur bones reveals they hid each of them in a block of plaster, but there are several in the room and now they can't remember which one the last bone is inside. Fortunately, Violet quickly figures it out.
* PublicityStunt: [[spoiler: The "theft" of the dinosaur bones. Dr. Pettibone, who found them in the first place, swipes and hides some of them to drum up interest for his "Dino World" exhibit at the museum.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #045: ''The Mystery of the Stolen Music'' (1995)]]
* ForgetfulJones: Victor Perrelli, the conductor of the orchestra visiting Greenfield, is rather absent-minded. He claims he can't remember most things because his mind is so full of music. [[spoiler: In fact, the initial disappearance of the titular stolen music is because he'd put the score away in his tuxedo and forgotten about it... before it was stolen for real by someone who found it in there.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Special #004: ''The Mystery at the Ballpark'' (1994)]]
* FantasyForbiddingFather: [[spoiler: It turns out the aunt of one of the players doesn't approve of her playing baseball, which is why she's been trying to sabotage the team to make the girl quit.]]
* NoSenseOfDirection: Chuck, the assistant coach, admits to being lousy with directions, which nearly makes the Bears late for their first game.
* NotMeThisTime: When the mystery is solved, it turns out the main culprit was ''not'' responsible for two of the items that disappeared or turned up. Benny's bear Stockings, it turns out, was taken by a little girl who picked him up and took him home, and [[spoiler: the assistant coach]] slipped a fake glove into Jessie's locker after her autographed one was stolen because they felt sorry for her loss.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #046: ''The Chocolate Sundae Mystery'' (1995)]]
* BenevolentBoss: Mr. Brown, the new owner of the Ice Cream Shoppe, who's very understanding with his employees even when they mess things up. [[spoiler: When he finds one of them has been letting people in after hours so they can have some food (since their family can't afford much; their late-night visits are sometimes the only meal they're getting in a day), he not only keeps the worker on (though he does dock their pay for a while), he arranges to let the hungry kids have the leftover sandwich fixings from each day.]]
* StealingFromTheTill: The culprit in this book is revealed to be an employee who's been letting some close friends come in to eat ice cream after hours.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: One plot thread, involving an angry customer who turns out to be a former employee who got let go apparently before the new owner bought the Shoppe, never gets resolved after the Aldens overhear his talking about it with someone else.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #047: ''The Mystery of the Hot Air Balloon'' (1995)]]
* LivingDrawing: In the opening chapter, it's revealed that Benny likes to ''pretend'' the animals on his wallpaper are this, who come to life and play when humans aren't around to see them.
* NotNowKiddo: A short-lived case. Benny's been bored, but his siblings are all busy with their own things. Then he comes into the living room saying something's landing on the lawn. For a moment, they think he's just saying it to get attention, though they don't say so aloud... but then the shadow he saw makes the room get dark, and Watch starts whining, making them realize he's telling the truth and they all get up to see what it is. It turns out to be a hot air balloon that got blown off course and is coming in for a landing in their yard.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #048: ''The Mystery Bookstore'' (1995)]]
* {{Auction}}: The Aldens attend one in New Orleans in this book. Benny bids on and wins an old toy boxcar, but one of the biggest attractions is an old bookstore and its contents, which a mystery writer and friend of the Aldens wants to buy (having also been friends with the late former owner), as does another mystery writer, both bidding fiercely until the end... when, with their friend unable to go any higher, a third person suddenly jumps in and makes a WhammyBid of 100,000 dollars that wins them the bookstore. It's Grandfather Alden, who then arranges to rent the store to their friend until she can pay back what he paid for it, much to the children's delight.
* WhammyBid: In book #48 (''The Mystery Bookstore''), bidding on an old bookstore and its contents starts at 50,000 dollars and, in just seven bids, quickly hits 80,000. Then a final bidder outdoes everyone and wins by jumping the price to 100,000 dollars.[[spoiler: It's Grandfather Alden, who bought the bookstore as an investment and hires rents it to one of the earlier bidders, who happens to be a friend of his, allowing her to run turn it into a mystery-themed bookstore like she wanted.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Special #005: ''The Pilgrim Village Mystery'' (1995)]]
* TheIllegible: Eric, theplace.]]young man who runs the print shop at Pilgrim Village, has very poor handwriting. Later, the Aldens receive a note supposedly from him, but realize too late that it was a forgery, since they can read it without any problem.
* NotMeThisTime: When the culprit behind the strange events at Pilgrim Village confesses, they deny being responsible for the mishaps in the kitchen. Pilgrim Village's chef admits that that was entirely ''his'' fault, since he hasn't been able to keep up with things lately and made a few mistakes as a result.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #049: ''The Mystery of the Stolen Boxcar'' (1995)]]
* AdultFear: When the boxcar is stolen, Watch disappears along with it. The siblings are all very afraid for his safety until he returns on his own, much to their relief.
* PlotAllergy: While trying to figure out who stole their boxcar, the Aldens realize that one of their suspects couldn't have done it -- he's severely allergic to dogs, and could barely stand to be around the boxcar because Watch has been inside.
* SpoiledBrat: Becky Jennings, a little girl who, on seeing the Alden family's boxcar, immediately starts screaming and throwing a tantrum about how she wants it. More than a few people comment on her bad behavior on seeing this, and again later.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #050: ''Mystery in the Cave'' (1996)]]
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: During the story, the Aldens meet a man who's been in the caves too, whom Benny nicknames "Joe Caveman". When he finally reveals his story -- that he's a caver who comes down for some peace and quiet so he can read and relax -- he never does give them his real name.
* WorthlessTreasureTwist: The culprits prove to be two men looking for a stash of money hidden in the cave by a bank robber before he was caught ten years before. After they're arrested and it's revealed what they were looking for (since they hadn't found it yet), the cops start laughing and explain that the bank had only given the robber counterfeit money, so it wouldn't have done them any good anyway.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #051: ''The Mystery on the Train'' (1996)]]
* PassedOverInheritance: The ''true'' villain of the book turns out to be motivated by this -- his parents cut him out of their will, so he's trying to trick his niece out of some valuable items that were left to her parents and that he feels should have been his.
* SeriesContinuityError: This book claims that the Aldens are going on a train for the first time, ignoring three train trips they took in the Warner books (in books 4, 5 and 11).
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Special #006: ''The Mystery at the Fair'' (1996)]]
* AgelessBirthdayEpisode: As with book #24 (''The Mystery of the Hidden Painting''), the plot of the book is kicked off when the children decide to prepare for their Grandfather's birthday, but his age is never given.
* BaitAndSwitch: Early on, Benny says that "I'm just not hungry anymore." At his sister's surprised reaction, he replies, "No, now I'm starving!"
* BigEater: Michael, a little boy introduced in this book, turns out to have just as big an appetite as Benny's, which helps inspire their friendship.
* CompetitionFreak: Susie Martinelli, who's entered three out of four competitions in an effort to finally win something this year (having entered each year during the past eight years but never won). [[spoiler: It also leads her to sabotage in a desperate attempt to win ''something'' before her family moves away in a few weeks, since this is her last chance.]]
* DisqualificationInducedVictory: The final contest at the fair is decided when it's revealed that the winning entrant cheated by sabotaging other entrants; the second-place winner becomes the first-place winner as a result.
* FrameUp: When the cheating contestant gets spotted, they swipe the prizes from another contest and hide them in the spying person's bag, making it look as if they were the guilty one and casting doubt on any testimony they'd have entered.
* StageMom: Kristie Stephen's mother is always pushing her daughter to win in her art competitions, when all Kristie wants is to just paint for fun. She also goes poking around for excuses to disqualify other competitors.
* UndercoverCopReveal: Throughout the book, the Aldens have been seeing a man in a baseball cap, taking notes. He's revealed in the climax to be Steven Pearson, whom the fair officials had hired to investigate things around the fair and figure out who was behind the trouble.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #052: ''The Mystery of the Lost Mine'' (1996)]]
* ContinuityNod: The Alden's trip to Camp Coral in book #41 (''The Mystery of the Hidden Beach'') gets referenced when they're reminded of how hot it can get in Arizona.
* CutAndPasteNote: Jake, the old prospector, wakes up to find one at his campsite one morning. The thing is, it was written in Spanish, so he has to ask the Aldens for a translation. They can't help, but their friend Luis does, and tells him it means "This path is dangerous".
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #053: ''The Guide Dog Mystery'' (1996)]]
* CanineCompanion: The Greenfield Guide Dog School is all about training dogs to serve in this role for blind people. One of them, Ginger, is specially trained throughout the book to be a companion for Anna, a blind girl who's getting ready to go off to college.
* RecognizableBySound: Anna, the blind girl who's attending the guide dog school in this book, has learned to recognize people by the sound of their footstep... which is how she's able to identify the thief in the climax.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #054: ''The Hurricane Mystery'' (1996)]]
* HiddenInPlainSight: Over the years, there've been plenty of legends about the Ashleigh family having a secret pirate treasure, but the family themselves haven't found it. [[spoiler: It turns out the gold he had was melted down and concealed inside the Pirate's Gate, the special gate door that Mr. Ashleigh, who was believed to have been a pirate, had made for the house he built for his wife.]]
* OpenMouthInsertFoot: Early on, the Aldens see Mrs. Ashleigh arguing with a man who's been trying to convince her to sell her house and move. After he's gone, Benny asks, "Who was that mean man?" He gets this reaction when Mrs. Ashleigh tells them the "mean man" was her grown son Forrest, and immediately apologizes.
[[/folder]]
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[[folder: #062: ''The Mystery of the Lake Monster'' (1998)]]
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: At the very end, after the mystery is solved and the fake monster is exposed, the Aldens hear the sound of an unfamiliar animal, indicating Lucy the lake monster might really be out there.
* ScoobyDooHoax: The titular lake monster, which turns out to be made up by [[spoiler: a teenage boy who thinks that if he can scare people with signs of a monster being around, it'll make his parents decide to take him home; he used fake feet and a pre-cut paddle that made it look like a monster had bitten it]].
[[/folder]]
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[[folder: #070: ''The Mystery of the Pirate's Map'' (1999)]]
* WrittenInAbsence: More than a few books, usually involving the four kids being on vacation somewhere, often state that Watch is staying at home with Grandfather or Mrs. [=McGregor=] to explain why he's not involved in the adventure.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: ''The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm'' (2012)]]
* DeathByOriginStory: The Aldens' parents, who die offscreen in a car crash near the end of the book, causing the siblings to run away so they won't be sent to live with their only known relative (whom they believe to be mean).
* {{Prequel}}: Released sixty-three years after the revised edition of the original book, this book depicts the Alden children's life on their parents' farm, explaining how the Alden parents died and why the children ran away afterward, setting up the start of the original story.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #001: ''The Boxcar Children'' (1924 / 1949)]]
* AdultFear: All of book one.
** You have four orphan kids wandering around the countryside, because they don't want their grandfather, their legal guardian, to find them. At first they think they can spend a few days at a bakery, working there, until the owners plan to take Benny to the orphanage, because he's too young to work, and interrogate the others about their grandfather. The kids hightail it out of there, and the bakers look for them, searching the streets frantically because they fear for their safety.
** Henry has to be the breadwinner because he's the only one who's old enough to work. He also isn't even eighteen.
** One of Henry's employers, the doctor, reveals at the end of the book that he had figured out the kids lived in the woods. Sensing they would run if he busted them, however, he only quietly visited their boxcar to make sure they had enough to eat and pays Henry well.
** Violet's fever and illness. It's at this point that Henry asks the doctor for help.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Watch the dog stays with the Aldens after Jessie shows kindness by removing a thorn from his foot, and prefers to stay with them even when his former owner, who had given him away to another person, comes to try and retrieve him for her.
* BigBrotherInstinct: In the first book Henry wastes no time looking for work to support his younger siblings.
* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: The Alden kids might have avoided living on the streets and the titular boxcar had they met their grandfather and cleared things up sooner. Henry and Jessie are ''very'' sheepish when they realize it since Violet probably wouldn't have gotten ill in the woods if they had lived with their grandfather in the first place. When the kids go to live with their grandfather, they find themselves missing the independence, so he arranges to have the boxcar moved in their yard.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first book had nothing to do with mysteries, and focused on how the children lived in the titular boxcar.
* DontSplitUsUp: This is a concern for the title characters, who assume when their parents die that they'll either be adopted by the grandfather their parents hate and they believe is abusive (which proves not to be the case) or be taken into foster care and split up. The latter proves to be a reasonable concern, as when they stay at a bakery overnight, they hear the owner and his wife (who'd previously agreed to let them stay) talking about how they're going to send Benny to the Children's Home since the baker's wife can't take care of a child who's that young. This prompts the four to run away into the woods, where they find the boxcar that becomes their home.
* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: Warner rewrote the original book in 1942, changing several details from the 1924 version. Among other things:
** The original version has the father and four children move into town, with one of them stopping at a bakery for bread; during this time, it's established that their mother is already dead and the father a drunk. The next day, he's dead and the two elder children ask the baker's wife to come to their house, which she does, and meets all four children. She later talks to her husband through a window, and they agree the children must go to their grandfather. The siblings wait until the baker is gone, then flee from the house. The 1942 version greatly reduces this to start with the children in front of the bakery, and they stay with the owner and his wife that night until they hear them talking about splitting up the four by sending Benny to a children's home.
** The family's name is originally "Cordyce", and the eldest daughter goes by "Jess". These were changed to "Alden" and "Jessie" in the revised version.
** Henry and Benny are thirteen and five, respectively, in the original. The revised version ages them up to fourteen and six. (Jessie and Violet retain their original ages of twelve and ten.)
* NonResidentialResidence: The boxcar children start the series living in, well, a boxcar.
* OrphansOrdeal: The whole plot of the first book, where four orphaned children work to survive on their own until their last known relative finds them.
* RealNameAsAnAlias: In the first book, when James Henry Alden meets his grandchildren for the first time (after having found out why they were avoiding him), he uses the name "Mr. Henry" to avoid scaring them off.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The doctor who hires Henry for work in the first book. He figured out that Henry and his siblings were living in the woods and had their reasons for not wanting to reveal that; instead of asking about them, he gives Henry fair wages and as many cherries as he and the others can eat, while checking on them discreetly. When Henry revealed that Violet was ill, however, the doctor dropped the act and drove directly to the boxcar, taking the kids in while treating Violet.
* RunawayHideaway: Type 2 (no place to go) -- the Boxcar Children run away with no place in mind and eventually discover their boxcar by chance.
* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: TruthInTelevision at the time the first book was released -- social services as we know it really didn't exist, with the exception of orphanages that focused on caring for the children they had, not tracking down runaways. The children ''are'' figured out and united with their grandfather in a matter of a few months, though.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #002: ''Surprise Island'' (1949)]]
* LongLostRelative: During their adventure on the island, the Alden children make friends with Joe the handyman, who's been living there for a long time. Late in the book, they discover he's actually their long lost cousin, the son of their grandfather's brother.
* NonResidentialResidence: The children spend the summer living in a barn on the island.
* TantrumThrowing: Benny does this towards the end, which his siblings note is unusual for him, when he's told they can't be on the island when a group of people are going to be blasting the roof off the cave they'd discovered earlier, which will make it easier for them to excavate the Indian artifacts buried in it.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Benny and Mike Wood (the latter of whom is introduced in this book) are friends, but they spend more of their time arguing than getting along when Mike's visiting the island for a day.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #003: ''The Yellow House Mystery'' (1953)]]
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Early on, Joe's childhood school friend Alice Wells, who's been away for a long time, returns to work with him on Surprise Island. Just a few months later, they get married.
* CuttingTheKnot: During the events of ''Surprise Island'', the Alden children found a cave full of Indian artifacts, but it was below the tide line, meaning they'd only have had a relatively short time to remove things and get out. The museum people have a quicker and easier solution: blowing the roof off, so as to allow easier access to the artifacts without the risk of drowning. While this event is discussed in ''Surprise Island'', the blast doesn't actually take place until book 3, with the Aldens present and observing after it was decided it was safe for them to attend after all.
* DeathFakedForYou: Done not only against the subject's will, they didn't even ''know'' about it -- while Bill [=McGregor=] was away, his brother's "friends" told him his wife had died. He became depressed and went into hiding, while Mrs. [=McGregor=] was left to spend forty years completely unaware that her husband thought she was dead until a clue was found that led to the Aldens finding him and telling him he'd been tricked.
* TheHermit: When the Aldens reach the end of Bear Trail, they find there's a hermit living near the town there, who goes by the name of Dave Hunter. He turns out to be Bill [=McGregor=], the man they've been looking for, under an alias.
* TheLostLenore: Margaret [=McGregor=] was this for her husband Bill, as he decided to stay where he was and live as a hermit when some "friends" of his late brother lied to him and told him his wife had died in a fire while he was away. Happily, he later learns this ''was'' a lie, as the Aldens find him and tell him truthfully that not only is his wife alive and well, she works for their family as their housekeeper, resulting in his happily returning home to her.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Subverted -- Bill [=McGregor=] is led to believe this was the case, due to his brother's friends (who were searching for the money Sam [=McGregor=] had hidden away) lying to him and telling him his old home had burned, with his wife dying in the blaze. He doesn't realize they were lying about both these things until the Aldens find him and tell him the truth.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #004: ''Mystery Ranch'' (1958)]]
* TheCon: Of the Real Estate Scam variety. Jane Alden is targeted by three men who attempt this, telling her her land is no good and trying to buy it for cheap because they know the area is actually full of uranium, and they could make a fortune off of it. Fortunately, the Aldens and John Carter discover the uranium too, and realize what the three men were up to.
* ILoveNuclearPower: In book #4 (''Mystery Ranch''), it's discovered that the black and yellow rocks in the fireplace at Aunt Jane's ranch are uranium. By the next visit to Aunt Jane, the sleepy ranch town is now home to a massive uranium mine.
* NoNameGiven: The three men who try to con Jane Alden out of her ranch are never identified by their names in this book, or in its direct sequel.
* OutOfCharacterAlert: The Aldens are used to their grandfather always being cheerful and happily greeting them when he gets home, so when he comes home, bangs the door shut and barely says "Hello" to Benny, he immediately knows something's wrong and goes to get his siblings so they can talk to Grandfather and see what's wrong. Grandfather confesses that he's just gotten a letter about his estranged sister, including that she wants to see some of the four, thus kicking off the plot.
* {{Pride}}: Jane Alden's main flaw in this book. She's kept up the family ranch by herself for years after her brother went back east, but even though it's been failing for so long, she won't accept help or money from anyone. With time and effort though, her great-nieces, and later Henry and Benny, are able to help her work past this and reconcile with her brother.
* UndercoverCopReveal: Early on, Jessie and Violet are helped out by a strange man when they get off at the town near their aunt's ranch; Henry is a little suspicious of the stranger when he finds out about the man, since nobody else in town seems to know him. The man is later revealed to be John Carter, their Grandfather's friend and a former F.B.I. agent who still consults for them from time to time, making his debut in the series.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #005: ''Mike's Mystery'' (1960)]]
* IfICantHaveYou: Non-romantic version. One of the men who tried to buy Mystery Ranch the year before has escaped from jail, and decided that if he and his partners couldn't own the uranium mine, they'd destroy it. Thankfully, the explosives he set are discovered in time.
* LeaveNoWitnesses: The villain in the book tries this. When Mike Wood's dog Spotty growled at him and recognized him as a bad man, the man heard Mike saying he'd know the man on sight if he ever saw him again... so, to prevent himself from being recognized (along with [[WeNeedADistraction one other reason]]), he burns down Mike's house, intending to kill the entire family. Luckily, everyone survives.
* WeNeedADistraction: The ''other'' reason Mike's house was burned -- while everyone was at the fire, the culprit was able to set explosives at the uranium mine, intending to destroy it. Fortunately, they're discovered before they can be used.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #006: ''Blue Bay Mystery'' (1961)]]
* DesertedIsland: The island where Blue Bay is located, in the south Pacific (some ways from Tahiti). It's indicated that there ''used'' to be people there (as evidenced by a giant statue of a human), but other than shipwreck survivors and the Aldens (who are vacationing there for a while), they've all moved on.
* EenieMeenieMinyMoai: While the family is vacationing on an uncharted Pacific island, they discover a fallen statue, which they are told is similar to the ones on Easter Island.
* {{Robinsonade}}: The Aldens spend part of book #6 (''Blue Bay Mystery'') staying on a tropical island with their grandfather and one of his friends, who had himself been shipwrecked for a time on the same island. [[spoiler: They also rescue a marooned teenage boy from the same situation.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #007: ''The Woodshed Mystery'' (1962)]]
* AbandonedArea: The old Alden farm where James and Jane Alden grew up before they moved west with their parents was this for years -- people would buy it, but then move away and leave it deserted. It's finally subverted when Grandfather Alden buys back his family's old property and renovates it so Jane can move in.
* DecemberDecemberRomance: Aunt Jane and Andy Bean, who marry in their 70s after decades apart. Also a case of TheOneThatGotAway, as Andy had proposed to her unsuccessfully in their youth.
* LiteralMinded: Willie, the Bean family's hired hand, who takes Jane's frustrated shout of "I'd like to shoot Andy Bean!" as a serious threat and not just hyperbole, and goes to warn Andy.
* NonResidentialResidence: Early on, it's found that someone's living in the old woodshed on the family property. It turns out to be the long-missing Andy Bean, who's come home to see what's happening around the area after finding out the Aldens have bought back their family farm.
* TheQuietOne: Willie, the Bean family's hired hand, who rarely says more than one word at a time.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #008: ''The Lighthouse Mystery'' (1963)]]
* FantasyForbiddingFather: Tom Cook, who refuses to support his son Larry's interest in science or to let him go away to college, even though it's what Larry wants. By the end of the book though, after nearly losing Larry in a storm, he changes his mind.
* MeaningfulName: In book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery''), the mystery they find involves cooking, and their main suspect's name is Larry Cook.
* {{Pride}}: Tom Cook's main flaw in the book. He's too proud to let his son work to help support the family, insisting on doing everything himself (though it later comes out that he's plenty able to afford what they need all on his own), or to let him go away to college, since he did just fine without it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #009: ''Mountain Top Mystery'' (1964)]]
* LongLostRelative: During the events of the story, the Aldens meet an elderly Indian woman, Lovan Dixon, and help her reunite with her grandnephew David, whom she'd thought had died as a baby.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #010: ''Schoolhouse Mystery'' (1965)]]
* TheBet: Benny's friend Max starts an unofficial one with him -- there's no actual wager, but he says he's sure that even an Alden, adventure-prone as they all are, can't find a adventure in the sleepy fishing town of Port Elizabeth where Max's father works during the summer. Naturally, he's proven wrong.
* TheCon: The villain of the book, a Mr. Fred Willet, is a smuggler who pulls this on the people of Port Elizabeth and other towns, buying antiques from them for far less than they're worth and reselling them.
* IHaveManyNames: The villain of the book, a Mr. Fred Willet, also goes by Harold K. Frederic, Mr. North and Mr. Bensen.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #011: ''Caboose Mystery'' (1966)]]
* BerserkButton: Early on, the Beaver Man reacts angrily at any mention of Caboose 777. It's later revealed that his friend the Thin Man had had to run away from the circus that the caboose belonged to after his coworkers believed he stole the missing diamond necklace from his fellow performer Chi-Chi before her death, and Beaver Man blames the caboose for his friend's troubles. It's never stated if he got over this after the Thin Man's name is finally cleared by the end of the story.
* ChekhovsGunman: The day that the Aldens board the caboose to start their trip, they meet a postman, Sid Weston, who wants to have a look at the caboose before it goes, but is told there isn't enough time. Later in the book, he returns, [[spoiler: and turns out to be John Mann -- the Thin Man, whom the Aldens have just proven innocent of the theft he was accused of]].
* ClearTheirName: When Chi-Chi the tightrope walker died, her diamond necklace was found to be missing. The last person who was seen with it, John Mann (AKA the Thin Man), is suspected of having stolen it; he insists he gave it back, but nobody believes him, forcing him to run away and hide until the Aldens discover he had indeed given it back and that Chi-Chi had put it in her usual hiding place, which nobody but herself knew, afterward (she'd left a postcard with a riddle about it for her husband Cho-Cho, but he never saw it). When the Aldens announce the discovery over the radio, Mann is able to come out of hiding and reunite with Cho-Cho.
* DisneyVillainDeath: Non-villain example -- it's explained that the tightrope walker Chi-Chi fell to her death when she slipped on a wire one night during a performance.
* MeaningfulName: In book #11 (''Caboose Mystery''), the train conductor is named Mr. Carr.
* NeverHeardThatOneBefore: Mr. Carr, who runs the train, mentions that he hears a lot of jokes about his name. Fortunately, he has a good sense of humor about it.
* TalkingInYourSleep: Benny does this at one point, yelling "I'll tell you in the morning!" while asleep and waking up Henry and Grandfather, though he himself sleeps right through it. It's never explained just what he meant by that.
* {{Ventriloquism}}: When Cho-Cho the former clown is introduced, it's revealed he had a talking horse, who could answer questions through body language (nodding, shaking his head, pawing the ground or sitting or laying down). Later though, when Cho-Cho and Major are reunited, it turns out Cho-Cho is also a master ventriloquist who can make it look like Major is literally speaking English.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #012: ''Houseboat Mystery'' (1967)]]
* {{Auction}}: The Aldens attend one in this book. During the event, a small gold vase goes missing; the Aldens later discover it was hidden in a box of clothes, which the thieves paid a local boy to buy for them, allowing it to be smuggled out of the auction without anyone realizing it.
* {{Blackmail}}: One of the crimes done by the crooks in this book. They tell one man, Sam, that his brother Jeff is guilty of something, and threaten to go to the cops unless he gives them half of every paycheck. They then tell Jeff that ''Sam'' is the guilty one to get money from him for the same reason.
* IHaveManyNames: In book #12 (''Houseboat Mystery''), Mr. Rivers tells the family that the houseboat he rents out is set up so renters can give it any name they want, by swapping out letters on a special rack. Past names have included ''Rock and Roll'', ''Moon Rocket'', ''The All Inn'', and ''The Blue Heron''; the Aldens swap out names on it every day, naming it after all the members of the family (including Mrs. [=McGregor=]) in turn, ultimately catching the attention of the police who've heard about "the houseboat with many names". (Thankfully, they're understanding when they find out why it keeps changing.) The last name they give the boat is [[spoiler: ''Captain Kidd'', for Benny]], prompting Mr. Rivers to crack up laughing when he sees it.
* MeaningfulName: In book #12 (''Houseboat Mystery''), the owner of the houseboat the family rents is Mr. Rivers.
* NoNameGiven: The two men who are responsible for the crimes in this book, the theft of a valuable vase and tricking two locals into paying them a lot of money ''not'' to go to the cops, are never named.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #013: ''Snowbound Mystery'' (1968)]]
* SecretIngredient: Part of the plot revolves around the Aldens finding a recipe that's been carved into the wooden shelf of the cabin they're staying in, which has a ''?'' for one ingredient. When the Nelson family (who run the general store a few miles away) come up to the cabin and find out, they explain that it's a bun recipe that was used by Tom Nelson's father and grandfather, but neither ever told Tom the ingredient before they died, though his father indicated that the answer was in their old cabin (which had since been sold to the local Sportsman's Club) with his dying breath. Their family's been trying to figure out what the missing ingredient ever since, and finally succeed when a bedroom roof caves in, bringing with it a squirrel nest containing blue cards... each with a recipe, including the bun recipe with its secret ingredient. It's never identified in-story, but according to the tie-in cookbook that was published in the 1990s, [[spoiler: it's cinnamon]].
* SnowedIn: Happens to the Aldens while they're staying in the cabin, due to a sudden blizzard that takes them all by surprise. With the help of the Nelsons (who struggle their way through the snow up to help) and a helicopter that was sent by their grandfather with emergency supplies, the Aldens manage just fine until they can be dug out and taken home.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #014: ''Tree House Mystery'' (1969)]]
* MeaningfulName: In book #14 (''Tree House Mystery''), the Aldens' new neighbors who live in a house near the beach are the Beaches.
* SecretRoom: The Aldens and their new friends Sammy and Jeffrey find one in the attic of the pair's house, which turns out to have belonged to a young boy who was visiting his grandmother. After much research, they find she sealed it up because he'd gone home and, since she was going with him and would be renting the house out to another family, she couldn't bear to have their children playing with his things while he was away.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: This turns out to be the case with John Beach and his older brother Max, who were never as close after their spyglass went missing and each thought the other had taken it. When John and his family move back to the house he grew up in, his sons discover it had been placed in a hole in the tree where their old treehouse used to be (and the man who did so forgot to tell them), allowing the brothers to make up and reconnect again.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #015: ''Bicycle Mystery'' (1970)]]
* ContinuityNod: During the Aldens' bicycle trip to their Aunt Jane's farm, they point out the road leading to the houseboat they stayed on in book 12, and even stop at the town of Second Landing on the way to and from the farm. Later, they pass by the lighthouse they lived in in book 8.
* FrameUp: During their trip, the Aldens have two run-ins with a suspicious couple who try to get them to give up "Shadow". The Aldens always refuse, so the couple (who happen to be dog thieves) put an article in the paper that makes it look like the siblings are the ones who stole "Shadow". Fortunately, almost nobody falls for it, least of all his rightful owners, who knew both that "Shadow" had escaped on his own, and that the Aldens were good people from meeting and being helped by them the day after he went missing and a day before the siblings found the dog.
* NoNameGiven: Twice, the Aldens have a run-in with a suspicious couple who see them with their temporary dog companion Shadow. The pair's names are never revealed.
* PetContestEpisode: In the last chapter of the book, after "Shadow" is successfully returned home, it's been revealed that he's actually Smokey, a show dog, and is back just in time to enter a local dog show.
* TropeyComeHome: During the Aldens' bicycle trip, they have to stay in an abandoned house overnight and are found by a strange dog, whom they name Shadow, and start asking around to see if anyone knows his owner. The last few chapters see him reunited with his family, who reveal he'd wriggled his way out of their car while it was parked and ran away until he found the Aldens, who then cared for him until they could find his rightful owners.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #016: ''Mystery in the Sand'' (1971)]]
* {{Beachcombing}}: Early in the book, the children meet Daniel Lee, an older man who likes walking up and down the beach with his metal detector and finding things that he can return to their owners. When Benny first gives it a try, all he finds is a bottle cap, but the second time he finds an old locket, setting off a quest to find whom it belongs to.
* BeachEpisode: This book revolves around the Alden siblings spending a week or so at the beach during the summer, relaxing in their great-aunt and uncle's mobile home after the two suddenly take off for another vacation spot, though once again they wind up finding a mystery.
* CrazyCatLady: Miss Mary Smith, who lives in the Tower House in Beachwood, has a reputation for being one; rumor says she has a hundred cats. She's actually the housekeeper and friend of the house's actual owner, who only has ''ten'' cats.
* InterspeciesFriendship: Late in the book, Violet receives a kitten, Sugar Cookie, for a present. When she brings him home, he and Watch meet for the first time, and quickly become friends.
* ReclusiveArtist: InUniverse, Ruth Lane, a painter who lives in the Tower House with her housekeeper and ten cats, and rarely interacts with people other than her housekeeper. She only goes out at night, for walks on the beach, to the point where hardly anyone knows she lives there.
* ThemeInitials: An interesting variation. When the locket with the initials "R. L." is finally returned to its owner, she reveals that three generations of women in her family have all had those initials, but the names themselves never repeated.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #017: ''Mystery Behind the Wall'' (1973)]]
* ConcealingCanvas: The Aldens and their new friend Rory discover the mystery when they find an old cloth coin case inside the closet wall, along with a related journal and the first clue to where the coins themselves are kept. Later, [[spoiler: Stephanie Shaw's long-lost coin collection, the Blue Collection, turns out to be hidden inside a picture of her house, where the Aldens now live.]]
* LinkedListClueMethodology: Book #17 (''Mystery Behind the Wall'') has the children discovering a treasure hunt of this type that was set up decades before by a now-deceased girl, and setting out to solve it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #018: ''Bus Station Mystery'' (1974)]]
* ArchnemesisDad: Jud and Troy, the two environmentalist boys at the bus station, turn out to be the sons of Mr. Pickett, the man whose paint factory is polluting the river and sky in the town where it's located.
* BothSidesHaveAPoint: In the matter of Pickett's Perfect Paints versus the environmentalists. Pickett is right in that his factory brings work to the area, which is a benefit, but his sons and Frank Timmons are also right in that it's ruining the land by dumping dirty water and releasing chemicals into the air. Fortunately, the disagreement is resolved when Grandfather Alden explains how his own factories used to have the same problems and found solutions to fix them up without closing down entirely, which can be implemented in Pickett's factory too.
* GreenAesop: The focus of book #18 (''Bus Station Mystery''), where Grandfather Alden educates a paint factory owner on ways to cut down on water and air pollution and helps reconcile him with his environmentalist sons.
* HeelFaceTurn: Mr. Pickett starts off as not caring about causing pollution and seeking ways to shut down those who oppose him, but quickly changes his ways after Grandfather Alden steps in and offers to teach Pickett ways to improve his paint factory so it won't pollute anymore, which Pickett accepts after hearing him out and realizing he can indeed fix things.
* MoodSwinger: Frank Timmons, the bus station manager, who goes from gruff and angry one minute to polite the next, depending on who he's talking to or what he's talking about.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Mr. Pickett certainly thinks he can buy any land and pollute all he wants because he's rich, and has been plotting to drive away one of the men who's most opposed to him, buying all the land around his house to keep him from getting to it if he feels the need.
* SupremeChef: Frank Timmons, the bus station manager, is a ''very'' good cook, preparing a big dinner of stuffed fish for the Aldens as a way of thanking them for their help in the matter of the paint factory.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #019: ''Benny Uncovers a Mystery'' (1976)]]
* FiveFingerDiscount: Discussed, as Mr. Furman warns the Alden brothers to be on the lookout for shoplifters.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Mr. Fogg, the first floor manager, is generally cranky, and doesn't hold back when dealing with customers. But he's also a hard and dedicated worker.
* KingIncognito: One of the recurring and more irritating customers (who's always offering unsolicited advice and asking difficult questions about the merchandise) at Furman's Department Store, Maggie Douglas, turns out to the store's new owner who's deliberately acting this way to check out the employees and their work habits without their realizing it.
* NobodyHereButUsStatues: During one incident, the night watchman discovers a dress dummy in the display window, which he didn't remember being there, and later sees was gone. It turns out to have been their new boss, who was sneaking around after hours on business of her own.
* SamusIsAGirl: When Henry and Benny get jobs at Furman's Department Store for the month, they learn the place has recently been sold to a new owner, M. D. Squires. Per the trope, the supposed "Mr." Squires turns out to be a woman -- Maggie Douglas Squires.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Mr. Fogg, one of the store managers, is convinced that the Alden brothers just got their jobs on the strength of their family name. It turns out he's only half right -- the new owner ''does'' know and is known by James Alden, but the boys are hired because they're good people and hard workers.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #020: ''The Haunted Cabin Mystery'' (1991)]]
* HarassingPhoneCall: Cap Lambert reveals he had his phone disconnected because he was getting strange calls where all he could hear was heavy breathing. It eventually turns out to have been his long-lost son Jason, who was calling him but couldn't get up the nerve to actually say anything.
* NotMeThisTime: When Cap Lambert discovers his neighbor's children have been digging holes on his property and swiping things from his garden and the eggs from his henhouse, he accuses them of taking his prize red hen Rhoda, who'd also gone missing. They swear more than once that they never took a chicken, which is proven to be true when [[SurpriseLitterOfPuppies Rhoda and her new clutch of chicks]] return home not long afterward.
* PirateBooty: It's widely believed that there's treasure buried somewhere near Cap Lambert's cabin. The two children who turn out to be behind the mysterious noises and lights at night turn out to be digging for it (along with swiping fruits and vegetables from the garden and orchard and eggs from the henhouses), since their mother's job only pays their mortgage and she can't afford food.
* TheRunaway: Cap Lambert and his son Jason had a falling-out years ago. Jason wanted to follow in his father's footsteps as a sailor; Cap wanted him to be a doctor or lawyer. Jason finally ran away from home, but what he's wanted for a very long time, more than anything, is to be able to come back, though he was afraid he wouldn't be welcome. When Cap informs Grandfather otherwise, Grandfather (who's been writing back and forth with Jason for the past year) tells him Jason is actually in town, and goes to get him, resulting in a happy reunion.
* SnapBack: Over the course of the first nineteen books, the children aged at least five years. In this book, they're suddenly back to their original ages of 14, 12, 10, and 6, and haven't aged since.
* SurpriseLitterOfPuppies: During the course of the book, Cap Lambert's prize red hen Rhoda goes missing, and is believed to have been taken by a fox. In the last chapter, she returns home with a number of chicks in tow, to Cap's happy surprise.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #021: ''The Deserted Library Mystery'' (1991)]]
* AdultFear: The Aldens are living in a house by themselves for a week or so, with the closest adult being two miles away... and not only does their turn out to be a hostile criminal in the town, he physically attacks Jessie one night and, at another point, actually breaks into the house ''while they're sleeping'' and tears up a chair.
* DismantledMacGuffin: Book #21 (''The Deserted Library Mystery'') has the Aldens working to clean up an old library in the town of Rock Falls so it can become a historical landmark, and in the process discover the hilt of an old Civil War sword, plus a letter explaining its origin. The rest of the book features them hunting for the other two pieces (the middle and point) so it can be reassembled and displayed as a historical treasure.
* FryingPanOfDoom: One evening, while Jessie's outside filling a water pitcher, she hears a prowler. Henry promptly goes after them with a cast-iron skillet in hand, though they escape before he can catch them.
* MissingMom: Miguel's mother died when he was seven, leaving he and his father alone.
* OrphansOrdeal: Book #21 (''The Deserted Library Mystery'') introduces the Aldens to a boy named Miguel, who's terrified that he's ''become'' an orphan after his father is lost in a storm (his mother had already died three years before), and will have to deal with this, especially after the news comes in that his father's boat was confirmed wrecked and only two of the three men in it were rescued. [[spoiler: Very happily for Miguel, his father turns out to be one of the two.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #022: ''The Animal Shelter Mystery'' (1991)]]
* AnimalLover: Clara Newcombe, founder of the Greenfield Animal Shelter, who not only started the shelter to help animals in need but owns and cares for several pets of her own.
* HarassingPhoneCall: During the time that the Aldens are looking for the missing Clara Newcombe, they receive multiple hang-up calls whenever Grandfather or Mrs. [=McGregor=] answers. Finally, when Violet answers, the person on the other end tells them to stop looking for Miss Newcombe, or else.
* MysteriousNote: During the time that the Aldens are looking for the missing Clara Newcombe, they find a threatening letter from the book's villains in their newspaper, warning them to stop investigating.
* SavingTheOrphanage: The book revolves around the Aldens trying to save the Greenfield Animal Shelter; it turns out it was built on land owned by a man who died just under fifty years ago, and unless a deed transferring the property to someone else is found and filed in the state Land Records Office before fifty years to the day after the last known owner died (which is just a few days away), the land will go up for sale. And to top it off, a demolition company has tricked the rightful owner into thinking they've already bought the land. Luckily, the Aldens find the deed ''and'' the daughter of the man whom the property was sold to, who has a copy of his will proving he left it to her; with both deed and will, she's able to prove the land with the shelter and her house is rightfully hers.
* VehicularSabotage: The men working for the Wolf Demolition Company do this twice, first draining the gas from Grandfather's car and tampering with the gas gauge so he won't realize the problem until it's too late, and then trying to slash his tires. Both are meant to delay him from getting to the Land Records Office in time to keep the men from claiming the land they're after. Fortunately, the cops catch them in the action the second time, and the one damaged tire is replaced in time to let Grandfather deliver Clara Newcombe to the office before the deadline.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #023: ''The Old Motel Mystery'' (1991)]]
* CatScare: Late one night, while trying to sleep, Violet sees a shadow going by her window, waking up the others in her panic. Then they hear noises on the roof and see a pair of glittering yellow eyes... which turn out to belong to Willie, the owner's cat, much to their relief.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While the Aldens deal with the physical saboteur, the real mastermind behind the plot is Mr. Warner, the manager of the Great Adventure Hotel chain, who told them what to do to try and shut down the motel so the hotel chain could buy it up and build one of their own hotels in its place.
* INeverGotAnyLetters: One of the suspicious happenings at the motel is that Kay isn't getting any reservations from visitors. It turns out the saboteur has been stealing them from her mailbox, but hands them over at the end.
* PlotAllergy: One character in the book is allergic to cats. This same allergy later exposes them when they're trying to flee in disguise.
* SavingTheOrphanage: Or the motel, in this case. Its owner Kay Kingsley has been pressured to sell out to a larger hotel chain, but the Aldens work to fix the place up so she can keep it, despite the chain's efforts at sabotage.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #024: ''The Mystery of the Hidden Painting'' (1991)]]
* AgelessBirthdayEpisode: The plot of the book is kicked off when the children decide to prepare for their Grandfather's birthday. His age is never given though.
* TheAtoner: Lorraine Newton, feeling guilty for her son's crime and her own cover-up of it, ultimately returns the property he stole to its rightful owners years after her son's death.
* EasilyForgiven: The Aldens all accept Lorraine Newton's apology for her actions in continuing to hide their grandmother's necklace, and Grandfather Alden himself, after his own acceptance, declines to prosecute the family since the actual thief has been dead for years and he can understand Lorraine's reason for hiding his crime.
* HiddenInPlainSight: Years ago, someone stole a valuable necklace belonging to Celia Alden (Grandfather Alden's now deceased wife). When his mother found the stolen item among his things, she took it and donated it to a museum, where it's eventually discovered after being loaned out to a friend of hers, who appears in a news article wearing it.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Lorraine Newton admits that she did what she had to do -- taking the stolen Alden necklace and hiding it -- to protect the real thief, her son, so he wouldn't go to jail for the crime and his children wouldn't find out he ''was'' a thief.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #025: ''The Amusement Park Mystery '' (1992)]]
* BribeBackfire: Variant -- the villains bribed a supposed expert to claim the copies of the stolen merry-go-round horses were the real deal. It's not the person being bribed who turns on them, but the fact that they did this ''in plain sight'', where the Aldens could see it, as it makes them realize that of their suspects, these two are the real crooks.
* TheBusCameBack: This book marks the first in-person appearance of Joe and Alice Alden since book 3 (and their first ''mention'' since book 9).
* CutAndPasteNote: The Aldens receive one, a warning to stay away from the amusement park and quit investigating, at one point. As with the {{Harassing Phone Call}}s they've gotten, it has the opposite effect.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Late in the book, one of the villains shuts off the Ferris Wheel at the park, leaving the Aldens stranded at the top. For her husband though, this is a step too far, as he fights her off and restarts the wheel to bring them down.
* HallOfMirrors: The amusement park has recently had a House of Mirrors installed, and Karen, the owner's daughter, is always encouraging people to go for it and more modern attractions. The Aldens actually do try it out once, but Jessie nearly gets lost inside, causing a small panic until she finds her way back to her siblings. Later, one of the villains escapes into it to try and evade capture, but fails.
* HarassingPhoneCall: The Aldens get more than one of these over the course of the book, always telling them to stay away from the amusement park. Naturally, it has the opposite effect, as they continue to investigate.
* ReplacedWithReplica: The villains of the book have been stealing valuable merry-go-round horses from the amusement park (with the intention of selling them and getting rich), and replacing them with copies, each of which had some flaw that led to their being exposed as fakes.
* VillainBall: During the story, two of the villains make the ''colossal'' mistake of paying off one of their helpers out in plain sight, where the heroes can see them -- confirming their suspicions that the two are behind the mysterious happenings at the amusement park. They even acknowledge this at the end.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #026: ''The Mystery of the Mixed Up Zoo'' (1992)]]
* AnimalLover: Edward Marlowe, owner of the titular zoo. And not just zoo animals, but regular ones too -- after the villain is arrested, Edward adopts his dog, who was being neglected.
* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: The villain of the book. He neglects his dog, did the same thing to the zoo animals, and then went out of his way to cause trouble for them, from stealing their food and medicine to draining the seal pool and tampering with the temperatures in various exhibits, which could have made them very sick if it wasn't caught in time. Happily, no lasting damage is done.
* BigEater: The larger animals at the zoo, naturally. One bear's dinner alone consists of three oranges, half a pound of cabbage, half a pound of carrots, five apples, a pound of beef mix... and all mixed together with honey. Meanwhile, Zelda the Bengal tiger eats ten pounds of meat every day.
* EvilIsPetty: [[spoiler: Mac Thatcher]] in book #26 (''The Mystery of the Mixed Up Zoo'') was fired because he wasn't good at taking care of the animals. [[spoiler: So he uses a duplicate set of keys to break in, start sabotaging the place, and kidnap Amos the monkey to sell him at a pet shop for moving-away money.]]
* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Helen Brooks, a member of the town council, has been wanting to shut down the zoo, and plans to bring it up at the next council meeting. However, when she talks to some of the other members and they tell her they'd ''never'' support shutting down the zoo, she knows she's beaten and gives up.
* MenCantKeepHouse: For all that he loves his animals and does a good job of running his zoo, Edward Marlowe's a pretty poor housekeeper -- the place is covered in dust and cobwebs and the sink is full of dirty dishes. He admits to this lack, stating that "An old bachelor like me doesn't pay much attention to the house", and is very grateful when the Aldens offer to fix things up for him.
* PassedInTheirSleep: Happened long before the events of the book to Billy, the wildcat mascot of a World War II fighter squadron where Edward Marlowe served. He became the first animal in Edward's zoo, where he lived to a ripe old age before dying in his sleep.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #027: ''The Camp Out Mystery'' (1992)]]
* CampingEpisode: While not the first time the Aldens have gone camping out, this is the first book dedicated to it, with them staying at the campgrounds in Blue Mound State Park.
* GreenAesop: The troublemaker in the book has been chasing away campers partly because they're so careless with their trash, leaving mess all over the place. When this is explained, the people running the campgrounds make plans to install extra cans for trash and recycling to help keep the place clean from then on.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Hildy, the grouchy sister of the woman who's in charge of the Blue Mound State Park. She doesn't like people, and yells at the Aldens for daring to come near her property, but she also goes to investigate when she gets suspicious of the real culprit who's behind the strange events.
* LoudOfWar: One of the troublemaker's methods of chasing away campers is to go by their campsites with a radio playing loud music. It works on some, but not the Aldens.
* MysteriousNote: While the Aldens are out looking for Grandfather (who'd gone out the day before and never came back), someone changes their "Went hiking. Back soon." note to read "Went home. Back never.", and pins it to a tree with an arrow. Given that it was meant for Grandfather, and he ''knows'' they hadn't gone home (since they'd gone to find and, as it turns out, ''rescue'' him), it doesn't fool them for a minute. Another set of campers, however, also get a strange note and decide it's the last straw, prompting them to leave.
* RoadSignReversal: One of the first things the troublemaker did to try and keep campers away, reversing the sign so it leads to a dead end instead of the ranger station.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: The troublemaker in this book is one, attempting to chase away campers who can't respect the peace and beauty of the forest, leaving messes and playing loud music. He turns their own methods against them, stealing food and lanterns and playing loud music of his own at night, and ultimately leaving threatening notes. He's ultimately persuaded to turn himself in and is made to perform community service in return, educating campers on what to do and what not to do.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #028: ''The Mystery Girl'' (1992)]]
* TheKlutz: Nancy Baldwin, the titular mystery girl, is always dropping things when she's nervous.
* MyBelovedSmother: A full family variant. Nancy loves her family, but has gotten tired of them always controlling her life, deciding everything for her, even what college she's going to. It got to the point where she ran away from home to escape it.
* TheRunaway: Nancy Baldwin, the titular mystery girl, who's revealed to have run away from home so she could live her own life without her parents deciding everything for her.
* SecretlyWealthy: Nancy, the titular mystery girl, who comes from a rich family but has run away from them so she can live her own life.
* UndercoverCopReveal: One of the characters in the book, a Mrs. Edwards, earns the suspicion of the Aldens. In the climax, it turns out she's a private investigator who's been looking for Nancy on her family's behalf.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #029: ''The Mystery Cruise'' (1992)]]
* OnOneCondition: Max Greene, a new friend the Aldens make on their cruise, learns that he'll inherit his great-aunt Edith's property and money, but only if he's physically present at the official will reading. If he isn't, everything will go to his cousin Carla, who's a mean and selfish person who would undoubtedly sell off everything and have the house torn down. Thankfully, despite attempts at delaying the cruise ship he's on, he makes it home in time to meet the condition.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #030: ''The Disappearing Friend Mystery'' (1992)]]
* AnonymousBenefactor: Early on, the Aldens start a helper service to raise money for Greenfield Hospital's new wing. They also learn that an anonymous wealthy donor (whose identity is never revealed in the story) has agreed to match any donations made.
* IdenticalTwinMistake: Early on, the Alden children make friends with new girl in town, Beth Simon. Later that night, they see her again, and talk to her... except it was actually Beth's twin sister Heather, who goes on to cause trouble for them while pretending to be Beth.
* KeyUnderTheDoormat: When hired to feed the cats of a woman who will be out of town for two days, the Aldens are told the key will be under the mat, but can't find it when they arrive. Fortunately, they find another way into the house; shortly after their friend Beth leaves, they discover the missing key by a flower pot, where they ''know'' they'd searched before. [[spoiler: It turns out this was one of the times that Heather had impersonated her sister and swiped it to cause trouble for them on purpose.]]
* NewFriendEnvy: Inverted with Beth Simon. It's not any of the Aldens' friends who get jealous of their friendship with her -- it's her own twin sister Heather, who proceeds to try and break up the friendship by playing nasty pranks while disguised as Beth. And apparently she's done this in every town they do, because she's jealous of how easily Beth makes new friends.
* ReallyMovesAround: The Simon family, since their parents are consultants and often move around to work for new companies. The story begins when they've just moved to Greenfield.
* RedHerring: During the story, the Aldens suspect two different people of being behind the troubles at their helper service, but both end up disqualifying themselves.
** One, a doctor who felt Silver City needed a new hospital more than Greenfield Hospital needed a new wing, ends up hiring them to babysit because she really does need the help, and begrudgingly admits that while she'd still rather have the new hospital, the new wing is better than nothing.
** The second, a man who does the same kind of helper work as them and whom they think might have been sabotaging the competition, disqualifies himself as a suspect when he not only hires them to wash his truck, he tells them there's plenty of work for both sides, and he actually recommended them for some of it because he was too busy to help all his customers.
* TwinSwitch: Early on, the Alden children make friends with Beth Simon, a new girl in town. When her twin sister Heather finds out about this, she proceeds to pretend to be Beth, allowing her to get close to the Aldens and mess up their work, making them think Beth might be the one responsible. And it's explained during the big reveal that this isn't the first time she's pulled this.
* VehicularSabotage: As one of the pranks Heather pulls, she let the air out of the tires on Benny's bicycle while he, his siblings and Beth were in town.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #031: ''The Mystery of the Singing Ghost'' (1992)]]
* CrankyNeighbor: Mr. Carter, who lives next door to the Roth house with his wife, is pretty darn cranky and upset at the idea of anyone moving into the house, saying he doesn't want any new neighbors. It turns out he and his wife want to buy the house themselves, and he's annoyed at the prospect of anyone getting there first.
* INeverGotAnyLetters: In two directions. When she ran away to get married, Celia Roth left a letter in her father's desk, but it ended up behind a drawer and he never found it. Later, he placed an ad in a Boston paper addressed to her; she only sees it years after the fact, learning he had forgiven her.
* ParentalMarriageVeto: Robert Roth tried this with his daughter Celia, saying she was too young to get married (she was seventeen). Ultimately, she ran away and married her beloved George anyway, before he went off to fight in Europe during World War I.
* PrecociousCrush: Charles Farley admits that as a child, he had a crush on his next door neighbor Celia Roth, who was ten years older than him and disappeared when he was seven and she was seventeen. He actually admits this to her face when they meet again late in the book, and that part of the reason he wanted to believe her ghost was haunting her house was so he could pretend she was still there.
* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: The house that Joe and Alice are moving into is supposedly haunted by the ghost of Celia Roth, a young girl who lived there years ago. Turns out she's alive and well, and comes to visit them at the end of the book after the Aldens track her down.
* ScoobyDooHoax: The "singing ghost", which turns out to just be a tape-recorded song, plus someone sneaking roses and an antique dress inside to make it look like a ghost was around. It turns out one set of neighbors was trying to keep the house empty so they could buy it for themselves eventually.
* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: Charles Farley may be rather obsessed with ghosts, but when an artist who's been doing a painting of the Roth house and doesn't want its looks to be changed (which would spoil his hard work) tries to bribe him to watch the Aldens and report their movements to said artist, he refuses.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #032: ''The Mystery in the Snow'' (1993)]]
* FrameUp: When things are sabotaged, items belonging to other people are found near them, implicating that person. However, the Aldens -- and later the other competitors -- catch on quickly.
* ParentalNeglect: Downplayed. Jimmy's parents are always dropping him off at Snow Haven Lodge and taking off on their own vacation for the winter, because they think he likes being independent and having time without them. However, he admits that he feels abandoned, and tried to sabotage the winter events so they'd have to close up and his parents would have to take him with them. By the end of the book, they learn about this and promise that they'll take their next vacation together.
* VehicularSabotage: One of the methods used by the saboteur to try and close down the lodge -- he let the air out of the tires in the owner's personal vehicle.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #033: ''The Pizza Mystery'' (1993)]]
* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: In book #33 (''The Pizza Mystery''), the lady with the red hat [[spoiler: reveals that she's been wanting to learn how to make pizzas and sending the kids on deliveries because her family restaurant is failing, and she is worried about her parents going bankrupt. The Piccolos bluntly ask why she didn't tell them, since they would have been happy to help without the subterfuge. They immediately start her on cooking lessons that she can pass on to her parents, for which she is eternally grateful]].
* EvilIsPetty: In book #33 (''The Pizza Mystery''), it's revealed that the perpetrator behind the sabotage at the pizza place is [[spoiler: a middle-management business executive at the company next door. When the kids bring him a free pizza as a peace offering, he eats it while gloating he thinks the Piccolos are old enough to be retired and the restaurant would serve better as a work cafeteria. Fortunately, he left the intercom on long enough for his boss to overhear, and she fires him on the spot while apologizing to the kids]].
* MeanBoss: Maxwell Irons, manager at the Mighty Muffler factory, who's seen yelling at his secretary when the Aldens visit him. He's also mean enough that his secretary's fiancé thinks she'd be fired if Irons knew said fiancé was working for a business he didn't like.
* NotMeThisTime: While Laurie Baker admits that she came to work for the Piccolos under not-so-honest reasons, and that she called the health inspector on them because she thought that way they'd have to teach her now to make new supplies to replace what would have been thrown out, she honestly denies being behind the other sabotage events like cancelling their gas line repair and the prank calls they got.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: A number of the customers at the pizzeria, who go by things like "The Lady in the Red Hat" (whose real name is revealed partway through), "The Man With the Walking Stick" and "The Woman with the Earmuffs" to the Piccolos.
* PrankCall: The villain behind the book, as part of their campaign to drive the Piccolos out of business, makes calls where they don't say anything and hang up, and later to make a "Is your refrigerator running? Well, you'd better go catch it!" joke. They also get orders for empty addresses over the phone.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Lydia Sturgis, the owner of the Mighty Muffler factory, is ''much'' nicer than her manager Maxwell Irons; [[spoiler: she considers the Piccolos to be friends, and fires Irons for trying to drive them out of business]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #034: ''The Mystery Horse'' (1993)]]
* HeroicBystander: In book #34 (''The Mystery Horse''), the kids learn that [[spoiler: the horse the family is boarding is a race star called Wind Dancer. Benny and the kids find thieves trying to steal Wind Dancer, and Benny uses his pouch full of roofing nails to stop them with a flat tire]].
* SeriesContinuityError: Book 34 is set on a farm, which is said to be the first time the Aldens have ever been on one. Not only does this contradict how they've been to their Aunt Jane's farm (which, admittedly, isn't a working farm by the time she moved there), it would be contradicted by the prequel published nineteen years later, which would reveal that the Aldens grew up on a farm before they ran away after their parents died.
* UndercoverCopReveal: [[spoiler: Jed Owens, a man the Morgan family hires as a farmhand, turns out to be an undercover agent working for Wind Dancer's owners, whom they sent to keep an eye out for the people trying to steal him.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #035: ''The Mystery at the Dog Show'' (1993)]]
* CheatersNeverProsper: The villain in this book is a competitor in a dog show who stoops to cheating in order to knock out some of the other entrants, up to and including kidnapping one of his chief rivals and dropping her off at the vet's office for a day or so. Naturally, when Sunny shows up at the final round after being rescued, he reacts with disbelief and accidentally exposes himself as having been the one who stole her, which gets him disqualified.
* GentleGiant: While out walking some beagles for one contestant, the Aldens meet a massive Great Dane, named Berries, whom Benny's a little nervous around at first from his size. He turns out to be a great big sweetheart though.
* InterspeciesFriendship: Zonker the dalmatian and a similarly black-and-white cat named Spike are best friends, according to their owner.
* NoNameGiven: Zonker the dalmatian's owners are never identified by name. Nor is the suspicious man the Aldens see many times, [[spoiler: who turns out to be a reporter poking around for a good story]].
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Two of the dogs, a golden retriever known as Sunny and an Old English sheepdog called Plum, are registered under longer names but go by shortened versions most of the time -- their full names are Champion Gold Doubloon's Morning Sun, and Burger Plum Pudding, respectively.
* PetContestEpisode: As the title says, the book revolves around a dog show, with a visiting friend of the Aldens entering her prize-winning golden retriever Sunny.
* SeriesContinuityError: The Aldens say this is their first dog show, having apparently forgotten the one they attended in book 15.
* ThisCannotBe: This is the villain's reaction when the dog he stole shows up in the final round, and in doing so, he exposes himself and gets disqualified from the competition.
* UncattyResemblance: During the dog show, the Aldens notice this to be true of some of the contestants, like "two full-coated collies being walked by a stately man with long, flowing golden hair, and a bulldog being walked by a thickset old man with a mashed-in nose". Invoked by Sunny's owner Caryn Teague, who tends to dress up to match Sunny's coat, and by Zonker the dalmatian's owners, who both also wear white-and-black spotted clothing to match him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #036: ''The Castle Mystery'' (1993)]]
* PassedOverInheritance: [[spoiler: The crook's motivation. He turns out to be the son of the late Mr. Drummond's niece, and feels that the man's priceless violin rightfully belongs to him instead of in a museum, since Mr. Drummond had left in his will that his castle was to become one and the violin was to be one of the exhibits.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Special #001: ''The Mystery on the Ice'' (1993)]]
* InsuranceFraud: For a little while, the Aldens wonder if this is the reason behind the theft of the jewels. Grandfather, however, assures them that the Murpheys are very wealthy and had just made a large donation to a cause, so they have no need to pull this trope off.
* NonIronicClown: Ollie, the Starlight Troupe's skating clown. He's always cheerful and goofy on and off the ice, and very friendly to everyone he meets.
* SeriesContinuityError: There's a moment where the Aldens are reminiscing about how they fixed up Joe and Alice's current house in book #31, and mention how one of the stairs broke when Joe stepped on it. It was actually Henry whom that happened to.
* ThrowingOffTheDisability: [[spoiler: Marcia Westerly, the thief, has been faking an injury that requires her to use crutches. When the Aldens see her moving just fine without them, it's the final piece in the puzzle that makes them realize she's the thief.]]
* WackyMarriageProposal: Carl, one of the skaters in the Starlight Troupe, surprises his girlfriend Alex by hiding a diamond ring in the hand of his mermaid ice sculpture.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #037: ''The Mystery of the Lost Village'' (1993)]]
* GhostTown: The titular lost village, which its occupants abandoned because of a drought, and was eventually buried by the earth. The plot of the book revolves around searching for evidence it was there, so the area can be marked for as a site for historical preservation and excavation, rather than letting a developer build houses over it.
* HeelFaceTurn: During the climax, one of the suspects -- who works for a developer who wanted to build houses on what's quickly revealed to be a historical site that needs to be preserved -- reveals he's quit his job and comes to work at the dig, since he couldn't hurt his own people.
* IAmOneOfThoseToo: Early on, one of the suspects poking around claims to be of Navajo descent and to have come to research his roots, but he manages to know ''nothing'' about their background, not recognizing key pieces of their culture and claiming his ancestors were from New England when all the Navajo lived in the southwest. Naturally, he's a fraud.
* MysteriousNote: Unusually for the trope, it's one of the ''suspects'' who gets one, warning them to stay away from the dig, and she suspects the Aldens did it. [[spoiler: The last chapters reveal that it was in fact the village storyteller Kinowok, who knew she was up to no good and was warning her off.]]
* UnholyMatrimony: The active villains of the book turn out to be husband and wife, who are just interested in the titular lost village as a source of "treasure", and don't care about its historical value.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #038: ''The Mystery of the Purple Pool'' (1994)]]
* HypercompetentSidekick: One of the employees at the Plymouth Hotel, a man named Malcolm, proves to be very good and intelligent at his job. His boss, in fact, thinks he's ''too'' competent, and might be able to figure out that said boss is behind all the trouble at the hotel, so he fires him. When said boss is himself fired, the actual manager mentions she'll hire him back and now has an opening for an assistant manager.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Malcolm, a very competent employee at the Plymouth Hotel, was wrongfully fired at one point for supposed incompetence. When it turns out his boss fired him because he considered Malcolm to be ''too'' competent, the manager not only says she'll hire him back, but into the assistant manager position that just got vacated when she fired the man who fired Malcolm.
* PaperThinDisguise: During the events of the book, the Aldens see a man a few times in a hat, glasses and coat, or a robe and sunglasses the one time he's coming away from the pool. However, he has a distinctive hairstyle and nose. In the final chapter, they see him again and those features allow them to recognize him. It turns out that he's [[spoiler: Frederick Astor, identified as one of Broadway's biggest stars -- they just weren't familiar enough with him to recognize him. A little while later, a woman in a similar disguise turns up in the hotel, but this time someone else ''does'' recognize her as a celebrity in a poor disguise]].
* PointyHairedBoss: Subverted. The villain of the book turns out to be setting his boss up to ''look'' like one of these, pulling all sorts of pranks (such as dumping purple dye in the pool, swiping random hotel things like phones, pillows, shower curtains and the like from the rooms, switching around the salt and sugar in the dining room and cancelling guests' reservations) to make said manager look incompetent and thus get fired so he'd get their job.
* SimilarItemConfusion: Done deliberately by the villain, who switched the contents of the salt shakers with those of the sugar bowls.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #039: ''The Ghost Ship Mystery'' (1994)]]
* TreacheryCoverUp: Inverted. After one character has spent so long trying to paint one long-deceased man as a villain, then discovers evidence that he ''wasn't'', they try to hide the truth. [[spoiler: Specifically, Prudence Coffin has long been claiming, based on what evidence they had at the time, that Eli Hull, first mate of the ''Flying Cloud'', had led the crew in a mutiny against her great-grandfather, Captain Jeremiah Coffin, before the ship sank. She even wrote a book about it. During the events of the story, a logbook from the ship turns up that reveals Eli ''had'' taken charge of the ship... because Captain Coffin was feverish with malaria, and had to be confined to his cabin because he kept ignoring his illness and trying to order his crew to go back to sea when all they wanted was to get him help.]] Eventually, they decide to admit they were wrong and publish the truth.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Special #002: ''The Mystery in Washington, DC'' (1994)]]
* BenevolentBoss: Molly Parsons, after discovering that her employee at her Bed and Breakfast had been stealing money and other things from her because he wasn't able to pay for his current college semester of college, is understanding and responds by giving him more hours to pay back for what he took and promising to take him to the bank to arrange for a loan.
* StealingFromTheTill: The culprit has been doing this, and admits that he stole from his employer because he needed money to pay for his current semester of college.
* UndercoverCopReveal: [[spoiler: Throughout the book, the Aldens and their new friend Amira have been watched by two men in suits and sunglasses. The final chapter reveals that Amira's father works for the Egyptian embassy, and the men are actually her bodyguards.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #040: ''The Canoe Trip Mystery'' (1994)]]
* ContinuityNod: On their way out of town, the Aldens stop at Piccolo's Pizzeria, previously the setting of book #33 (''The Pizza Mystery'').
* RiddleMeThis: Early on in the trip, the Aldens find a riddle written on a stone. It turns out to be a clue leading them to a stolen coin collection.
* UndercoverCopReveal: During their trip, the Aldens meet several suspicious people, including a man named Rob Wilson. He turns out to be a private detective, hired to find the stolen coin collection by its owner Mr. Withington, and already on the trail of the real thief.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #041: ''The Mystery of the Hidden Beach'' (1994)]]
* SeriesContinuityError: The kids' grown cousin Joe (the son of Grandfather Alden's brother) and his wife Alice are referred to as their aunt and uncle in this book.
* UndercoverCopReveal: During their stay at Camp Coral, the Aldens meet Nick Simon, who claims to be a marine biologist (and that his friend is a fisherman), but evidently knows nothing about fish. He turns out to be an undercover police officer, investigating the coral thefts.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #042: ''The Mystery of the Missing Cat'' (1994)]]
* ContinuityNod: The events of book #22 (''The Animal Shelter Mystery'') and #35 (''The Mystery at the Dog Show'') are referenced as times when Dr. Scott, the Aldens' veterinarian, helped them with mysteries they had to solve.
* HarassingPhoneCall: During the events of the book, the Aldens receive one of these, once again telling them to stop snooping and quit trying to solve their current mystery (finding a stolen cat). Once again, it doesn't do the culprit any good.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Special #003: ''The Mystery at Snowflake Inn'' (1994)]]
* ContinuityNod:
** The events of book #26 (''The Mystery of the Mixed-Up Zoo'') are referenced when the Aldens and the other guests see a porcupine, and the one from the zoo is mentioned.
** The events of special #1 (''The Mystery on the Ice'') are referenced when the Aldens explain how Jessie can skate so good.
* NotMeThisTime: In the climax, when the troublemaker confesses, they deny being responsible for the mouse in the wastebasket in Jessie and Violet's bedroom. Two of the other kids in the inn then admit to having done that one as a joke.
* SecretRoom: There's one in Snowflake Inn, which dates back to the Revolutionary War and was used to hide people who'd been spying on the British. It's also got a second entrance that opens into the kitchen.
* TakeThisJobAndShoveIt: Greta, the cook at Snowflake Inn, walks off the job after one too many problems in her kitchen.
* UndergroundRailroad: The real-life version is discussed in the book, when a secret room that dates back to the Revolutionary War is shown, and it's noted that it was also used as part of the Underground Railroad to help slaves get to safety.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #043: ''The Mystery on Stage'' (1994)]]
* FantasyForbiddingFather: [[spoiler: Mr. Bellamy, father of Sarah Bellamy, the girl playing Dorothy, strongly disapproves of her desire to be an actress, since her mother was also one, but died during a performance. He changes his mind after being exposed.]]
* HarassingPhoneCall: Early on, director Jim Maynard gets one warning him not to go on with the show. It's the first sign that something strange is going on.
* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: At one point, Richard, the actor playing the Wizard, has been recruited to work with scenery, but isn't too happy about it until, after letting out a yelp in pain, he finally calls it quits with the following line:
---> "You can tell Jim I am ''not'', and I repeat ''not working on scenery any longer! I'm an actor, not a carpenter."
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #044: ''The Dinosaur Mystery'' (1995)]]
* DrivenByEnvy: Dr. Skyler, who runs the planetarium at the Pickering Natural Museum, admits in the climax to being envious of the new dinosaur exhibit and trying to delay the Aldens from doing anything to help it via keeping them busy in her section of the museum, while also trying to get rid of the posters advertising the exhibit.
* NeedleInAStackOfNeedles: Late in the book, the culprit in the theft of the dinosaur bones reveals they hid each of them in a block of plaster, but there are several in the room and now they can't remember which one the last bone is inside. Fortunately, Violet quickly figures it out.
* PublicityStunt: [[spoiler: The "theft" of the dinosaur bones. Dr. Pettibone, who found them in the first place, swipes and hides some of them to drum up interest for his "Dino World" exhibit at the museum.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #045: ''The Mystery of the Stolen Music'' (1995)]]
* ForgetfulJones: Victor Perrelli, the conductor of the orchestra visiting Greenfield, is rather absent-minded. He claims he can't remember most things because his mind is so full of music. [[spoiler: In fact, the initial disappearance of the titular stolen music is because he'd put the score away in his tuxedo and forgotten about it... before it was stolen for real by someone who found it in there.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Special #004: ''The Mystery at the Ballpark'' (1994)]]
* FantasyForbiddingFather: [[spoiler: It turns out the aunt of one of the players doesn't approve of her playing baseball, which is why she's been trying to sabotage the team to make the girl quit.]]
* NoSenseOfDirection: Chuck, the assistant coach, admits to being lousy with directions, which nearly makes the Bears late for their first game.
* NotMeThisTime: When the mystery is solved, it turns out the main culprit was ''not'' responsible for two of the items that disappeared or turned up. Benny's bear Stockings, it turns out, was taken by a little girl who picked him up and took him home, and [[spoiler: the assistant coach]] slipped a fake glove into Jessie's locker after her autographed one was stolen because they felt sorry for her loss.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #046: ''The Chocolate Sundae Mystery'' (1995)]]
* BenevolentBoss: Mr. Brown, the new owner of the Ice Cream Shoppe, who's very understanding with his employees even when they mess things up. [[spoiler: When he finds one of them has been letting people in after hours so they can have some food (since their family can't afford much; their late-night visits are sometimes the only meal they're getting in a day), he not only keeps the worker on (though he does dock their pay for a while), he arranges to let the hungry kids have the leftover sandwich fixings from each day.]]
* StealingFromTheTill: The culprit in this book is revealed to be an employee who's been letting some close friends come in to eat ice cream after hours.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: One plot thread, involving an angry customer who turns out to be a former employee who got let go apparently before the new owner bought the Shoppe, never gets resolved after the Aldens overhear his talking about it with someone else.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #047: ''The Mystery of the Hot Air Balloon'' (1995)]]
* LivingDrawing: In the opening chapter, it's revealed that Benny likes to ''pretend'' the animals on his wallpaper are this, who come to life and play when humans aren't around to see them.
* NotNowKiddo: A short-lived case. Benny's been bored, but his siblings are all busy with their own things. Then he comes into the living room saying something's landing on the lawn. For a moment, they think he's just saying it to get attention, though they don't say so aloud... but then the shadow he saw makes the room get dark, and Watch starts whining, making them realize he's telling the truth and they all get up to see what it is. It turns out to be a hot air balloon that got blown off course and is coming in for a landing in their yard.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #048: ''The Mystery Bookstore'' (1995)]]
* {{Auction}}: The Aldens attend one in New Orleans in this book. Benny bids on and wins an old toy boxcar, but one of the biggest attractions is an old bookstore and its contents, which a mystery writer and friend of the Aldens wants to buy (having also been friends with the late former owner), as does another mystery writer, both bidding fiercely until the end... when, with their friend unable to go any higher, a third person suddenly jumps in and makes a WhammyBid of 100,000 dollars that wins them the bookstore. It's Grandfather Alden, who then arranges to rent the store to their friend until she can pay back what he paid for it, much to the children's delight.
* WhammyBid: In book #48 (''The Mystery Bookstore''), bidding on an old bookstore and its contents starts at 50,000 dollars and, in just seven bids, quickly hits 80,000. Then a final bidder outdoes everyone and wins by jumping the price to 100,000 dollars.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Special #005: ''The Pilgrim Village Mystery'' (1995)]]
* TheIllegible: Eric, the
* NotMeThisTime: When the culprit behind the strange events at Pilgrim Village confesses, they deny being responsible for the mishaps in the kitchen. Pilgrim Village's chef admits that that was entirely ''his'' fault, since he hasn't been able to keep up with things lately and made a few mistakes as a result.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #049: ''The Mystery of the Stolen Boxcar'' (1995)]]
* AdultFear: When the boxcar is stolen, Watch disappears along with it. The siblings are all very afraid for his safety until he returns on his own, much to their relief.
* PlotAllergy: While trying to figure out who stole their boxcar, the Aldens realize that one of their suspects couldn't have done it -- he's severely allergic to dogs, and could barely stand to be around the boxcar because Watch has been inside.
* SpoiledBrat: Becky Jennings, a little girl who, on seeing the Alden family's boxcar, immediately starts screaming and throwing a tantrum about how she wants it. More than a few people comment on her bad behavior on seeing this, and again later.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #050: ''Mystery in the Cave'' (1996)]]
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: During the story, the Aldens meet a man who's been in the caves too, whom Benny nicknames "Joe Caveman". When he finally reveals his story -- that he's a caver who comes down for some peace and quiet so he can read and relax -- he never does give them his real name.
* WorthlessTreasureTwist: The culprits prove to be two men looking for a stash of money hidden in the cave by a bank robber before he was caught ten years before. After they're arrested and it's revealed what they were looking for (since they hadn't found it yet), the cops start laughing and explain that the bank had only given the robber counterfeit money, so it wouldn't have done them any good anyway.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #051: ''The Mystery on the Train'' (1996)]]
* PassedOverInheritance: The ''true'' villain of the book turns out to be motivated by this -- his parents cut him out of their will, so he's trying to trick his niece out of some valuable items that were left to her parents and that he feels should have been his.
* SeriesContinuityError: This book claims that the Aldens are going on a train for the first time, ignoring three train trips they took in the Warner books (in books 4, 5 and 11).
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Special #006: ''The Mystery at the Fair'' (1996)]]
* AgelessBirthdayEpisode: As with book #24 (''The Mystery of the Hidden Painting''), the plot of the book is kicked off when the children decide to prepare for their Grandfather's birthday, but his age is never given.
* BaitAndSwitch: Early on, Benny says that "I'm just not hungry anymore." At his sister's surprised reaction, he replies, "No, now I'm starving!"
* BigEater: Michael, a little boy introduced in this book, turns out to have just as big an appetite as Benny's, which helps inspire their friendship.
* CompetitionFreak: Susie Martinelli, who's entered three out of four competitions in an effort to finally win something this year (having entered each year during the past eight years but never won). [[spoiler: It also leads her to sabotage in a desperate attempt to win ''something'' before her family moves away in a few weeks, since this is her last chance.]]
* DisqualificationInducedVictory: The final contest at the fair is decided when it's revealed that the winning entrant cheated by sabotaging other entrants; the second-place winner becomes the first-place winner as a result.
* FrameUp: When the cheating contestant gets spotted, they swipe the prizes from another contest and hide them in the spying person's bag, making it look as if they were the guilty one and casting doubt on any testimony they'd have entered.
* StageMom: Kristie Stephen's mother is always pushing her daughter to win in her art competitions, when all Kristie wants is to just paint for fun. She also goes poking around for excuses to disqualify other competitors.
* UndercoverCopReveal: Throughout the book, the Aldens have been seeing a man in a baseball cap, taking notes. He's revealed in the climax to be Steven Pearson, whom the fair officials had hired to investigate things around the fair and figure out who was behind the trouble.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #052: ''The Mystery of the Lost Mine'' (1996)]]
* ContinuityNod: The Alden's trip to Camp Coral in book #41 (''The Mystery of the Hidden Beach'') gets referenced when they're reminded of how hot it can get in Arizona.
* CutAndPasteNote: Jake, the old prospector, wakes up to find one at his campsite one morning. The thing is, it was written in Spanish, so he has to ask the Aldens for a translation. They can't help, but their friend Luis does, and tells him it means "This path is dangerous".
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #053: ''The Guide Dog Mystery'' (1996)]]
* CanineCompanion: The Greenfield Guide Dog School is all about training dogs to serve in this role for blind people. One of them, Ginger, is specially trained throughout the book to be a companion for Anna, a blind girl who's getting ready to go off to college.
* RecognizableBySound: Anna, the blind girl who's attending the guide dog school in this book, has learned to recognize people by the sound of their footstep... which is how she's able to identify the thief in the climax.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: #054: ''The Hurricane Mystery'' (1996)]]
* HiddenInPlainSight: Over the years, there've been plenty of legends about the Ashleigh family having a secret pirate treasure, but the family themselves haven't found it. [[spoiler: It turns out the gold he had was melted down and concealed inside the Pirate's Gate, the special gate door that Mr. Ashleigh, who was believed to have been a pirate, had made for the house he built for his wife.]]
* OpenMouthInsertFoot: Early on, the Aldens see Mrs. Ashleigh arguing with a man who's been trying to convince her to sell her house and move. After he's gone, Benny asks, "Who was that mean man?" He gets this reaction when Mrs. Ashleigh tells them the "mean man" was her grown son Forrest, and immediately apologizes.
[[/folder]]
%%[[folder: Special #007: ''The Pet Shop Mystery'' (1996)]]
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%%[[folder: #055: ''The Mystery of the Secret Message'' (1996)]]
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%%[[folder: #056: ''The Firehouse Mystery'' (1997)]]
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%%[[folder: #057: ''The Mystery in San Francisco'' (1997)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #008: ''The Niagara Falls Mystery'' (1997)]]
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%%[[folder: #058: ''The Mystery at the Alamo'' (1997)]]
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%%[[folder: #059: ''The Outer Space Mystery'' (1997)]]
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%%[[folder: #060: ''The Soccer Mystery'' (1997)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #009: ''The Mystery in the Old Attic'' (1997)]]
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%%[[folder: #061: ''The Growling Bear Mystery'' (1997)]]
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[[folder: #062: ''The Mystery of the Lake Monster'' (1998)]]
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: At the very end, after the mystery is solved and the fake monster is exposed, the Aldens hear the sound of an unfamiliar animal, indicating Lucy the lake monster might really be out there.
* ScoobyDooHoax: The titular lake monster, which turns out to be made up by [[spoiler: a teenage boy who thinks that if he can scare people with signs of a monster being around, it'll make his parents decide to take him home; he used fake feet and a pre-cut paddle that made it look like a monster had bitten it]].
[[/folder]]
%%[[folder: #063: ''The Mystery at Peacock Hall'' (1998)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: Special #010: ''The Windy City Mystery'' (1998)]]
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%%[[folder: #064: ''The Black Pearl Mystery'' (1998)]]
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%%[[folder: #065: ''The Cereal Box Mystery'' (1998)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #066: ''The Panther Mystery'' (1998)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: Special #011: ''The Mystery of the Queen's Jewels'' (1998)]]
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%%[[folder: #067: ''The Mystery of the Stolen Sword'' (1998)]]
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%%[[folder: #068: ''The Basketball Mystery'' (1999)]]
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%%[[folder: #069: ''The Movie Star Mystery'' (1999)]]
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[[folder: #070: ''The Mystery of the Pirate's Map'' (1999)]]
Added DiffLines:
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%%[[folder: #071: ''The Ghost Town Mystery'' (1999)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #012: ''The Mystery of the Black Raven'' (1999)]]
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%%[[folder: #072: ''The Mystery in the Mall'' (1999)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #013: ''The Mystery in New York'' (1999)]]
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[[folder: #073: ''The Gymnastics Mystery'' (1999)]]
* NotSoDifferent: Katya, the gymnast that befriends the Aldens, is quite enamored with their boxcar. She spends time in it, thinking. Later she reveals that her family back home is poor, with barely enough room in their apartment, so she understood what they were going through during their time living in it after initially thinking they were rich.
[[/folder]]
%%[[folder: #074: ''The Poison Frog Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #075: ''The Mystery of the Empty Safe'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #014: ''The Home Run Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #076: ''The Great Bicycle Race Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #077: ''The Mystery of the Wild Ponies'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #078: ''The Mystery in the Computer Game'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #015: ''The Honeybee Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #079: ''The Mystery at the Crooked House'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #080: ''The Hockey Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #081: ''The Mystery of the Midnight Dog'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #016: ''The Mystery of the Screech Owl'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #082: ''The Summer Camp Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #083: ''The Copycat Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #084: ''The Haunted Clock Tower Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #017: ''The Mystery of the Tiger's Eye'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #085: ''The Disappearing Staircase Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #086: ''The Mystery on Blizzard Mountain'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #087: ''The Mystery of the Spider's Clue'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #018: ''The Candy Factory Mystery'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #088: ''The Mystery of the Mummy's Curse'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #089: ''The Mystery of the Star Ruby'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #090: ''The Stuffed Bear Mystery'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #019: ''The Mystery of Alligator Swamp'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #091: ''The Mystery at Skeleton Point'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #092: ''The Tattletale Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #093: ''The Comic Book Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #020: ''The Great Shark Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #094: ''The Ice Cream Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #095: ''The Midnight Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #096: ''The Mystery in the Fortune Cookie'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #021: ''The Black Widow Spider Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #097: ''The Radio Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #098: ''The Mystery of the Runaway Ghost'' (2004)]]
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%%[[folder: #099: ''The Finders Keepers Mystery'' (2004)]]
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%%[[folder: #100: ''The Mystery of the Haunted Boxcar'' (2004)]]
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%%[[folder: #101: ''The Clue in the Corn Maze'' (2004)]]
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%%[[folder: #102: ''The Ghost of the Chattering Bones'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #103: ''The Sword of the Silver Knight'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #104: ''The Game Store Mystery'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #105: ''The Mystery of the Orphan Train'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #106: ''The Vanishing Passenger'' (2006)]]
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%%[[folder: #107: ''The Giant Yo Yo Mystery'' (2006)]]
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%%[[folder: #108: ''The Creature in Ogopogo Lake'' (2006)]]
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%%[[folder: #109: ''The Rock and Roll Mystery'' (2006)]]
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%%[[folder: #110: ''The Secret of the Mask'' (2007)]]
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%%[[folder: #111: ''The Seattle Puzzle'' (2007)]]
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%%[[folder: #112: ''The Ghost in the First Row'' (2007)]]
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%%[[folder: #113: ''The Box that Watch Found'' (2007)]]
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%%[[folder: #114: ''A Horse Named Dragon'' (2008)]]
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%%[[folder: #115: ''The Great Detective Race'' (2008)]]
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%%[[folder: #116: ''The Ghost at the Drive-In Movie'' (2008)]]
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%%[[folder: #117: ''The Mystery of the Traveling Tomatoes'' (2008)]]
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%%[[folder: #118: ''The Spy Game'' (2009)]]
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%%[[folder: #119: ''The Dog-Gone Mystery'' (2009)]]
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%%[[folder: #120: ''The Vampire Mystery'' (2009)]]
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%%[[folder: #121: ''Superstar Watch'' (2009)]]
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%%[[folder: #122: ''The Spy in the Bleachers'' (2010)]]
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%%[[folder: #123: ''The Amazing Mystery Show'' (2010)]]
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%%[[folder: #124: ''The Pumpkin Head Mystery'' (2010)]]
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%%[[folder: #125: ''The Cupcake Caper'' (2010)]]
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%%[[folder: #126: ''The Clue in the Recycling Bin'' (2011)]]
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%%[[folder: #127: ''Monkey Trouble'' (2011)]]
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%%[[folder: #128: ''The Zombie Project'' (2011)]]
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%%[[folder: #129: ''The Great Turkey Heist'' (2011)]]
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%%[[folder: #130: ''The Garden Thief'' (2012)]]
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%%[[folder: #131: ''The Boardwalk Mystery'' (2013)]]
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%%[[folder: #132: ''Mystery of the Fallen Treasure'' (2013)]]
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%%[[folder: #133: ''The Return of the Graveyard Ghost'' (2013)]]
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%%[[folder: #134: ''The Mystery of the Stolen Snowboard'' (2014)]]
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%%[[folder: #135: ''The Mystery of the Wild West Bandit'' (2014)]]
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%%[[folder: #136: ''The Mystery of the Soccer Snitch'' (2014)]]
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%%[[folder: #137: ''The Mystery of the Grinning Gargoyle'' (2014)]]
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%%[[folder: #138: ''The Mystery of the Missing Pop Idol'' (2015)]]
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%%[[folder: #139: ''The Mystery of the Stolen Dinosaur Bones'' (2015)]]
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%%[[folder: #140: ''The Mystery at the Calgary Stampede'' (2015)]]
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%%[[folder: #141: ''The Sleepy Hollow Mystery'' (2015)]]
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%%[[folder: #142: ''The Legend of the Irish Castle'' (2016)]]
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%%[[folder: #143: ''The Celebrity Cat Caper'' (2016)]]
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%%[[folder: #144: ''Hidden in the Haunted School'' (2016)]]
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%%[[folder: #145: ''The Election Day Dilemma'' (2016)]]
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%%[[folder: Great Adventures #01: ''Journey on a Runaway Train'' (2017)]]
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%%[[folder: Great Adventures #02: ''The Clue in the Papyrus Scroll'' (2017)]]
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%%[[folder: Great Adventures #03: ''The Detour of the Elephants'' (2017)]]
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%%[[folder: Great Adventures #04: ''The Shackleton Sabotage'' (2017)]]
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%%[[folder: Great Adventures #05: ''The Khipu and the Final Key'' (2017)]]
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%%[[folder: #146: ''The Doughnut Whodunit'' (2018)]]
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%%[[folder: #147: ''The Robot Ransom'' (2018)]]
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%%[[folder: #148: ''Legend of the Howling Werewolf'' (2018)]]
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%%[[folder: Interactive Mysteries #001: ''Midnight at the Haunted Hotel'' (2018)]]
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%%[[folder: #149: ''Day of the Dead Mystery'' (2018)]]
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%%[[folder: #150: ''The Hundred-Year Mystery'' (2019)]]
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%%[[folder: #151: ''The Sea Turtle Mystery'' (2019)]]
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%%[[folder: #152: ''Secret on the Thirteenth Floor'' (2019)]]
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%%[[folder: Interactive Mysteries #002: ''The Great Spy Showdown'' (2019)]]
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%%[[folder: #153: ''The Power Down Mystery'' (2019)]]
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%%[[folder: #154: ''Mystery at Camp Survival'' (2020)]]
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%%[[folder: #155: ''The Mystery of the Forgotten Family'' (2020)]]
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%%[[folder: #156: ''The Skeleton Key Mystery'' (2020)]]
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%%[[folder: Interactive Mysteries #003: ''Trouble on the Wild West Express'' (2020)]]
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%%[[folder: #157: ''Science Fair Sabotage'' (2020)]]
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%%[[folder: Creatures of Legend #1: ''The Secret of Bigfoot Valley'' (2021)]]
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%%[[folder: Creatures of Legend #2: ''Mystery of the Hidden Elves'' (2021)]]
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%%[[folder: Creatures of Legend #3: ''Mermaids of the Deep Blue Sea'' (2021)]]
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%%[[folder: Creatures of Legend #4: ''Myth of the Rain Forest Monster'' (2021)]]
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%%[[folder: Interactive Mysteries #4: ''Race through White-Water Canyon'' (2021)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #158: ''The Great Greenfield Bake-Off'' (2021)]]
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%%[[folder: #159: ''The Beekeeper Mystery'' (2021)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
[[folder: Animated films]]
%%[[folder: #071: ''The Ghost Town Mystery'' (1999)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #012: ''The Mystery of the Black Raven'' (1999)]]
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%%[[folder: #072: ''The Mystery in the Mall'' (1999)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #013: ''The Mystery in New York'' (1999)]]
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[[folder: #073: ''The Gymnastics Mystery'' (1999)]]
* NotSoDifferent: Katya, the gymnast that befriends the Aldens, is quite enamored with their boxcar. She spends time in it, thinking. Later she reveals that her family back home is poor, with barely enough room in their apartment, so she understood what they were going through during their time living in it after initially thinking they were rich.
[[/folder]]
%%[[folder: #074: ''The Poison Frog Mystery'' (2000)]]
%%
%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #075: ''The Mystery of the Empty Safe'' (2000)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: Special #014: ''The Home Run Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #076: ''The Great Bicycle Race Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #077: ''The Mystery of the Wild Ponies'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #078: ''The Mystery in the Computer Game'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #015: ''The Honeybee Mystery'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #079: ''The Mystery at the Crooked House'' (2000)]]
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%%[[folder: #080: ''The Hockey Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #081: ''The Mystery of the Midnight Dog'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #016: ''The Mystery of the Screech Owl'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #082: ''The Summer Camp Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #083: ''The Copycat Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #084: ''The Haunted Clock Tower Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #017: ''The Mystery of the Tiger's Eye'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #085: ''The Disappearing Staircase Mystery'' (2001)]]
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%%[[folder: #086: ''The Mystery on Blizzard Mountain'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #087: ''The Mystery of the Spider's Clue'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #018: ''The Candy Factory Mystery'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #088: ''The Mystery of the Mummy's Curse'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #089: ''The Mystery of the Star Ruby'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #090: ''The Stuffed Bear Mystery'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #019: ''The Mystery of Alligator Swamp'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #091: ''The Mystery at Skeleton Point'' (2002)]]
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%%[[folder: #092: ''The Tattletale Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #093: ''The Comic Book Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: Special #020: ''The Great Shark Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #094: ''The Ice Cream Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #095: ''The Midnight Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #096: ''The Mystery in the Fortune Cookie'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: Special #021: ''The Black Widow Spider Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #097: ''The Radio Mystery'' (2003)]]
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%%[[folder: #098: ''The Mystery of the Runaway Ghost'' (2004)]]
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%%[[folder: #099: ''The Finders Keepers Mystery'' (2004)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #100: ''The Mystery of the Haunted Boxcar'' (2004)]]
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%%[[folder: #101: ''The Clue in the Corn Maze'' (2004)]]
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%%[[folder: #102: ''The Ghost of the Chattering Bones'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #103: ''The Sword of the Silver Knight'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #104: ''The Game Store Mystery'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #105: ''The Mystery of the Orphan Train'' (2005)]]
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%%[[folder: #106: ''The Vanishing Passenger'' (2006)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #107: ''The Giant Yo Yo Mystery'' (2006)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #108: ''The Creature in Ogopogo Lake'' (2006)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #109: ''The Rock and Roll Mystery'' (2006)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #110: ''The Secret of the Mask'' (2007)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #111: ''The Seattle Puzzle'' (2007)]]
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%%[[folder: #112: ''The Ghost in the First Row'' (2007)]]
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%%[[folder: #113: ''The Box that Watch Found'' (2007)]]
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%%[[folder: #114: ''A Horse Named Dragon'' (2008)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #115: ''The Great Detective Race'' (2008)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #116: ''The Ghost at the Drive-In Movie'' (2008)]]
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%%[[folder: #117: ''The Mystery of the Traveling Tomatoes'' (2008)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #118: ''The Spy Game'' (2009)]]
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%%[[folder: #119: ''The Dog-Gone Mystery'' (2009)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #120: ''The Vampire Mystery'' (2009)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #121: ''Superstar Watch'' (2009)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #122: ''The Spy in the Bleachers'' (2010)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #123: ''The Amazing Mystery Show'' (2010)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #124: ''The Pumpkin Head Mystery'' (2010)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #125: ''The Cupcake Caper'' (2010)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #126: ''The Clue in the Recycling Bin'' (2011)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #127: ''Monkey Trouble'' (2011)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #128: ''The Zombie Project'' (2011)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #129: ''The Great Turkey Heist'' (2011)]]
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%%[[folder: #130: ''The Garden Thief'' (2012)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #131: ''The Boardwalk Mystery'' (2013)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #132: ''Mystery of the Fallen Treasure'' (2013)]]
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%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder: #133: ''The Return of the Graveyard Ghost'' (2013)]]
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[[folder: Animated films]]
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As of 2020, the original edition of the first book is in the public domain in the United States.
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* FreeRangeChildren: In the first book they live quite alone in the woods. Though they go to live with their grandfather in later books, they continue to move around extremely independently, if to a slightly lesser extent. The children's independence is not only allowed, but encouraged, by their grandfather - Henry and Jessie, the two oldest, are only 14 and 12, but they usually seem more like high schoolers and act basically as parent figures to Violet and Benny, the two youngest—who are 10 and 6, but also act older. Throughout the series, they've done such varied things as camping out, exploring the Arizona desert, and even caving, all without a lick of supervision. This makes sense, since the premise of the series is that they lived just fine in an abandoned boxcar for several months before learning their grandpa wasn't a jerk.
to:
* FreeRangeChildren: In the first book they live quite alone in the woods. Though they go to live with their grandfather in later books, they continue to move around extremely independently, if to a slightly lesser extent. The children's independence is not only allowed, but encouraged, by their grandfather - -- Henry and Jessie, the two oldest, are only 14 and 12, but they usually seem more like high schoolers and act basically as parent figures to Violet and Benny, the two youngest—who are 10 and 6, but also act older. Throughout the series, they've done such varied things as camping out, exploring the Arizona desert, and even caving, all without a lick of supervision. This makes sense, since the premise of the series is that they lived just fine in an abandoned boxcar for several months before learning their grandpa wasn't a jerk.
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* NotAllowedToGrowUp: In the post-Warner books, the kids' ages are slammed back to and frozen at 14, 12, 10, and 6 - the same ages they were in the first book.
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* NotAllowedToGrowUp: In the post-Warner books, the kids' ages are slammed back to and frozen at 14, 12, 10, and 6 - -- the same ages they were in the first book.
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* OrphansOrdeal: The whole plot of the first book.
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* OrphansOrdeal: The whole plot of the first book.book, where four orphaned children work to survive on their own until their last known relative finds them.
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* RunawayHideaway: Type 2 (no place to go) - the Boxcar Children run away with no place in mind and eventually discover their boxcar by chance.
to:
* RunawayHideaway: Type 2 (no place to go) - -- the Boxcar Children run away with no place in mind and eventually discover their boxcar by chance.
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* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: TruthInTelevision at the time the first book was released - social services as we know it really didn't exist, with the exception of orphanages that focused on caring for the children they had, not tracking down runaways. The children ''are'' figured out and united with their grandfather in a matter of a few months, though.
to:
* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: TruthInTelevision at the time the first book was released - -- social services as we know it really didn't exist, with the exception of orphanages that focused on caring for the children they had, not tracking down runaways. The children ''are'' figured out and united with their grandfather in a matter of a few months, though.
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** In book #33 (''The Pizza Mystery''), they save a pizzeria by adapting the pizza recipes to the smaller oven, when the bigger one is broken.
to:
** In book #33 (''The Pizza Mystery''), they save a pizzeria by adapting the pizza recipes to the smaller oven, oven when the bigger one is broken.
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* WorthlessTreasureTwist: Played straight in book #70 (''The Mystery of Pirate's Map''). The children find the last piece of a famous treasure map and try to get to the treasure before a greedy millionaire, who's spent his whole life trying to find it and stepped on a lot of people in the process. As they're digging for the treasure, they tell him that he can have whatever they find. The treasure chest contains a single coin, and a note from the pirate about "real treasure."
to:
* WorthlessTreasureTwist: Played straight in book #70 (''The Mystery of the Pirate's Map''). The children find the last piece of a famous treasure map and try to get to the treasure before a greedy millionaire, who's spent his whole life trying to find it and stepped on a lot of people in the process. As they're digging for the treasure, they tell him that he can have whatever they find. The treasure chest contains a single coin, and a note from the pirate about "real treasure."
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* AnimatedAdaptation: One was released in 2014, and is a straight up adaptation of the first book. It was reasonably well received, currently having a user-rating of 7.5 on [=IMDB=]. A sequel, Surprise Island, was released in May 2018.
to:
* AnimatedAdaptation: One was released in 2014, and is a straight up adaptation of the first book. It was reasonably well received, currently having a user-rating of 7.5 on [=IMDB=]. A sequel, Surprise Island, ''Surprise Island'', was released in May 2018.
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Not to be confused with ''Literature/TheRailwayChildren''.
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* DismantledMacGuffin: Book #21 (''The Deserted Library Mystery'') has the Aldens working to clean up an old library in the town of Rock Falls so it can become a historical landmark, and in the process discover the hilt of an old Civil War sword, plus a letter explaining its origin. The rest of the book features them hunting for the other two pieces (the middle and point) so it can be reassembled and displayed as a historical treasure.
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** Book #21 (''The Deserted Library Mystery'') introduces the Aldens to a boy named Miguel, who's terrified that he's ''become'' an orphan after his father is lost in a storm, and will have to deal with this, especially after the news comes in that his father's boat was confirmed wrecked and only two of the three men in it were rescued. [[spoiler:Very happily for Miguel, his father is one of the two.]]
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* AdaptedOut: Many characters from the original books, including Mrs. [=McGregor=]'s husband, Aunt Jane's farmhands, Benny's friend Mike Wood, and the grandfather's pilot/former spy friend John Carter nearly or completely disappear in the post-Warner books.
to:
* AdaptedOut: Many characters from the original books, including Mrs. [=McGregor=]'s husband, Aunt Jane's farmhands, Benny's friend Mike Wood, and the grandfather's Grandfather's pilot/former spy friend John Carter nearly or completely disappear in the post-Warner books.
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* IllGirl: Near the end of the first book, Violet becomes sick with a fever. The other children eventually have no choice but to take her to a friend who's a doctor, even though they know that giving their names means the likelihood that their grandfather will find them. He does, but it turns out for the better.
** ''Lighthouse Mystery'' sees her, alone among the four children, plagued by mosquito bites.
** ''Lighthouse Mystery'' sees her, alone among the four children, plagued by mosquito bites.
to:
* IllGirl: Violet, more than once.
** Near the end of the first book,Violet she becomes sick with a fever. The other children eventually have no choice but to take her to a friend who's a doctor, even though they know that giving their names means the likelihood that their grandfather will find them. He does, but it turns out for the better.
**''Lighthouse Mystery'' Book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery'') sees her, alone among the four children, plagued by mosquito bites.
** Near the end of the first book,
**
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* KidDetective: The titular children, at least from books 2 on.
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* KidDetective: The titular children, at least from books 2 book #2 (''Surprise Island'') on.
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* IHaveManyNames: In book #12 (''Houseboat Mystery''), Mr. Rivers tells the family that the houseboat he rents out is set up so renters can give it any name they want, by swapping out letters on a special rack. Past names have included ''Rock and Roll'', ''Moon Rocket'', ''The All Inn'', and ''The Blue Heron''; the Aldens swap out names on it every day, naming it after all the members of the family (including Mrs. [=McGregor=]) in turn, ultimately catching the attention of the police who've heard about "the houseboat with many names". (Thankfully, they're understanding when they find out why it keeps changing.) The last name they give the boat is [[spoiler:''Captain Kid'', for Benny]], prompting an amused reaction from Mr. Rivers when he sees it.
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Changed line(s) 21,22 (click to see context) from:
* AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle: Every mystery book contained some minor science lesson, such as about plankton, or Captain Cook's voyages, or similar. A noteworthy one: Henry's sage observation that "Mashed potatoes don't smell." (The Lighthouse Mystery.)
** Justified in ''Blue Bay Mystery'', since they're being tutored while on a trip to a South Sea island during the school year.
** Justified in ''Blue Bay Mystery'', since they're being tutored while on a trip to a South Sea island during the school year.
to:
* AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle: Every mystery book contained some minor science lesson, such as about plankton, or Captain Cook's voyages, or similar. A noteworthy one: Henry's sage observation that "Mashed potatoes don't smell." (The in book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery.)
Mystery'').
** Justified in''Blue book #6 (''Blue Bay Mystery'', Mystery''), since they're being tutored while on a trip to a South Sea island during the school year.
** Justified in
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* ContinuityNod: Book #3, ''The Yellow House Mystery'', establishes that Mrs. [=McGregor's=] first name is Margaret and Alice's maiden name is Wells. Both of these names are mentioned again in subsequent books much, ''much'' later in the series.
to:
* ContinuityNod: Book #3, ''The #3 (''The Yellow House Mystery'', Mystery'') establishes that Mrs. [=McGregor's=] first name is Margaret and Alice's maiden name is Wells. Both of these names are mentioned again in subsequent books much, ''much'' later in the series.
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** In ''The Pizza Mystery'', the lady with the red hat [[spoiler:reveals that she's been wanting to learn how to make pizzas and sending the kids on deliveries because her family restaurant is failing, and she is worried about her parents going bankrupt. The Piccolos bluntly ask why she didn't tell them, since they would have been happy to help without the subterfuge. They immediately start her on cooking lessons that she can pass on to her parents, for which she is eternally grateful]].
to:
** In ''The book #33 (''The Pizza Mystery'', Mystery''), the lady with the red hat [[spoiler:reveals that she's been wanting to learn how to make pizzas and sending the kids on deliveries because her family restaurant is failing, and she is worried about her parents going bankrupt. The Piccolos bluntly ask why she didn't tell them, since they would have been happy to help without the subterfuge. They immediately start her on cooking lessons that she can pass on to her parents, for which she is eternally grateful]].
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** [[spoiler:Mac Thatcher]] in ''The Zoo Mystery'' was fired because he wasn't good at taking care of the animals. [[spoiler:So he uses a duplicate set of keys to break in, start sabotaging the place, and kidnap Amos the monkey to sell him at a pet shop for moving-away money. He quite seriously thinks his old boss and the kids will let him leave after they find the proof]].
** It's revealed that the perpetrator behind the sabotage at the pizza place is [[spoiler:a middle-management business executive at the company next door. When the kids bring him a free pizza as a peace offering, he eats it while gloating he thinks the Piccolos are old enough to be retired and the restaurant would serve better as a work cafeteria. Fortunately, he left the intercom on long enough for his boss to overhear, and she fires him on the spot while apologizing to the kids]].
** It's revealed that the perpetrator behind the sabotage at the pizza place is [[spoiler:a middle-management business executive at the company next door. When the kids bring him a free pizza as a peace offering, he eats it while gloating he thinks the Piccolos are old enough to be retired and the restaurant would serve better as a work cafeteria. Fortunately, he left the intercom on long enough for his boss to overhear, and she fires him on the spot while apologizing to the kids]].
to:
** [[spoiler:Mac Thatcher]] in ''The Zoo Mystery'' book #26 (''The Mystery of the Mixed Up Zoo'') was fired because he wasn't good at taking care of the animals. [[spoiler:So he uses a duplicate set of keys to break in, start sabotaging the place, and kidnap Amos the monkey to sell him at a pet shop for moving-away money. He quite seriously thinks his old boss and the kids will let him leave after they find the proof]].
**It's In book #33 (''The Pizza Mystery''), it's revealed that the perpetrator behind the sabotage at the pizza place is [[spoiler:a middle-management business executive at the company next door. When the kids bring him a free pizza as a peace offering, he eats it while gloating he thinks the Piccolos are old enough to be retired and the restaurant would serve better as a work cafeteria. Fortunately, he left the intercom on long enough for his boss to overhear, and she fires him on the spot while apologizing to the kids]].
**
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* {{Gamebooks}}: The spinoff series ''The Boxcar Children Interactive Mysteries'', introduced in 2018, the first being ''Midnight at the Haunted Hotel''.
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* {{Gamebooks}}: The spinoff series ''The Boxcar Children Interactive Mysteries'', introduced in 2018, the first being 2018 with ''Midnight at the Haunted Hotel''.
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* GreenAesop: The 18th book, where the grandfather educates a paint factory owner on ways to cut down on water and air pollution and helps reconcile him with his environmentalist sons.
* HeroicBystander: In ''The Mystery Horse'', the kids learn that [[spoiler:the horse that the family is boarding is a race star called Wind Dancer. Benny and the kids find thieves trying to steal Wind Dancer, and Benny uses his pouch full of thumbtacks to stop them with a flat tire]].
* HeroicBystander: In ''The Mystery Horse'', the kids learn that [[spoiler:the horse that the family is boarding is a race star called Wind Dancer. Benny and the kids find thieves trying to steal Wind Dancer, and Benny uses his pouch full of thumbtacks to stop them with a flat tire]].
to:
* GreenAesop: The 18th book, focus of book #18 (''Bus Station Mystery''), where the grandfather educates a paint factory owner on ways to cut down on water and air pollution and helps reconcile him with his environmentalist sons.
* HeroicBystander: In''The book #34 (''The Mystery Horse'', Horse''), the kids learn that [[spoiler:the horse that the family is boarding is a race star called Wind Dancer. Benny and the kids find thieves trying to steal Wind Dancer, and Benny uses his pouch full of thumbtacks to stop them with a flat tire]].
* HeroicBystander: In
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* ILoveNuclearPower: In book 4, it's discovered that the black and yellow rocks in the fireplace at Aunt Jane's ranch are uranium. By the next visit to Aunt Jane, the sleepy ranch town is now home to a massive uranium mine.
to:
* ILoveNuclearPower: In book 4, #4 (''Mystery Ranch''), it's discovered that the black and yellow rocks in the fireplace at Aunt Jane's ranch are uranium. By the next visit to Aunt Jane, the sleepy ranch town is now home to a massive uranium mine.
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* LinkedListClueMethodology: Book #17, ''Mystery Behind the Wall'', has the children discovering a treasure hunt of this type that was set up decades before by a now-deceased girl, and setting out to solve it.
to:
* LinkedListClueMethodology: Book #17, ''Mystery #17 (''Mystery Behind the Wall'', Wall'') has the children discovering a treasure hunt of this type that was set up decades before by a now-deceased girl, and setting out to solve it.
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* MeaningfulName: Warner was apparently fond of these, as she used them at least four times in the series:
** In ''Caboose Mystery'', the train conductor is named Mr. Carr.
** In ''Houseboat Mystery'', the owner of the houseboat the family rents is Mr. Rivers.
** In ''Lighthouse Mystery'', the main suspect of the mystery they discover that involves cooking is Larry Cook.
** In ''Tree House Mystery'', the Aldens' new neighbors who live in a house near the beach are the Beaches.
** In ''Caboose Mystery'', the train conductor is named Mr. Carr.
** In ''Houseboat Mystery'', the owner of the houseboat the family rents is Mr. Rivers.
** In ''Lighthouse Mystery'', the main suspect of the mystery they discover that involves cooking is Larry Cook.
** In ''Tree House Mystery'', the Aldens' new neighbors who live in a house near the beach are the Beaches.
to:
* MeaningfulName: Warner was apparently fond of these, as she used them at least four multiple times in the series:
** Violet's name is one, since she's a ShrinkingViolet.
** In''Caboose Mystery'', book #8 (''The Lighthouse Mystery''), the mystery they find involves cooking, and their main suspect's name is Larry Cook.
** In book #11 (''Caboose Mystery''), the train conductor is named Mr. Carr.
** In''Houseboat Mystery'', book #12 (''Houseboat Mystery''), the owner of the houseboat the family rents is Mr. Rivers.
** In''Lighthouse Mystery'', the main suspect of the mystery they discover that involves cooking is Larry Cook.
** In ''Treebook #14 (''Tree House Mystery'', Mystery''), the Aldens' new neighbors who live in a house near the beach are the Beaches.
** Violet's name is one, since she's a ShrinkingViolet.
** In
** In book #11 (''Caboose Mystery''), the train conductor is named Mr. Carr.
** In
** In
** In ''Tree
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* RaisedByGrandparents: They move out of the boxcar to live with their grandfather. At first they were afraid he wouldn't like them, but he's not so bad after all.
to:
* RaisedByGrandparents: They The Alden siblings move out of the boxcar to live and in with their grandfather. At first they were afraid he wouldn't like them, but grandfather from the end of book #1 on after discovering he's a good man and not so bad after all.mean like they thought.
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** Mr. [=McGregor=], who the kids reunite with Mrs. [=McGregor=] in the third book, disappears after the original books.
to:
** Mr. [=McGregor=], who the kids reunite with Mrs. [=McGregor=] in the third book, book #3 (''The Yellow House Mystery''), disappears after the original books.
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* {{Robinsonade}}: They spend part of ''Blue Bay Mystery'' staying on a tropical island with their grandfather and one of his friends, who had himself been shipwrecked for a time on the same island. [[spoiler:They also rescue a marooned teenage boy from the same situation.]]
to:
* {{Robinsonade}}: They spend part of ''Blue book #6 (''Blue Bay Mystery'' Mystery'') staying on a tropical island with their grandfather and one of his friends, who had himself been shipwrecked for a time on the same island. [[spoiler:They also rescue a marooned teenage boy from the same situation.]]
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* SnapBack: Over the course of the first nineteen books, the children aged at least five years. In book 20, they're suddenly back to their original ages of 14, 12, 10, and 6.
to:
* SnapBack: Over the course of the first nineteen books, the children aged at least five years. In book 20, #20 (''The Haunted Cabin Mystery''), they're suddenly back to their original ages of 14, 12, 10, and 6.
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* SupremeChef: The kids are this as a whole, owing to their experience making food in the boxcar. In ''The Zoo Mystery'', they insist on cooking for their grandfather's friend who owns the zoo in question, and he finds it delicious. During ''The Pizza Mystery'', they save a pizzeria by adapting the pizza recipes to the smaller oven, when the bigger one is broken.
to:
* SupremeChef: The kids are this as a whole, owing to their experience making food in the boxcar. boxcar.
** In''The Zoo Mystery'', book #26 (''The Mystery of the Mixed Up Zoo''), they insist on cooking for their grandfather's friend who owns the zoo in question, and he finds it delicious. During ''The delicious.
** In book #33 (''The PizzaMystery'', Mystery''), they save a pizzeria by adapting the pizza recipes to the smaller oven, when the bigger one is broken.
** In
** In book #33 (''The Pizza
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* TwoferTokenMinority: The Boxcar Kids' new cousin is an adopted Korean girl.
to:
* TwoferTokenMinority: The Boxcar Kids' new cousin cousin, introduced in special #1 (''The Mystery on the Ice'') is an adopted Korean girl.
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* WhammyBid: In book #48, ''The Mystery Bookstore'', bidding on an old bookstore and its contents starts at 50,000 dollars and, in just seven bids, quickly hits 80,000. Then a final bidder outdoes everyone and wins by jumping the price to 100,000 dollars. [[spoiler: It's Grandfather Alden, who bought the bookstore as an investment and hires one of the earlier bidders, who happens to be a friend of his, to run the place.]]
* WorthlessTreasureTwist: Played straight in book #70, ''The Mystery of Pirate's Map''. The children find the last piece of a famous treasure map and try to get to the treasure before a greedy millionaire, who's spent his whole life trying to find it and stepped on a lot of people in the process. As they're digging for the treasure, they tell him that he can have whatever they find. The treasure chest contains a single coin, and a note from the pirate about "real treasure."
* WorthlessTreasureTwist: Played straight in book #70, ''The Mystery of Pirate's Map''. The children find the last piece of a famous treasure map and try to get to the treasure before a greedy millionaire, who's spent his whole life trying to find it and stepped on a lot of people in the process. As they're digging for the treasure, they tell him that he can have whatever they find. The treasure chest contains a single coin, and a note from the pirate about "real treasure."
to:
* WhammyBid: In book #48, ''The #48 (''The Mystery Bookstore'', Bookstore''), bidding on an old bookstore and its contents starts at 50,000 dollars and, in just seven bids, quickly hits 80,000. Then a final bidder outdoes everyone and wins by jumping the price to 100,000 dollars. [[spoiler: It's Grandfather Alden, who bought the bookstore as an investment and hires one of the earlier bidders, who happens to be a friend of his, to run the place.]]
* WorthlessTreasureTwist: Played straight in book#70, ''The #70 (''The Mystery of Pirate's Map''.Map''). The children find the last piece of a famous treasure map and try to get to the treasure before a greedy millionaire, who's spent his whole life trying to find it and stepped on a lot of people in the process. As they're digging for the treasure, they tell him that he can have whatever they find. The treasure chest contains a single coin, and a note from the pirate about "real treasure."
* WorthlessTreasureTwist: Played straight in book
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Changed line(s) 48 (click to see context) from:
* HeroicBystander: In the ''Farm Mystery'', the kids learn that [[spoiler:the horse that the family is boarding is a race star called Wind Dancer. Benny and the kids find thieves trying to steal Wind Dancer, and Benny uses his pouch full of thumbtacks to stop them with a flat tire]].
to:
* HeroicBystander: In the ''Farm Mystery'', ''The Mystery Horse'', the kids learn that [[spoiler:the horse that the family is boarding is a race star called Wind Dancer. Benny and the kids find thieves trying to steal Wind Dancer, and Benny uses his pouch full of thumbtacks to stop them with a flat tire]].
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** In ''Caboose Mystery'', the train conducter is named Mr. Carr.
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** In ''Caboose Mystery'', the train conducter conductor is named Mr. Carr.
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Changed line(s) 85 (click to see context) from:
* WhammyBid: In book #48, ''The Mystery Bookstore'', bidding on an old bookstore and its contents starts at 50,000 dollars and, in just seven bids, quickly hits 80,000. Then a final bidder outdoes everyone and wins by jumping the price to 100,000 dollars. [[spoiler: Its Grandfather Alden, who bought the bookstore as an investment and hires one of the earlier bidders, who happens to be a friend of his, to run the place.]]
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* WhammyBid: In book #48, ''The Mystery Bookstore'', bidding on an old bookstore and its contents starts at 50,000 dollars and, in just seven bids, quickly hits 80,000. Then a final bidder outdoes everyone and wins by jumping the price to 100,000 dollars. [[spoiler: Its It's Grandfather Alden, who bought the bookstore as an investment and hires one of the earlier bidders, who happens to be a friend of his, to run the place.]]
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* EvilIsPetty:
** [[spoiler:Mac Thatcher]] in ''The Zoo Mystery'' was fired because he wasn't good at taking care of the animals. [[spoiler:So he uses a duplicate set of keys to break in, start sabotaging the place, and kidnap Amos the monkey to sell him at a pet shop for moving-away money. He quite seriously thinks his old boss and the kids will let him leave after they find the proof]].
** It's revealed that the perpetrator behind the sabotage at the pizza place is [[spoiler:a middle-management business executive at the company next door. When the kids bring him a free pizza as a peace offering, he eats it while gloating he thinks the Piccolos are old enough to be retired and the restaurant would serve better as a work cafeteria. Fortunately, he left the intercom on long enough for his boss to overhear, and she fires him on the spot while apologizing to the kids]].
** [[spoiler:Mac Thatcher]] in ''The Zoo Mystery'' was fired because he wasn't good at taking care of the animals. [[spoiler:So he uses a duplicate set of keys to break in, start sabotaging the place, and kidnap Amos the monkey to sell him at a pet shop for moving-away money. He quite seriously thinks his old boss and the kids will let him leave after they find the proof]].
** It's revealed that the perpetrator behind the sabotage at the pizza place is [[spoiler:a middle-management business executive at the company next door. When the kids bring him a free pizza as a peace offering, he eats it while gloating he thinks the Piccolos are old enough to be retired and the restaurant would serve better as a work cafeteria. Fortunately, he left the intercom on long enough for his boss to overhear, and she fires him on the spot while apologizing to the kids]].
