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The Baby-Sitters Club Mysteries #18
Stacey and the Mystery at the Empty House
Agreeing to watch the Johanssen's dog, Carrot, while they are away, Stacey is alarmed when Carrot's strange behavior, trash in the wastebaskets, and warm electrical appliances make her realize that someone else is in the house. Original.
142 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
16 people are currently reading
378 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,122 books3,085 followersAnn Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.
Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.
Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.
Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.
After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...
Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.
Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.
Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.
After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
March 3, 2017
in this Ellen Miles-ghostwritten mystery, stacey is housesitting/dogsitting for the johanssens while they are in paris. she gradually notices hints that someone else has been in the house (including a hairbrush with red hair on it, though the johanssens are all brunettes) and believes that one of two people is squatting there: either the red-headed meter reader who stacey heard fighting with her husband, or the red-headed recently escaped felon (I choose to picture kevin mcdonald in the red wig in the jerry sizzler/two clearly insane people KITH sketches). turns out the johanssens gave a red-headed friend a pass to come stay at their house without warning whenever he wants. wait, really? in the subplot, the bsc takes the bsc kids on a sleigh ride, ending with a holiday party.
highlights:
-stacey narrates that kristy is "one of the most normal, well-balanced people I know." really? I choose to see this as a highlight because it made me laugh out loud.
-during the holiday party at the end mary anne and logan sneak off. it totally sounds like they're gonna go make out. it's slightly disappointing, but still a funny bait-and-switch, when they just put on santa and mrs. claus outfits and come back.
-shannon talks about a debate that her debate team won, and it's about the two-party system and whether it can survive today. "my team's position was that it can't, because the changing political scene demands responsive--" (you tell 'em, shannon! and please tell 'em before november 2016 happens, thank you very much)
lowlights/nitpicks:
-some of the weird things that happen include used glasses appearing in the kitchen sink, the coffeemaker being warm, carrot the dog's leash being in the wrong place, the johanssens have a hidden key that has gone missing, etc. and it takes stacey AGES before she finally actually determines that there's something weird going on. it's really annoying because SOMETHING IS CLEARLY GOING ON. figure it out, idiot!
-why does every suspect have red hair? the whole thing seems like an anti-ginger kids conspiracy.
-kristy tells the arnolds that the bsc will take them on a sleigh ride, and then later mentions that it's only gonna happen if it snows (otherwise it will be a hay ride). then she regrets it because the kids get super excited, and kristy gets nervous that it won't snow. I wish that it didn't snow so kristy would learn a lesson about lying to children/getting children's hopes up, but unfortunately it deus ex machina snows and nobody learns anything about anything.
-the kuhns explain the dreidel to mary anne and they seem to be going in order by hebrew letters, but they go nun, shin, gimel, hey. if you start at nun you go either nun, shin, hey, gimel OR nun, gimel, hey, shin (as in nes gadol hayah sham, a big miracle happened there). I wish scholastic had asked me to be their consultant for all things california and all things jewish, because then they wouldn't have these very basic problems.
stacey:
-"I was wearing a silk teddy, a thermal shirt and leggings, a turtleneck, and a big multicolored sweater."
holiday presents for baby sitters from the bsc kids:
-kristy: specially decorated baseball cap
-stacey: papier-mache earrings
-claud: basket of junk food
-mary anne: portrait of tigger
-dawn: neon-yellow sunglasses
-logan: paperweight (rock w/ his name on it)
-shannon: necklace w/ magazine page beads
-jessi: spangly hair ties
-mal: customized sketchbook
kristy cafeteria comment:
-on playing with food, "What else can we do with it? I mean, they can't expect us to actually eat this stuff."
snacks in claudia's room:
-chocolate covered graham crackers (n.s.)
-frookies (n.s.)
-starbursts (n.s.)
highlights:
-stacey narrates that kristy is "one of the most normal, well-balanced people I know." really? I choose to see this as a highlight because it made me laugh out loud.
-during the holiday party at the end mary anne and logan sneak off. it totally sounds like they're gonna go make out. it's slightly disappointing, but still a funny bait-and-switch, when they just put on santa and mrs. claus outfits and come back.
-shannon talks about a debate that her debate team won, and it's about the two-party system and whether it can survive today. "my team's position was that it can't, because the changing political scene demands responsive--" (you tell 'em, shannon! and please tell 'em before november 2016 happens, thank you very much)
lowlights/nitpicks:
-some of the weird things that happen include used glasses appearing in the kitchen sink, the coffeemaker being warm, carrot the dog's leash being in the wrong place, the johanssens have a hidden key that has gone missing, etc. and it takes stacey AGES before she finally actually determines that there's something weird going on. it's really annoying because SOMETHING IS CLEARLY GOING ON. figure it out, idiot!
-why does every suspect have red hair? the whole thing seems like an anti-ginger kids conspiracy.
-kristy tells the arnolds that the bsc will take them on a sleigh ride, and then later mentions that it's only gonna happen if it snows (otherwise it will be a hay ride). then she regrets it because the kids get super excited, and kristy gets nervous that it won't snow. I wish that it didn't snow so kristy would learn a lesson about lying to children/getting children's hopes up, but unfortunately it deus ex machina snows and nobody learns anything about anything.
-the kuhns explain the dreidel to mary anne and they seem to be going in order by hebrew letters, but they go nun, shin, gimel, hey. if you start at nun you go either nun, shin, hey, gimel OR nun, gimel, hey, shin (as in nes gadol hayah sham, a big miracle happened there). I wish scholastic had asked me to be their consultant for all things california and all things jewish, because then they wouldn't have these very basic problems.
stacey:
-"I was wearing a silk teddy, a thermal shirt and leggings, a turtleneck, and a big multicolored sweater."
holiday presents for baby sitters from the bsc kids:
-kristy: specially decorated baseball cap
-stacey: papier-mache earrings
-claud: basket of junk food
-mary anne: portrait of tigger
-dawn: neon-yellow sunglasses
-logan: paperweight (rock w/ his name on it)
-shannon: necklace w/ magazine page beads
-jessi: spangly hair ties
-mal: customized sketchbook
kristy cafeteria comment:
-on playing with food, "What else can we do with it? I mean, they can't expect us to actually eat this stuff."
snacks in claudia's room:
-chocolate covered graham crackers (n.s.)
-frookies (n.s.)
-starbursts (n.s.)
July 7, 2020
While I actually started reading around age 3 (thank you, my Granny's Dick and Jane books!), this series is what I remember most about loving to read during my childhood. My sister and I drank these books up like they were oxygen. I truly think we owned just about every single one from every one of the series. We even got the privilege of meeting Ann M. Martin at a book signing, but of course little starstruck me froze and could not speak a word to my biggest hero at that time. Once in awhile if I come across these at a yard sale, I will pick them up for a couple hour trip down memory lane, and I declare nearly nothing centers and relaxes me more!
November 5, 2017
This one was actually sort of interesting...until that ending. What an anti-climatic let down that was! You almost had me convinced it was a good mystery, but in the end it was not a mystery at all.
Sigh.
Sigh.
March 6, 2011
another terrible non-mystery. it's not quite as bad as stacey & the mystery of stoneybrook, in which stacey experiences psychotic delusions at the site of an old house that is being torn down, but it's close.
in this one, the joahnssen family is decamping to paris for two weeks, to visit dr. johanssen's sister. they have hired stacey to come by their house twice a day to feed & walk their schnauzer, carrot, bring in the newspaper, & generally make sure everything at the house is all right. stacey is surprisingly thrilled with this job & there is no mention of kristy hulking out about all the time it eats up, during which stacey could be actually babysitting for clients.
carrot misses his family & acts out by gnawing on table legs & chewing up papers & a box of kleenex. stacey cleans up after him & tries to spend a lot of quality time with him so he isn't so lonely. a few days after her job starts, she notices a water glass in the sink, filled with melting ice cubes. she is confused. she doesn't remember having drunk a glass of ice water & leaving the used glass in the sink...but maybe she did.
naturally there is a news bulletin about a criminal that has escaped from a nearby prison. that seems to happen A LOT in the babysitters club books. i wish i had some statistics on the actual prevalence of people escaping from prison. i bet it's not as common as the babysitters club series would have us believe. anyway, the escaped convict is a man with bright red hair & law-abiding citizens are urged to keep an eye out for him. stacey is a little nervous about the possibility that the escapee will somehow discover that the johanssens are out of town & will use their empty house as a crash pad. this book would be a lot better if that actually happened.
the mysteries begin the mount. one day stacey comes by to walk carrot & finds him growling in the entryway with all his fur bristling on end. she talks to him until he clams down & goes back to normal. she finds another used glass in the sink. one morning, there is a lingering scent of toast in the kitchen. another day, stacey moves the coffeepot aside to fill up carrot's water bowl & it is warm to the touch, like it was recently used. on yet another day, she finds a blue vase in the hallway knocked off its table & cracked. she tries to come up with plausible explanations for all these issues. maybe she used the glass & forgot. maybe the kitchen just always smells like toast. maybe the coffeepot is on a timer, like some of the lights in the house (to make it appear occupied while the johanssens are away). maybe carrot bumped the table holding the vase & it cracked on the floor. maybe carrot just freaked out because he's confused about his family being gone.
stacey gets a scare on afternoon while she is standing on the porch looking for her key & she sees someone with red hair moving around in the bushes. no, it's not mallory pike & ben hobart making the beat with two backs. it's a female redheaded meter reader who compliments stacey on the adorableness of her home. stacey, like an idiot, explains that she doesn't live there, she's just housesitting while the occupants are in france. way to tell the strange lady the house is empty, stacey. the meter reader says something about how getting away to france sounds great & advises her never to marry a co-worker. she nods toward the utility truck nearby & explains that her meter reading partner is also her husband. when she gets into the truck, she & her husband have a screaming fight in which the lady meter reader says she is going to leave him & get her own place. stacey freaks. what is the lady meter reader decides to squat the johanssens' house? seriously. stacey thinks that might happen. because what freshly divorced woman striking out for a better, more independent life doesn't want to squat the home of a family who is going to be back from vacation next week? that's what mrs. mcgill did when she got divorced, after all. *sigh* stacey is an idiot.
but she does have a truly legitimate scare a few days later when she opens the linen closet & finds a hairbrush inside. the hairbrush has many red hairs in it. no one in the johanssen family has red hair. stacey freaks & assumes the brush belongs to either the escaped criminal or the angry meter reader, who are surely squatting the place. she brings her concerns to the babysitters club. mary anne immediately suggests calling the police, which is certainly what i would do if i was housesitting for someone & found a mysterious hairbrush full of hairs incompatible with the hair of the people for whom i was housesitting. it's a pretty clear-cut sign that someone stacey doesn't know is hanging around the house. but stacey puts the kibosh on it & is all, "no! they'll think i'm crazy." um...i'm not necessarily proud of the fact that i have called the police on a few occasions, but i have never once called the police for anything & had them treat me like i am crazy. i mean, i'm sure people have had bad experiences where cops made them feel stupid for what seemed like reasonable concerns, but i don't think that would happen here.
since stacey won't call the police, the babysitters decide to have a sleepover at jessi's house, which is right behind the johanssens' house. they can keep an eye on the house all night & make a note of anyone lurking about. kristy & mallory bring binoculars & jessi shows them a now hopelessly dated trick in which you can call someone's answering machine & listen to what's going on in the house. they panic a little when kristy sees a light come on...until stacey explains that the lights are on a timer. they even head over to see if the johanssens' spare key is still in its hiding spot, underneath a rock in the backyard. it's not. stacey almost hyperventilates, until kristy sensibly points out that the missing key may be the one the johanssens gave to stacey for her housesitting gig. basically, they don't find anything conclusive. but there is a weird moment when stacey stops by to drop off the vase she bought to replace the one that broke...& finds what looks like the original vase sitting on the hall table, completely unharmed. verrrry mysterious.
the next morning, the sitters all head over to the johanssens' to see carrot & look for clues. stacey freaks out when she looks at the notepad next to the phone. the pages where she took messages have been folded back & a new phone number has been written in unfamiliar handwriting. stacey calls the number & it's an automated recording of train times. the babysitters rush to the train station, where stacey & claudia see a suspicious-looking man with bright red hair. the train from new york pulls in & the man begins to approach the train. stacey just knows that the man is the escaped criminal & that he's been using the johanssens' empty house as a hide-out. just then, the johanssens get off the train. the red-haired men is heading straight toward them. stacey tries to yell a warning but she can't talk. she is then flabbergasted when dr. johanssen hugs the red-haired man, who then turns & hugs charlotte.
you can see where this is going, right? the red-haired man is in fact an old friend of the johanssens. his name is bill & he is not a criminal. he has a standing invitation to stay at the johanssens' house whenever he's in stoneybrook on business (who the hell would ever go to stoneybrook for business?). he knows where the key is kept & he wrote stacey a note, but carrot chewed it up before she saw it. he's been coming in late & leaving early every morning, so their paths never crossed. he's the one who made toast & coffee & left water glasses in the sink. he broke the vase & then replaced it. carrot's growling interlude happened because carrot isn't that familiar with bill & was kind of freaked out. the real criminal is duly caught & ferried back to prison. mystery solved.
in this one, the joahnssen family is decamping to paris for two weeks, to visit dr. johanssen's sister. they have hired stacey to come by their house twice a day to feed & walk their schnauzer, carrot, bring in the newspaper, & generally make sure everything at the house is all right. stacey is surprisingly thrilled with this job & there is no mention of kristy hulking out about all the time it eats up, during which stacey could be actually babysitting for clients.
carrot misses his family & acts out by gnawing on table legs & chewing up papers & a box of kleenex. stacey cleans up after him & tries to spend a lot of quality time with him so he isn't so lonely. a few days after her job starts, she notices a water glass in the sink, filled with melting ice cubes. she is confused. she doesn't remember having drunk a glass of ice water & leaving the used glass in the sink...but maybe she did.
naturally there is a news bulletin about a criminal that has escaped from a nearby prison. that seems to happen A LOT in the babysitters club books. i wish i had some statistics on the actual prevalence of people escaping from prison. i bet it's not as common as the babysitters club series would have us believe. anyway, the escaped convict is a man with bright red hair & law-abiding citizens are urged to keep an eye out for him. stacey is a little nervous about the possibility that the escapee will somehow discover that the johanssens are out of town & will use their empty house as a crash pad. this book would be a lot better if that actually happened.
the mysteries begin the mount. one day stacey comes by to walk carrot & finds him growling in the entryway with all his fur bristling on end. she talks to him until he clams down & goes back to normal. she finds another used glass in the sink. one morning, there is a lingering scent of toast in the kitchen. another day, stacey moves the coffeepot aside to fill up carrot's water bowl & it is warm to the touch, like it was recently used. on yet another day, she finds a blue vase in the hallway knocked off its table & cracked. she tries to come up with plausible explanations for all these issues. maybe she used the glass & forgot. maybe the kitchen just always smells like toast. maybe the coffeepot is on a timer, like some of the lights in the house (to make it appear occupied while the johanssens are away). maybe carrot bumped the table holding the vase & it cracked on the floor. maybe carrot just freaked out because he's confused about his family being gone.
stacey gets a scare on afternoon while she is standing on the porch looking for her key & she sees someone with red hair moving around in the bushes. no, it's not mallory pike & ben hobart making the beat with two backs. it's a female redheaded meter reader who compliments stacey on the adorableness of her home. stacey, like an idiot, explains that she doesn't live there, she's just housesitting while the occupants are in france. way to tell the strange lady the house is empty, stacey. the meter reader says something about how getting away to france sounds great & advises her never to marry a co-worker. she nods toward the utility truck nearby & explains that her meter reading partner is also her husband. when she gets into the truck, she & her husband have a screaming fight in which the lady meter reader says she is going to leave him & get her own place. stacey freaks. what is the lady meter reader decides to squat the johanssens' house? seriously. stacey thinks that might happen. because what freshly divorced woman striking out for a better, more independent life doesn't want to squat the home of a family who is going to be back from vacation next week? that's what mrs. mcgill did when she got divorced, after all. *sigh* stacey is an idiot.
but she does have a truly legitimate scare a few days later when she opens the linen closet & finds a hairbrush inside. the hairbrush has many red hairs in it. no one in the johanssen family has red hair. stacey freaks & assumes the brush belongs to either the escaped criminal or the angry meter reader, who are surely squatting the place. she brings her concerns to the babysitters club. mary anne immediately suggests calling the police, which is certainly what i would do if i was housesitting for someone & found a mysterious hairbrush full of hairs incompatible with the hair of the people for whom i was housesitting. it's a pretty clear-cut sign that someone stacey doesn't know is hanging around the house. but stacey puts the kibosh on it & is all, "no! they'll think i'm crazy." um...i'm not necessarily proud of the fact that i have called the police on a few occasions, but i have never once called the police for anything & had them treat me like i am crazy. i mean, i'm sure people have had bad experiences where cops made them feel stupid for what seemed like reasonable concerns, but i don't think that would happen here.
since stacey won't call the police, the babysitters decide to have a sleepover at jessi's house, which is right behind the johanssens' house. they can keep an eye on the house all night & make a note of anyone lurking about. kristy & mallory bring binoculars & jessi shows them a now hopelessly dated trick in which you can call someone's answering machine & listen to what's going on in the house. they panic a little when kristy sees a light come on...until stacey explains that the lights are on a timer. they even head over to see if the johanssens' spare key is still in its hiding spot, underneath a rock in the backyard. it's not. stacey almost hyperventilates, until kristy sensibly points out that the missing key may be the one the johanssens gave to stacey for her housesitting gig. basically, they don't find anything conclusive. but there is a weird moment when stacey stops by to drop off the vase she bought to replace the one that broke...& finds what looks like the original vase sitting on the hall table, completely unharmed. verrrry mysterious.
the next morning, the sitters all head over to the johanssens' to see carrot & look for clues. stacey freaks out when she looks at the notepad next to the phone. the pages where she took messages have been folded back & a new phone number has been written in unfamiliar handwriting. stacey calls the number & it's an automated recording of train times. the babysitters rush to the train station, where stacey & claudia see a suspicious-looking man with bright red hair. the train from new york pulls in & the man begins to approach the train. stacey just knows that the man is the escaped criminal & that he's been using the johanssens' empty house as a hide-out. just then, the johanssens get off the train. the red-haired men is heading straight toward them. stacey tries to yell a warning but she can't talk. she is then flabbergasted when dr. johanssen hugs the red-haired man, who then turns & hugs charlotte.
you can see where this is going, right? the red-haired man is in fact an old friend of the johanssens. his name is bill & he is not a criminal. he has a standing invitation to stay at the johanssens' house whenever he's in stoneybrook on business (who the hell would ever go to stoneybrook for business?). he knows where the key is kept & he wrote stacey a note, but carrot chewed it up before she saw it. he's been coming in late & leaving early every morning, so their paths never crossed. he's the one who made toast & coffee & left water glasses in the sink. he broke the vase & then replaced it. carrot's growling interlude happened because carrot isn't that familiar with bill & was kind of freaked out. the real criminal is duly caught & ferried back to prison. mystery solved.
October 2, 2022
Like usual, this baby-sitters club mystery book had shivers running down my spine. Though I am a little disappointed about the ending of the mystery. Here's the summary:
Stacey McGill gets to house-sit for her favorite customer who she considers a little sister, Charlotte! But during the 2 weeks, strange things start happening. The dog, Carrot, has had a variety of mixed emotions, the coffee maker is warm, a vase is broken, and her watch is missing. Then hears about an escaped prisoner at large. She gets scared and calls on the babysitters club for help. They have a stakeout sleepover and don't find anything. In the morning, Stacey and Claudia find a number written on the notepad. They travel to the train station, while Charlotte's family is returning, that see the mystery man from the house. It turns out it was a family friend. And the story ends with holiday cheer.
See? Family friend? And the escaped prisoner wasn't a big party of the ending. But overall the mystery was great. 👍
Stacey McGill gets to house-sit for her favorite customer who she considers a little sister, Charlotte! But during the 2 weeks, strange things start happening. The dog, Carrot, has had a variety of mixed emotions, the coffee maker is warm, a vase is broken, and her watch is missing. Then hears about an escaped prisoner at large. She gets scared and calls on the babysitters club for help. They have a stakeout sleepover and don't find anything. In the morning, Stacey and Claudia find a number written on the notepad. They travel to the train station, while Charlotte's family is returning, that see the mystery man from the house. It turns out it was a family friend. And the story ends with holiday cheer.
See? Family friend? And the escaped prisoner wasn't a big party of the ending. But overall the mystery was great. 👍
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 11, 2012
This was my first Baby sitters club book.I was addicted to this series after I read it..I love all of the characters..especially Stacey and Kristi because I'm like them.
March 6, 2025
This is a pretty decent mystery. There are coincidences, red herrings, self doubt, and actual creepy things. As a kid in this scenario, it totally makes sense that Stacey would be nervous. As an adult, I would be too. To that point, it is totally negligent that the Johanssens didn't let Stacey - the CHILD coming into their house while they're gone - know that there is someone else who might show up. Or, alternatively, that this guy gave them no warning that he'd be in town and using their house, when he clearly knew they weren't there and someone else was. A note in a place where a dog who chews paper can reach it is wildly insufficient.
A few gripes - enough with escapees. Better a "convict" than the escaped "mental patient" from a few books back. But this white upper-middle-class pearl-clutching is so egocentric and frustrating, especially as a plot device. I get that it's kind of what makes everything in this plot work, but I don't like it. Also, the surveillance of the "phone machines," OH MY DAYS. That is horrifying, and I wonder if that was real. Finally, Stacey's boyfriend Robert is supposed to be so cool and sweet and understanding, but he expresses his feelings of wanting more time with Stacey by calling THE DOG (Carrot) repeatedly by the wrong name - Eggplant, Celery, etc. I really hate that kind of thing, I think it's nasty. Not cute, poor choice.
A few gripes - enough with escapees. Better a "convict" than the escaped "mental patient" from a few books back. But this white upper-middle-class pearl-clutching is so egocentric and frustrating, especially as a plot device. I get that it's kind of what makes everything in this plot work, but I don't like it. Also, the surveillance of the "phone machines," OH MY DAYS. That is horrifying, and I wonder if that was real. Finally, Stacey's boyfriend Robert is supposed to be so cool and sweet and understanding, but he expresses his feelings of wanting more time with Stacey by calling THE DOG (Carrot) repeatedly by the wrong name - Eggplant, Celery, etc. I really hate that kind of thing, I think it's nasty. Not cute, poor choice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 18, 2022
I always try to write down my guesses for whodunnit in the mystery books, and it took me until Chapter 10 to guess how this would go, so I would say this was good. The ending does bring up more questions for me than Ann and her ghostwriters probably intended, but oh well.
Regarding Kristy’s anxiety over the sleigh ride, the BSC needs to do some counseling and figure out how to not have such extreme reactions to minor mistakes.
Regarding Kristy’s anxiety over the sleigh ride, the BSC needs to do some counseling and figure out how to not have such extreme reactions to minor mistakes.
August 24, 2023
A genuinely scary mystery. Though...
May 28, 2021
This reminds me of the earlier Mystery books, plausible situations that young teenage baby-sitters can find themselves in. Yes, there is some silliness, there's an escaped convict (but isn't there always? I was just going to ask how incompetent the jails were in Connecticut, but considering the BSC need to do the police's job often, I shouldn't be surprised. And what is it with the Stoneybrook kids being obsessed with these escaped convicts? At eight, I couldn't have cared less about the news or noteworthy events. Even at thirteen I didn't give a crap.) But I like the Mysteries that are a little bit spooky with a totally innocent explanation. (Even if maybe this book was a little boring ahahaha.)
November 18, 2021
Even when the Stacey books aren't that great they read easier than the others to me somehow. Maybe it's because Stacey tends to be a little more cool headed and logical (or is that just bias talking?) This mystery is ridiculous (although way creepier than even the BSC makes it out to be), though, and I haaaate that even though it was published later it apparently takes place before the previous book, or disregards it completely. Reading them out of order is the worst.
But Carrot is super cute and Stacey is the best. I'm just sad there wasn't more of the other sitters and more consistency.
But Carrot is super cute and Stacey is the best. I'm just sad there wasn't more of the other sitters and more consistency.
September 29, 2018
I'm finally starting to feel better, so my BSC readathon will soon be winding down. (Well, until I re-read some Halloween themed ones next month, of course.)
I know I've been saying this for the last several mysteries but here it is again: I still love this one! I know a lot of people hate the mysteries, but as a kid I thought they were so cool, and so there's a lot of nostalgia centered around them for me. Honestly, I still think they're a lot of fun.
I know I've been saying this for the last several mysteries but here it is again: I still love this one! I know a lot of people hate the mysteries, but as a kid I thought they were so cool, and so there's a lot of nostalgia centered around them for me. Honestly, I still think they're a lot of fun.
January 27, 2021
(LL)
This was actually a decent story until the ending. It absolutely sucked. Moreover, it was a punch in the face. It was beyond unrealistic...it was a lie. They gave the cliche and terrible deus ex machina.
I’m so disappointed by this mystery because it could have been so much better. Ugh.
This was actually a decent story until the ending. It absolutely sucked. Moreover, it was a punch in the face. It was beyond unrealistic...it was a lie. They gave the cliche and terrible deus ex machina.
I’m so disappointed by this mystery because it could have been so much better. Ugh.
Read
November 1, 2020Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blo...
January 1, 2021
Charlotte parents should have let Stacey know that someone could be stopping by the house so she would not get scared. Being a lone in the house can be scary.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2021
Despite the fact that I'm not a fan of Stacey I was enjoying this one until the end. It wasa let down and I didn't even have high expectations (or frankly any expectations).
May 13, 2024
Call the police you idiots.
August 22, 2024
Not the most enjoyable plot...
December 4, 2025
good book
This book was a good read I loved this mystery but carrot was the star of this book totally recommend
This book was a good read I loved this mystery but carrot was the star of this book totally recommend
January 22, 2021
Interesting adventures of members of the Baby Sitters Club!
May 29, 2018
Stacey And The Mystery At The Empty House
PLOT: The Johnson's get Stacey to house and dog sit while they're away on a vacation to Paris. After a while, Stacey starts noticing strange little things around the house. A moved glass here, a crumpled up piece of paper there, and then a hairbrush containing hair that doesn't match any of the family. What makes it even worse is there's a convict that's being tracked down and seems to have a lot of the kid's spooked. Also, it's Christmas time and Kristy (as usual) runs off her mouth and mentions there might be taking the kids on either a hayride or a sleigh ride depending on the weather. But the kid she's sitting for only hears sleigh ride and before you know it all the kids are hyped for the sleigh ride. Kristy better hope it snows.
MY THOUGHTS: I think that reading a summary of this one somewhere else spoiled me because I already knew how the mystery would end, but even if I hadn't read it I think I'd know it wasn't the meter lady. Just because (and I've said this several times before) it’s a red herring. But it's ridiculously simplistic because the meter lady and the convict are the only suspects we get. And I really don't think if it was a convict Stacey's swatch watch or any of the Johnson's other item's would still be there. The part of me that wasn't thinking with my spoiler mind thought maybe it's a person in Stoney-Brooke that’s homeless and squats there at night. (I was close). But then when we look at who it *really* is. Bill a close friend of the families who has a key and can use the house any time he's in town. Someone who apparently Carrot didn't know. What friend just randomly shows up at your house. (Ok I take that back I know some people who do this). I'll rephrase that. What kind of friend just has a key to your house to make themselves at home and not even call and tell you they are on the way and will be staying? That struck me as strange but ok. And then where does Bill go coming in so late at night and leaving so early in the morning? How did he know Stacey was the sitter? He says he left her a note? Shouldn't he have let the Johnson's know he was there and they could have called Stacey and told her themselves? The main thing that impressed me in this story wasn't the plot. It was Carrot. I'm not even a dog lover but this has GOT to be one of the smartest dogs I've read about. Whatever Stacey says to him he seems to comprehend and not only that he responds to it promptly. What annoyed me a little about the book was in the last BSC I read about Stacey I made a comment about how they can't seem to do anything without each other. Not only that but do these girls have lives? Every opportunity they get has to involve the kids they sit for. I get they love kid's but COME ON! They don't have to do EVERYTHING with you 24/7
RATING: 5
PLOT: The Johnson's get Stacey to house and dog sit while they're away on a vacation to Paris. After a while, Stacey starts noticing strange little things around the house. A moved glass here, a crumpled up piece of paper there, and then a hairbrush containing hair that doesn't match any of the family. What makes it even worse is there's a convict that's being tracked down and seems to have a lot of the kid's spooked. Also, it's Christmas time and Kristy (as usual) runs off her mouth and mentions there might be taking the kids on either a hayride or a sleigh ride depending on the weather. But the kid she's sitting for only hears sleigh ride and before you know it all the kids are hyped for the sleigh ride. Kristy better hope it snows.
MY THOUGHTS: I think that reading a summary of this one somewhere else spoiled me because I already knew how the mystery would end, but even if I hadn't read it I think I'd know it wasn't the meter lady. Just because (and I've said this several times before) it’s a red herring. But it's ridiculously simplistic because the meter lady and the convict are the only suspects we get. And I really don't think if it was a convict Stacey's swatch watch or any of the Johnson's other item's would still be there. The part of me that wasn't thinking with my spoiler mind thought maybe it's a person in Stoney-Brooke that’s homeless and squats there at night. (I was close). But then when we look at who it *really* is. Bill a close friend of the families who has a key and can use the house any time he's in town. Someone who apparently Carrot didn't know. What friend just randomly shows up at your house. (Ok I take that back I know some people who do this). I'll rephrase that. What kind of friend just has a key to your house to make themselves at home and not even call and tell you they are on the way and will be staying? That struck me as strange but ok. And then where does Bill go coming in so late at night and leaving so early in the morning? How did he know Stacey was the sitter? He says he left her a note? Shouldn't he have let the Johnson's know he was there and they could have called Stacey and told her themselves? The main thing that impressed me in this story wasn't the plot. It was Carrot. I'm not even a dog lover but this has GOT to be one of the smartest dogs I've read about. Whatever Stacey says to him he seems to comprehend and not only that he responds to it promptly. What annoyed me a little about the book was in the last BSC I read about Stacey I made a comment about how they can't seem to do anything without each other. Not only that but do these girls have lives? Every opportunity they get has to involve the kids they sit for. I get they love kid's but COME ON! They don't have to do EVERYTHING with you 24/7
RATING: 5
February 5, 2016
I’m crazy about The Babysitters Club series. It’s a series from the late 80s to the 90s, about seven girls who babysit. Each book features one of the girls and this book is about Stacey McGill. Stacey McGill is a thirteen year old girl who lives in a fictional town called Stoneybrook in Connecticut. She loves dressing outlandishly and looking after children.
This book is part of the mystery spin off books from The Babysitters Club series. The mysteries are lightweight cases, such as dognapping and jewelry heists as it is a children’s book series. In this one, Stacey is asked to housesit for a family she babysits regularly. They ask her to collect the mail and feed the dog while they go on vacation. While housesitting, Stacey notices that some things in the house are out of order. A vase that she broke has mysteriously been fixed and a glass that she didn’t use is in the sink. Stacey and her friends think that there might be an intruder in the house. They think it is the escaped convict that has been sighted in Stoneybrook.
There’s also a secondary plot about the babysitters organizing a sleigh ride for their charges for Christmas. They all worry about whether it will snow in time for the sleigh ride. The babysitters are always organizing special event for their children. The children are lucky to have such dedicated babysitters. They do talent shows, sleepovers, plays, sailing and baseball.
I felt that this book was the weakest mystery Babysitter Club book I have read yet. The ending was lame. Normally, the girls do some detective work and then call the police and present their findings. This time around, it all turns out to be a misunderstanding and the girls don’t even solve the case. The family who Stacey house sat for make their explanations. Maybe Ann Martin didn’t want anything dark for Christmas. So it was a disappointing read. There were still some good points in the story. The children they babysit for thanked them for their hard work and dedication. I thought that was sweet and it’s nice that the kids recognized that the girls do a lot for them.
This book is part of the mystery spin off books from The Babysitters Club series. The mysteries are lightweight cases, such as dognapping and jewelry heists as it is a children’s book series. In this one, Stacey is asked to housesit for a family she babysits regularly. They ask her to collect the mail and feed the dog while they go on vacation. While housesitting, Stacey notices that some things in the house are out of order. A vase that she broke has mysteriously been fixed and a glass that she didn’t use is in the sink. Stacey and her friends think that there might be an intruder in the house. They think it is the escaped convict that has been sighted in Stoneybrook.
There’s also a secondary plot about the babysitters organizing a sleigh ride for their charges for Christmas. They all worry about whether it will snow in time for the sleigh ride. The babysitters are always organizing special event for their children. The children are lucky to have such dedicated babysitters. They do talent shows, sleepovers, plays, sailing and baseball.
I felt that this book was the weakest mystery Babysitter Club book I have read yet. The ending was lame. Normally, the girls do some detective work and then call the police and present their findings. This time around, it all turns out to be a misunderstanding and the girls don’t even solve the case. The family who Stacey house sat for make their explanations. Maybe Ann Martin didn’t want anything dark for Christmas. So it was a disappointing read. There were still some good points in the story. The children they babysit for thanked them for their hard work and dedication. I thought that was sweet and it’s nice that the kids recognized that the girls do a lot for them.
March 9, 2024
This was sort of enjoyable. A bit like Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls with an escaped prisoner. Stacey is house sitting for the Johanssens who are in France. She notices all sorts of things that are odd, vases that are cracked one day good as new the next, Carrot the dog is acting weird chewing and destroying things. Then Stacey finds a brush with bright red hair in it but no one in the house has red hair. This was one of the more plausible mysteries. At least they weren't breaking up dog theft rings or something. The solution was kind of dumb though. The b plot involves Kristy hoping for snow after she told the kids they were having sleigh rides. She keeps trying to change it to hay rides but the kids don't listen and of course it snows just in time. This was okay. The mysteries are not my favourite that's for sure.
August 3, 2016
When strange things happen that creep you out, do you want to figure out what's going on? Like the babysitters from the Baby-sitters Club, it's best to enlist the help of your friends. Mysteries are more fun to solve with friends. While these books might not be as dramatic as Nancy Drew or adult mysteries, Ann M. Martin makes these stories fun with relatable characters. So grab a Baby-sitters book and a comfy seat. You'll enjoy the book so much you'll want to devour the series. Have fun reading!
February 5, 2009
This book is a mystery about a girl who has to dog sit a house for a week. She finds strange things going on at the house, like an empty water glass in the sink, a brush with bright red hair on it that has never been used, and a broken vase. There is something fishy going on, and you'll have to read the book to find out!!
May 6, 2021
Loved these books as a child
December 5, 2024
This one could have really ratcheted up the tension. Given Stacey's plotline in Christmas Chiller and how scary it is, this one feels a little meh.
December 28, 2010
I had to suspend my disbelief a time or two, but that's getting pretty common for the Mysteries.
July 4, 2014
Read a long time ago. Good for children! I would recommend it to my sister. Very interesting.
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