SOLVED. Children's Lit—chapter book I read in the 70s: a boy and a girl team up with the (ghost?) of Tallulah Bankhead underground to solve mysteries. In the end she disappears. [s]

[Steven]

Ok, I’m on a roll here! I’ve recently discovered this forum and you guys are amazing! So far it’s two for two.

Here goes another try:
YA short fiction I read in the 70s: a boy and a girl encounter some kind of return of the late Tallulah Bankhead—possibly her ghost? They discover her while exploring somewhere underground — possibly down a manhole? Wherever it is, I seem to recall them finding her in some kind of underground hideout, and nobody knows about it except the two young people who return several times to meet with the famous deceased lady. Except they are too young to know who she is—or was. With her help they solve mysteries—or maybe a crime? In the end the hideout is discovered and Tallulah disappears, much to the children’s dismay.

It’s weird how certain stories you read as child have a way of staying with you over the years, like being haunted by a ghost. I wonder why that is.

[Emma]

Uhh it could be Up from Jericho Tel? Everything confirms with what you said except for the reading it in the 70s part as it has been released in 1986.

[Steven]

I think that must be it, Emma. However, I have to wrap my head around having read it after 1986–that just doesn’t seem possible. That means I would have to have been at least 21 years old when I read it, and I can’t see what occasion I had for reading children's books at that point in my life. let me think about it...

[Steven]

Yes, I’ve decided I must have read Up From Jericho Tell in my twenties (but why???)

Mark it solved!