The Blythe Girls Series
Brief Summaries

Poverty-stricken, Helen, Margy, and Rose Blythe move into a modest apartment in New York City.  Helen hopes to improve as an artist and eventually sell her work, while Margy and Rose seek work.  After weeks of difficulty, Rose wins a position in a department store, and Margy becomes the personal secretary of an eccentric elderly lady, Miss Pepper.

Both girls face conflict at work.  Rose is accused of theft and may lose her position.  Meanwhile, Margy is fired after Miss Pepper's obnoxious nephew Rex tricks her into disobeying Miss Pepper's orders.  The future looks grim, but the girls face their troubles bravely, and in time, each wrong is set right.

Margy inherits a bizarre assortment of items, including a can of flour, from Aunt Margy Blythe.  Margy is instructed to use the four to bake biscuits and breads.  Once the flour is completely gone, Margy will receive further information regarding her inheritance.

Soon after the arrival of Aunt Margy's things, a prowler enters the Blythes' apartment.  Curiously, the only possessions targeted by the man are the things that had belonged to Aunt Margy.  Is it possible that Aunt Margy's seemingly worthless possessions have a hidden value?  The girls face quite a mystery as they seek the answer to this question while they await word on Margy's inheritance.

Rose loses the friendship of Birdie North when Chester Drew, the new floorwalker, becomes friendly with her.  Rose senses that something significant happened between Chester and Birdie in the past, but Birdie snubs Rose so thoroughly that Rose is unable to learn the truth.

Rose soon faces a great dilemma after Chester inherits a department store in Buffalo and requests that Rose move to Buffalo to take a top position at his store.  Rose is torn between the opportunity and her love for her sisters.  Unexpectedly, Rose learns the truth about Chester and Birdie's past, and Rose's decision is finally made clear.

Helen meets a strange girl, Jean Ridgeway, in Bronx Park.  Jean induces Helen to bring her home to the Blythes' apartment.  Jean recounts an amazing story of how her uncle poisoned her in order to steal her money.  Jean has fled from her uncle and urges the Blythes to let her stay.

The story takes a strange twist when the Blythes discover that Jean's story exactly matches the plot of a popular novel, even as to the meeting of an artist in a park.  How can this be?  Jean's story is the greatest mystery the sisters have ever encountered, and its solution is equally startling.

Helen, Margy, and Rose travel to Crag House for their vacation only to discover a rundown and dirty lodging with swarthy guests and indigestible food.  The owners refuse to allow the sisters to leave, but fortunately, Joe Morris arrives and rescues the girls from their prison.

The sisters relocate to Peach Farm and finally begin their vacation.  However, Rose is overcome with worry about Joe's safety in his current job and is unable to enjoy her vacation.  Rose's worst fears come true, and the Blythe girls experience several harrowing experiences before the end of their vacation. 

Helen, Margy, and Rose settle back into their daily life in the city, but not without more problems.  Rex Pepper continues to attempt to steal Miss Pepper's fortune, and Helen may have lost her only source of income after Mr. Bullard is swindled in a stock scam.

Margy discovers that Rex Pepper is part of the ring of stock swindlers and enthusiastically agrees to go undercover in order to gather evidence against Rex Pepper and his cronies.  Margy journeys to the Royce Clever-Carlton estate in disguise and plunges into a dangerous situation that nearly backfires on her.  Ultimately, Margy is triumphant, but not until after she suffers through several dangerous experiences.

Rose befriends an old man who lingers near the millinery department counter for an entire day.  Mr. Conroy has come to the city to seek his missing daughter, Irene, who ran away from home recently.  Mr. Conroy has also had the misfortune of losing his bag and all of his money.  Rose impulsively takes the old man home and summons several friends to help her search for Irene.

It is Rose herself who locates Irene, but Irene is reluctant to let Rose help her.  Irene is suspected of theft and has foolishly run away.  Rose convinces Irene of her sincerity and keeps track of Irene's whereabouts.  Irene's troubles worsen, but with the help of Dale, Rose helps bring the true thief to justice, thereby exonerating Irene, and reunites father and daughter.

Where is Helen?  Margy and Rose arrive home to find the apartment empty, with no sign of Helen.  As the hours pass into days, the frantic girls desperately seek answers.  The last time anybody saw Helen, she was headed to Mr. Bullard's art shop at his request.  Curiously, the art shop was robbed of an extremely valuable painting at about the time that Helen would have arrived.

The girls feel that there must be a connection, and so Margy and Rose interview Mr. Bullard as well as the owners of the stolen painting.  Finally, the girls obtain the clues they need, but it is a race against time to locate Helen before she is lost forever.

Helen receives an order for six paintings of winter scenes.  Margy receives permission from Miss Pepper for the girls to spend a vacation at Elk Lodge so that Helen can complete her paintings.  The girls are thrust into a mystery as soon as they arrive.  Someone has been staying at the lodge without permission!

The intruder returns to steal most of the girls' food provisions and cuts the phone lines so that they are isolated from the outside world.  The situation turns desperate after a deadly blizzard begins, leaving the girls snowbound.  It is only with great courage that the girls find a means of survival and unclench themselves from the grip of certain death.

Helen's six completed paintings are stolen by a thief shortly before a plane crashes into the girls' living room, destroying most of their furniture.  The girls are forced to live elsewhere until their apartment is repaired.  Fortunately, Margy is to watch over Miss Pepper's home in her absence, and Helen and Rose join her.

All is not right in Miss Pepper's home after the arrival of Miles Standish, a relative of Miss Pepper from Texas.  Standish prowls through Miss Pepper's home and snoops through her desk, offering flimsy excuses for his actions.  The girls face many sleepless nights as they guard Miss Pepper's home, hope that Helen's missing paintings will be found, and wonder how they will refurnish their apartment.

Rose receives notice that she is to be laid off from the millinery department at Lossar-Martin's.  However, fate intervenes nicely on Rose's behalf!  Mr. Martin himself witnesses Rose's flair for fashion as she helps a young girl select a suitable dress and hires Rose as a salesperson in the junior dress department.

Rose's elation is short-lived.  The other girls make it nearly impossible for Rose to make a sale, and Rose fears that she will be terminated at any time.  Finally, the manager of the department fires her for insubordination.  But, sometimes real life can be stranger than fiction and Rose finds herself reinstated and in a most enviable position—sometimes dreams do come true!

Helen decides to try for the grand prize in an art contest and chooses Margy as her model.  Margy wears a lovely white gown selected by Helen and an inexpensive imitation emerald necklace that Helen purchased on sale.

Everything is perfect, except that Margy hates the necklace.  Oddly, all of the girls' friends think the necklace is real, and Margy feels a strange sense of foreboding.  Meanwhile, the young people learn of a couple of children who live in a nearby apartment who might be abused by their father.  In a strange twist, the children are connected to the true story of the necklace, and it is through them that a great mystery is solved.

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