The Mandie Mysteries

Here is yet another series of books. The series is the Mandie series by Lois Gladys Leppard. I have found some websites that criticize the Mandie books greatly. I, however, do not agree with them. I really enjoy reading the Mandie books, because they are mysteries and because the characters in the books are Christians.

Lois Gladys Leppard has written three series about Mandie Shaw. There is, of course, the original series, which has 40 books. Then there is a series that is aimed at younger readers, primarily children that are just beginning to read chapter books. The last series would be “Mandie: Her College Days”, which immediately follows the end of book #40 of the original books. I am adding a summary and list of the books below.

Mandie Shaw is just an ordinary country girl living with her parents in Western North Carolina. Then her father is suddenly struck with a terrible case of pneumonia which takes him to be with the Lord. Her mother abruptly decides to send Mandie to live with a family miles from her home. She is to be a servant for them and to watch their new infant. Mandie’s only friends are Uncle Ned, an old Cherokee Indian who promised her father that he would watch out for her when he died, and Joe Woodard, the son of the local doctor and the only person at their school who was actually nice to Mandie.

But now Mandie isn’t allowed to go to school, so she can’t even see Joe. She gets to see Uncle Ned occasionally, but not very often because she doesn’t want her guardians to know she is friends with an Indian. Then one night Mandie finds out that she has an uncle who lives in Franklin, a nearby town. So Uncle Ned helps Mandie escape to his house, but when she gets there all she finds is that her uncle was in Europe and somehow died. So now she is fatherless, has no uncle, and doesn’t want to return to the cruel mother that so evilly sent her away.

The rest of the series follows Mandie’s journey as she grows up, makes new friends, and goes to a new school. The last book in the series ends with Mandie’s high school graduation.

The Original Mandie Books

1. Mandie and the Secret Tunnel
2. Mandie and the Cherokee Legend
3. Mandie and the Ghost Bandits
4. Mandie and the Forbidden Attic
5. Mandie and the Trunk’s Secret
6. Mandie and the Medicine Man
7. Mandie and the Charleston Phantom
8. Mandie and the Abandoned Mine
9. Mandie and the Hidden Treasure
10. Mandie and the Mysterious Bells
11. Mandie and the Holiday Surprise
12. Mandie and the Washington Nightmare
13. Mandie and the Midnight Journey
14. Mandie and the Shipboard Mystery
15. Mandie and the Foreign Spies
16. Mandie and the Silent Catacombs
17. Mandie and the Singing Chalet
18. Mandie and the Jumping Juniper
19. Mandie and the Mysterious Fisherman
20. Mandie and the Windmill’s Message
21. Mandie and the Fiery Rescue
22. Mandie and the Angel’s Secret
23. Mandie and the Dangerous Imposters
24. Mandie and the Invisible Troublemaker
25. Mandie and Her Missing Kin
26. Mandie and the Schoolhouse’s Secret
27. Mandie and the Courtroom Battle
28. Mandie and Jonathan’s Predicament
29. Mandie and the Unwanted Gift
30. Mandie and the Long Good-bye
31. Mandie and the Buried Stranger
32. Mandie and the Seaside Rendezvous
33. Mandie and the Dark Alley
34. Mandie and the Tornado!
35. Mandie and the Quilt Mystery
36. Mandie and the New York Secret
37. Mandie and the Night Thief
38. Mandie and the Hidden Past
39. Mandie and the Missing Schoolmarm
40. Mandie and the Graduation Mystery

Mandie: Her College Days

1. New Horizons

The Young Mandie Books

1. Who’s Mandie

2. The New Girl

3. The Mystery at Miss Abigail’s

4. Merry Christmas From Mandie

5. The Talking Snowman

6. The Secret in the Woods

7. The Missing Book

8. The Haunted Shop

Note: The first book in the “Mandie: Her College Days” series came out with that as the title of the series. In spite of this, the website about Mandie calls the series “Mandie: Her College Years.” Right about now you are probably asking why there is an error. The answer is: I have absolutely no idea why. I don’t know if the series is actually “Mandie: Her College Days” or “Mandie: Her College Years.”

Also, I am not sure if the list of the Young Mandie books are in the correct order. I could not just find a list of them.