Thoughts before reading:
I read and enjoyed this when I was a kid, and I think I owned it at one point, because the cover looks really familiar. Growing up, my family didn't have a lot of money, especially for things like books. Since I tore through books like crazy, my parents would take me to a used bookstore nearby where we lived, and there I could get my fix of BSC and other series for pretty cheap. After taking a stack home, I would fly through them, then keep only my favorites. The rest I would trade back to the store for new books to read. That's why I don't remember for sure which books I owned for just awhile, and also why my collection of ones left from childhood is pretty small, despite my intense love for these books. Holding on to a book I liked back then often meant doing without new reading material.
I don't remember having any special fondness for the mystery books, but I read plenty of them. The mysteries are so tame anyway, that these books are barely distinguishable from the regular series. It's really just a marketing gimmick to even have them be considered a separate series. I loved spooky things and mysteries, even from a young age, but these are only barely that. Several of the regular series books are spookier than most of these (see The Ghost At Dawn's House, Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook).
What I do remember is that this book was a really stressful nail-biter for me back then. Stacey gets accused of stealing something, and I was on the edge of my seat waiting for her to be found innocent, because I adored her so much.
The basics:
Stacey and her mom get into an argument because Stacey asks her for a diamond ring (it's her birthstone, so this isn't as random as it sounds). Her mom says it's too expensive (rightly so), and things quickly go downhill, turning into a fight about how Stacey's dad spoils her when she's with him. Her mom is worried that as a result, she's becoming a spoiled brat. Stacey's angry and wants to get out of the house, so she calls her BSC friends to go to the mall. While there, she shows them the diamond ring that she wants.
Shortly after, the BSC receives a call from a new client, the Gardellas. They have a 7 month old daughter, Tara, who's usually cared for by a nanny. Stacey takes the job, but immediately finds the Gardellas to be really strange. They're both really into their pets, a cat named Mouse and a dog named Bird, treating them like human children while they hardly even mention Tara. Still, the job goes fine, but the next morning Stacey gets an early call from Mrs. G. She's upset because she left a diamond ring out on her dresser and it's now missing. Stacey honestly says she never even saw it, and her mom immediately believes her and backs her up. Mrs. G doesn't believe them though, and says she will be calling all the BSC clients to warn them. Kristy's furious and calls an emergency meeting. Everyone believes Stacey, but they aren't sure what to do, never having faced a problem like this before.
BSC business immediately slows way down, and there are no longer enough jobs to go around. Some loyal clients are still calling though, and Mrs. Prezzioso defends the club when she hears about Mrs. G accusing Stacey. Jessi hears about a thief working in the area, and starts thinking he might be to blame. Claudia goes over to Stacey's house to hang out, and starts looking through her things for the ring right in front of her. When Stacey is understandably upset, Claudia accuses her of stealing the ring, citing the huge coincidence of her wanting one.
With things getting worse and worse, Stacey ends up offering to babysit for Mrs. G for free until the ring is paid off. Mrs. G agrees, but doesn't want Stacey alone in her house, so Kristy agrees to also go. On their very first job, Stacey finds the ring under a rug where Mouse likes to hide his toys. The Gardellas immediately apologize when they get home, but say they never ended up telling any clients except for Mrs. P. The slow business was a weird coincidence all along, and it immediately starts to pick up again. The girls decide they will not sit for the Gardellas anymore, since they didn't believe Stacey was innocent.
My thoughts:
For most of this book, things were making a lot of sense, which can be quite a rarity in the BSC-verse. As teenage girls going in and out of people's homes constantly, and being alone in them so much, sooner or later a situation like this was bound to happen. It's unfortunate for Stacey of course, since she was innocent, but if a diamond ring went missing from your home the first time you had a new babysitter, you'd also be suspicious. I actually found it more ridiculous that the BSC decided not to babysit for the Gardellas anymore because they accused Stacey. I wouldn't want to if I was them either, because of the risk of something like this happening again. What makes it laughable here is that some of them didn't believe Stacey either, as well as the fact that they've never refused a client before, up to this point. When Betsy Sobak caused Claudia to break her leg, they kept sitting for her! Wasn't that a much worse, not to mention more dangerous, situation?
That being said, the logic of this book completely fell apart for me when the Gardellas agreed to let Stacey babysit for free until she paid off the ring. This plan just makes zero sense. If Mrs. G really thinks Stacey is a thief and a liar, she'd never really want her in her house again. Who cares if Kristy is there or not? Mrs. G has never even met her, so she could be even worse. If she doesn't trust the club, why would any other member being there to supervise Stacey help? Plus, the Gardellas are wealthy. They don't need free babysitting, and it would take years of it to pay for a freaking diamond ring. Do they really want a girl they don't trust in their house that much, especially when they could afford a fancy adult nanny? More important than any of this though, how do they know Stacey isn't just trying to get back into the house to put the ring back? She obviously can't wear it or pawn it, so if she did steal it she would now want nothing more than to slip it back in the house and clear her name. Since the ring turns up again on her first sitting job, how do they even know that isn't what ultimately happened? All that time in between the two jobs, they never found the ring or thought to look in their cats hiding places, then someone unfamiliar with the house immediately finds it? None of it makes any sense, making this just about the lamest mystery I've ever read.
I've pointed out several times before how you'd expect Stacey to be spoiled, but she's really grounded and kind in reality. Her begging for a ring in here is very annoying and makes her look spoiled, but I'll still argue that is definitely not the case. It's very age appropriate behavior, for one thing, which was actually refreshing. I did stuff like that at 13, and I was definitely not spoiled in the slightest (we hardly ever even got new clothes or basics). I also had zero concept of the value of money then, even growing up in a household that had to budget everything. Most importantly though, Stacey does do the right thing. She throws it in her mom's face that her dad would buy her the ring, and her mom agrees she's probably right about that. Still, Stacey never asks him for it, despite how badly she wants it, because she knows it's the wrong thing to do. Remember also, that there have been times he took her to fancy NYC stores where she could pick out anything she wanted, and she stuck to something small. She's a teenager, she's going to mouth off and she's going to want things, but when it comes down to it, she does what she knows is right.
I think the worst behavior in here was actually Claudia's. Out of the whole BSC, she's the only one who really doesn't believe Stacey? She's her best friend! Then not only does she not try talking to her openly about it, she instead decides to rummage through her things while she's standing right there. When that doesn't immediately work, she just accuses Stacey instead. Admittedly the coincidence of Stacey wanting the very thing that's now missing is beyond dumb, and really lazy writing, but you have to at least have your best friend's back! One again, Claudia holds her place as one of the least mature BSC members.
Misc:
*Ghostwritten by Ellen Miles
*Stacey enjoys house cleaning (I can relate, actually, but I didn't as a teenager).
*The names of the mall stores in here really brought back my childhood. Is there even any Sears stores anymore?
*Also, going to the mall to escape your parents was so very 90s! This book also features high top sneakers! Excellent nostalgia fodder in here.
*Claudia wears size 7 shoes
*I could tell right away what really happened to the ring, but I have no idea if I figured this out as a kid reader.
*Mrs. Sobak cancels a job in here: gee, what a loss...
*They play Shark Attack, the board game, in here! My siblings and I totally had that, and played it all the time, but I had forgotten about it until re-reading this. We used to LOVE it though.
*A lot is made of the fact that the Gardellas treat their pets like people and spoil them, but so? What's wrong with treating them so well? The only problem I see is the fact that they seem indifferent to poor Tara, preferring the pets to her. She's the one I felt the most for in this book.
*I LOVED that Stacey's mom believed in her innocence without a second's thought, despite the fact that she'd just had a tantrum over wanting a diamond ring days before. She's a good mom, and quickly becoming one of my favorite BSC parents.
Books mentioned:
*The Horse in Art, by John Baskett
*Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell
My rating:
3 stars. I was entertained while reading this, but it was the worst mystery of all time. There were also SO many dumb coincidences in this story, it was beyond annoying.
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