The Mystery of the Gingerbread House

I found this book at a garage sale and thought the title seemed interesting. The storyline is surprisingly good and the novel deals with modern day problems such as wife beating, preoccupied parents and handicapped children (one of the main characters wears leg braces and suffered through polio). The book makes many interesting references to Atlanta and even discusses April 26th which is the Confederate Memorial Day. One note of caution is that some of the minor African-American characters are depicted speaking in the stereotypical Black dialect and are shown to be believers in voodoo or maids. However, since this book was written in 1969, the reader should expect some dated ideas and caricatures.