Tale of the Witch Doll (Penny Parker #1): The Penny Parker Mysteries

Penny Parker starred in a series of 17 books written by Mildred A. Wirt Benson and published from 1939 through 1947. Penny was a high school sleuth who also occasionally moonlighted as a reporter for her father's newspaper. Benson favored Penny Parker over all the other books she wrote, including Nancy Drew. Her obituary quoted her as saying, I always thought Penny Parker was a better Nancy Drew than Nancy is, Mrs. Benson said in 1993.