The dust jacket for Secret of the Stone Face by Phyllis A. Whitney is misleading. There is a face carved into the stone of a maze, but it's not on the cover. The miniature building must be symbolic. There are two girls and a boy, and the scowling man is definitely in there.

This is one of Ms. Whiney's juvenile mysteries that involves stepfamilies. In this case, both heroine Joanna 'Jo' Baird and a girl named Liza Prentice are facing the prospect of their mothers providing them with stepfathers. Neither girl likes the man her mother wants to marry. Both wish to find a reason to keep their mothers single, but Liza has fewer scruples than Jo.

The boy is Erik Thoresen, son of the man who grows the vegetables for Scott Dennis' hotel (Scott is Joe's prospective stepfather), cares for the orchards, and makes old-fashioned furniture using old wood and authentic old-time methods.

Liza Prentice is certain that her mother's man, Roger 'Inky' Inklander, is a crook, but he could be just a bullying jerk who didn't hesitate to hurt Eric's cat, Snowdrop (the cat will recover). Liza is manipulative enough to suggest that Scott is mixed up in whatever crooked delas Inky is mixed up in to get Jo's help. Unfortunately, Jo takes the fall for a few of Liza's deeds.

Erik is also certain that Inky is up to something illegal and it has to do with his father's woodworking. Are Liza and Eric right?
There will be a chilling race for safety during the climax before the truth comes out. The stone face will be part of it.

The first several chapters seemed a little too much "been there, done that" to me, but the book picked up. Ms. Whitney had a habit of writing both a juvenile mystery and an adult mystery based on her travels. The adult book was The Stone Bull. The author's note stated that Mohonk Mountain House at Lake Mohonk, near New Paltz, on the edge of the Catskills was the inspiration for this book, although none of the events took place there.

Although I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did the Whitney mysteries I read when I was a schoolgirl decades ago, it was worth reading.

Cat fans: Snowdrop does get a few scenes in this book. ( )