Scout: The Haunted Castle (#2) (Piet Prins)

Scout: The Haunted Castle

Book 2 in the Scout series!

Tom and Scout are on vacation with Tom’s two best friends, Carl and Bert, and his sisters, Ina and Miriam. On their rambles through the woods, the group of young people are stopped one day by customs officials. They are accused of being in league with a gang of criminals who are smuggling goods across the nearby German border. Scout’s reputation as a tracking dog has preceded him, and soon the young people are helping both the police and the customs officials.

The mystery of the haunted castle, a coded message hidden under a tree, a gang of smugglers that can vanish at will, a burglary without clues — they all come together when Tom and Scout tumble over a four-hundred-year-old secret. Suddenly, however, Tom is no longer looking for adventure but fighting for his very life.

Other Books in the Scout series:

• The Secret of the Swamp
• The Flying Phantom
• The Sailing Sleuths
• The Treasure of Rodensteyn Castle
• The Mystery of the Abandoned Mill
• Scout’s Distant Journey

About the Author

Pieter (Piet) Jongeling (1909-1985) was also known by the pen name Piet Prins. He was a Dutch politician and author of numerous popular children’s books. He was a member of the Reformed Political League and of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands.  Jongeling worked as a journalist for the anti-revolutionary newspaper Nieuwe Provinciale Groninger Courant. In 1941, during the German occupation of The Netherlands, the publication was banned, and in 1942, Jongeling was sent to the Nazi concentration camp at Amersfoort, from which he was later transferred to another at Sachsenhausen. After his release at the close of World War II, Jongeling became editor of Nieuwe Provinciale Groninger Courant. He later left to become editor of De Vrije Kerk.

Jongeling was elected to the House of Representatives in 1963 and served until 1977.  He was a passionate opponent of the legalization of abortion. He wrote numerous children’s books, always under the pen name Piet Prins, and The Scout Series are the most famous of these (known as “Snuf” in the original Dutch).  Other series of his include The Four Friends and Wambu.