Guess who’s back? That’s right, it’s Beatrice Bailey and her friends. In the fourth book in the series, they’ve been tasked with the mission of freeing yet another part of the magical land of Bailiwick from the clutches of the evil Dally Rumpe. This time, they have to travel to the ranch at the foot of Winged-Horse Mountain, where they’ll mingle with the locals, attend a phantom rodeo, infiltrate a ruby mine, and go up against the most horrific monsters to date. As always, Dally Rumpe may be lurking in disguise, waiting for just the right moment to reveal himself and sabotage Beatrice’s quest. Luckily, she has some good friends, and a few dubious allies, to aid her.

My one complaint about the Beatrice Bailey series is that it’s somewhat formulaic: Beatrice and her friends journey to one part of Bailiwick, meet the locals, brave some dangers, and try to break the spell holding that area under Dally Rumpe’s power. Luckily, author Sandra Forrester is well-aware of this downside, and has spiced up the predictability with several running subplots, one having to do with Beatrice’s ambiguously bad cousin Miranda, the other having to do with the true nature and history of Dally Rumpe himself. As Beatrice’s adventures unfold, we learn more and more about her evil nemesis and how he went so bad to begin with. Moreover, Beatrice’s choices are becoming less black and white, as she’s faced with a moral dilemma. If she succumbs to temptation, she could defeat Dally Rumpe with his own evil spells. If she resists, she may be doomed to failure. What price is victory worth to her at this point?

Four books in, and presumably one to go, and I’ve really enjoyed the adventures of Beatrice Bailey to date. Clever and relatively fast-paced, this series manages to surprise with some of its twists and revelations. I’m looking forward to Beatrice’s final confrontation with Dally Rumpe, if just to see how it’ll all turn out. Somehow, I suspect Forrester still has some surprises left to spring upon us. This is a great series for those who loved the first few Harry Potters and want something new to read in the meantime.