#54: The Strange Message in the Parchment (LONG)

~Cover image courtesy Nancy Drew Sleuth~

Nancy and a former classmate (conveniently drifting by, never to be seen again) whom she hasn't seen since high school, are standing in front of a mirror. Both are admiring a sheepskin jacket, that "Junie Flockhart" is wearing. Junie talks about the her father's slaughterhouse\ sheepskin\ parchment business, more or less hinting at a mystery. Her father recently bought a parchment with intriguing pictures painted with some intriguing. Soon after, a stranger called him, telling him that a message was on the parchment. If it was decoded, someone could "right a great wrong."

Junie and Nancy arrive at Triple Lake Farm. Bess and George as well--as Ned, Burt and Dave (of course)--tag along. Junies's BF, Dan, will also join the happy flock (pun intended) soon. Nancy's first stop is to see the parchment. It shows four pictures: a sad woman, a man with his back turned, a baby boy, and a sailboat colliding with a steamer. Okay...I had that part of the story figured out in two minutes. Anyway, Nancy and Junie visit the farm and operations, incl. the parchment factory and slaughterhouse (cheerful). They go to visit a shepherd that Junie is friends with, but find him knocked out on hill where he tends sheep. When "Eezy" is revived, he clams up about the incident, fearing the girls might get hurt. Eventually he says merely that two guys tried to get him to agree to something he felt was wrong. Eezy is a one of the rarely unique characters in the late books. He applies Bible quotes to various events and makes some fairly funny jokes.

Nancy continues to study the parchment. She even takes it out of the frame, and on the back are a few initials. Furious thinking begins! Nancy and Junie go to question the parchment's former owner, Mr. Rocco, Mr. Flockhart's best customer and neighbor. Nancy already met him once; he was very rude (read: automatic criminal)! The girls go to the gate of his house, which crests his vegetable farm. They know he's home, but there is no answer over the intercom. Nancy spazzes over how totally rude that is, then she and Junie climbs over the fence! Her reason being: because he is so rude and they need to see him for such an important reason, trespassing is ok. Double standards, Nan? Wrong is wrong. Crud for them, they are apprehended by two tough-looking men who "scold" them for trespassing. Nancy and Junie act offended. They had a right to trespass!

Nancy and Junie eventually get an appointment with Mr. Rocco to get some 'information'. Mr. Rocco is rude and (rightfully) mad about the trespassing. Nancy is "fakely" sorry so that she can get what she wants. They don't find out much, but do make Mr. Rocco suspicious. Good going, Nan.

Nan and Junie sneak around Rocco's farm to interview his workers, but the workers only speak Italian. They think a young boy, who draws beautiful pictures, might speak English, but he doesn't.

When this boy, 'Tony' (his name is conveniently on his sweater) sees Mr. Rocco in the distance, he gets back to hoeing frantically. Later, Nancy thinks 'Tony' might be the baby depicted on the parchment. Her reasoning? A is written on the back of the baby's picture and Tony is usually short for Anthony. It couldn't be Albery of Adam or whatever, now could it, or the mystery wouldn't go anywhere. :-p

Junie's boyfriend, Dan can talks to Tony, as he takes Italian in college. Tony says that Mr. Rocco is his is his uncle, but makes him work all the time.

Yawn. So various crazy things which I consider fillers happen. Nothing really important until the parchment is stolen! Nancy tries to keep the parchment from being stolen, but the parchment is dropped, the frame glass breaks, and the thief snatches the whole mess and runs. Nancy and Junie go out the next day to visit various shops to find out if someone bought glass that fits the frame. Yes, someone did! Then they inquire at a drug store see if a man bought bandages (because the thief probably cut his hands on the glass). Hole-in-one again! How lucky is Nancy, who just happens to stroll in the exact store where the bandages were purchased from!

The thief is caught! She speaks kindly to him in his cell, preaching on the wrongs of stealing. He says he's a hit man for other hit men for Mr. Rocco, but now realizes he was wrong, and thinks being in jail might be good for him. Nancy is really pleased with herself, and Junie praises her.

Fearing Tony might be in danger from Mr. Rocco, Nancy hides him with the shepherd, Eezy. To stave off claims of a crime, aka kidnapping, Tony writes a letter to Mr. Rocco, assuring him that he's fine (and he is happy), but he'll go to the police if his uncle doesn't shape up.

Then they find out that "Diana Bolardo" is coming from Italy, claiming she's Tony's mother. An Italian artist who saw the initials on the parchment, DB, said that he knew of three people with the initials DB in Rome and that that could be a lead (never mind the parchment was marked 'Milano, not Rome). This is so far-fetched I have to gag! }8-o Surprise! Diana B. looks like Tony!

Mrs. B tells of an estate left by her husband, killed in a sailing accident (sur-f*cking-prise!). Her husband's executor, his brother--Mr. Rocco!--wanted her to marry him, but she wouldn't. So Mr. Rocco stole his nephew and went to America in revenge.

Nancy and takes Mrs. B to see her son. They find Tony and Eezy bound & gagged on the hill, and then they are tied up. After the hit men leave, Nan wiggles over and frees Eezy with the ends of her fingers, and they free the others.

So, the whole gang ends up at the Rocco house. The police have caught Rocco, who is eventually found guilty of the accusations. Then! A mob of workers marches on the Rocco house to make their accusations--he gave them a fake worker's union that does nothing but lose them money--and Mr. Rocco has to go to jail. The workers get their money back, Tony and his "new" mom go to Italy; everything is happy in Nancyworld! Nancy absorbs more praise. The end. Time to go south and solve The Mystery of Crocodile Island.

Crazy Quotes:

• "Mr Drew said to Junie with boyish pride, 'I have a few sheepskins of my own...I'll show them to you.'" In Mr. Drew's study are some diplomas from high school, college and law school. Junie praises him for graduating with honors from all three. Now tell me he wasn't just showing the diplomas because of the parchments. xD

That's all! Sorry it isn't more concise, I'm terrible at making short, snarky blogs.

#36: The Secret of the Golden Pavillion

(Cover from Series Books for Girls)

Nancy Drew is randomly flying in a helicopter above her house (it seems this happens a lot), and a burglar is climbing into the third story! (Since when do the Drews have a third story? Unless they mean the attic?)...

So Nancy has the pilot radio the tower, which then alerts her dad. A briefcase containing papers on one of Mr. Drew's new cases was taken from their house! Gaugh. If I lived next to the Drews, I'd move!!! They must get robbed every freaking week!

So the newest case is about a Hawaiian/Japanese man, Mr. Sakamaki. He's just inherited a beautiful estate in Hawaii, but two claimants have shown up. Suspicious, my dear Watson! Sakamaki also notices a mysterious 'ghost' who dances in--yes--a golden pavilion on the property. He wants Nancy to help solve the mystery, and says she can go to Hawaii with friends (and they're fresh from solving The Haunted Showboat!). Nan is worried about the expense, and 'Mr. Saka' says he'll finance it. Mr. Drew says he'll agree to that on one condition--Mr. Saka's generous offer will be his lawyer fee. Come on. I'm sure Carson would rather have his daughter go off traipsing in Hawaii, than to have money to invest or spend or whatevs.*insert sarcasm*

Nan and the gang stay at the home of Mr. Saka's friends, the Armstrongs. They do the typical Hawaiian things, surfing, swimming, wearing leis, eating tropical fruit, and watching and eating pig roasted on a spit :p . Nancy learns to hula, and is almost instantly perfect at it, of course. Yawn.

The ghost appears, there is a chase, blah, blah, blah. Meanwhile, Nancy and the gang are being chased by the sneaky members of the 'Double Scorps', a frightening gang. One of its members even knocked out Mr. Drew in his office!!

They visit craters, volcanos, etc. George nearly falls off a cliff and takes Nan with her, but the boys save them.

Well, after a series of random, disconcerting adventures involving the Double Scorps, they're arrested. Turns out the ghost was just a dancer who knew a secret entrance beneath the pavilion and went back and forth among the estate. Duh. And there was supposed to be an treasure on the estate! Surprise. Not. The Double Scorps somehow found out about it, made up an elaborate plan, and somehow they found out Mr. Saka had hired Carson....and then they found Nancy was on the case too, and so on.

Really, how do these people randomly find out about opportunities to swindle?

• This book was originally published 1959, when Hawaii was made a state. It was republished 1985, but NOT rewritten. Hannah Gruen frets about volcanoes exploding all the time, and how primitive Hawaii will be, and Nancy says "Hannah...it's time you learned about our new state of Hawaii" :p
• Despite the emphasis in the above quote that Hawaii is just part of America now, it is constantly written like some freaky foreign country...
  

#30: The Clue of the Velvet Mask

Quite possibly the most disjointed, ridiculously far-fetched and "one-sidedly dramatic" Nancy Drew I've read yet.

Right at the beginning, Nancy's about to go to a masquerade party, and Carson Drew just happens to mention that there's a gang that shows up at masquerade parties and steal valuables while they're in disguise. My, my...there's a one in a hundred chance of that happening to Nancy, right now, right? Just because she's Nancy doesn't mean...

But it does! At the party, the lights suddenly out and stuff is stolen! Nancy and Ned know a costumed figure climbed up a trellis to a second-story window, but they weren't able to get help. Nancy's only clue is a black velvet hood-mask, with eye holes.

The costumes at the party were all provided by Lightner Entertainment Corp., a party rental/hosting company. The company has been troubled lately, and some people are wondering if someone in the company is involved in shady deals. Meanwhile, an employee of the company, Linda Seeley, is one of the high suspects, but Nancy knows she's guiltless. Of course she does. As Nancy gets more deeply involved, she goes to more parties organized and supplied by Lightner....and more things happen. Mysterious men are following Nancy. Some of them try to get into the house, as always.


Everyone's convinced that Nancy's going to be mugged, so George has a *great* idea--she'll dress as Nancy, and Nancy as her! I guess the idea was, Nancy will be able to sleuth freely, but I just thought, instead of one girl getting mugged, another one will. Great chivalry, George, but kind of stupid. Nancy has to stop sometime.

And of course, George is mugged, drugged, and when the ruse is found out, she is threatened that bad things will happen if Nancy continues to sleuth! Thus, when George is found, instead of saying something right away to alert the police, George has a breakdown and is ordered to take it easy. She tells Nancy to stop sleuthing, but doesn't give a reason.

Baffled, Nancy keeps sleuthing...is kidnapped...and George, scared for her friend, gathers her strength and tells them what happened, so they can all use her clues to figure out where Nancy is! And, of course it all comes out right in the end.

#41: Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes

This book is unique in that it mentions Nancy's maternal family. Carson randomly announces that Nancy is to solve a mystery and earn an heirloom if she goes to Scotland to visit her maternal great-grandmother of the "Douglas clan".

Meanwhile, Bess enters an international photography contest--submitting a photograph of Nancy sleuthing (the classic picture of Nancy with magnifying glass comes to mind). The prize is an international trip with a friend. The details are vague. Of course, Bess and George go along to Scotland with Nancy. Ned comes back from South America before they leave, though, and talks all about an upcoming dance and how Nancy should solve the mystery before. It's kind of cute, though, and in this book, . Nancy pays a little more attention to Ned, despite the prospect of a mystery. Anyway, Nancy gets threats not to go to Scotland, but off she goes!

• Nancy spearheads a spontaneous rescue of some houseboat residents in a storm, but Bess has to bear the brunt of it. She is actually the hero this time!
• Nancy, Bess, and George stop over at Eloise Drew's (Carson's sister) apartment in New York while waiting for a good time to leave for their plane. Aunt Eloise teaches Nancy to play the bagpipes.
• There is a long explanation about driving on the left side of the road. We get it.
• Great-grandmother Douglas lives in the Highlands, which are lonely but beautiful. There are actually some great descriptions.
• Don't you just love Bess? While the others are listening in amazement to the deeds of Bonnie Prince Charlie (look it up) Bess swoons over his romantic deeds and how cute he looks in a painting.
• Ned calls Nancy in Scotland. Nancy picks up the phone is all "OMG! NED!" What has become of her? :)
  
• Nancy is falsely accused of a crime, but is finally believed because of her amazing detective skills. Because she's amazing Nancy Drew, don't you get it? Of course, a smart criminal could have amazing detective skills, but whatever...
• Her heirloom is a beautiful topaz-and-diamond brooch.

Now Nancy can go back to America and nab The Phantom of Pine Hill.

Trixie Belden #1: Secret of the Mansion

I thought this German edition cover was cute. (Image from Series-Books.com)

Trixie Belden is thirteen, spunky, headstrong, and cheerful.

When the story opens, it's summer, and her big brothers, Brian and Mart, are counselors at summer camp. As for Trixie, she's at home doing chores. Everything from babysitting her little brother, Bobby, to feeding chickens. Not fun, right? But Mrs. Belden suggests that she do extra house/yardwork to earn money for...a horse!

The adventure doesn't happen until Mr. Frayne, the cranky old neighbor who lives in the book title's mention, falls ill and goes to the hospital. Trixie talks about how anti-social he is and Mrs. Belden reminds her that Mr. Frayne hasn't had an easy life since Mrs. Frayne died from a snakebite. Meanwhile, Trixie tends the tomato garden, which is cool. Well, not literally cool--it's sweaty work, but it's "cool" that Trixie is willing to work. Nancy, as nice as she is, never spent her days like that. At least not daily.

Honey Wheeler and her family move next door up the hill. Honey is Trixie's age, but her life is just the opposite of Trixie's. Honey was very sick as a young child. When she finally got well, her mother basically piled all the motherly duties on Honey's au pair, Miss Trask. Now Honey's a nervous shrinking violet, but a very pleasant shrinking violet. Her parents still don't see her often, but don't worry, there's plenty of money for Honey's upkeep, reinforcing the "rich people are snobs who put money over their kids' happiness" ideology in a lot of YA books.

Honey and Trixie become fast friends, and being able to ride the Wheelers' horses sweetens the deal for Trixie. girls ride the Wheelers' horses. On one such venture, they find a boy their age sleeping in the Fraynes' disrepaired mansion. The adventures begin! This boy, Jim, claims that Mr. Frayne is his great-uncle. His proof, he says, is a family heirloom given to him. There is also a rumor of a family fortune. Jim wants a new home, and some support--away from his evil stepfather.

A lot of crazy events happen, which are a lot of fun. They seem a bit corny now, not as rereadable in my older years as Nancy Drew, but these are enjoyable for the 10-13 group*. The girls ride horses, explore the woods and mansion with Jim, look for the fortune, Trixie saves Bobby (after he's bitten by a copperhead), Honey gets stronger, Jim teaches them about animals. At one point, Trixie tries to be a know-it-all, then feels guilty, in a surprisingly three-dimensional portrayal of her character. Well, wouldn't you know, our gang finds a will. For some reason, though, despite all his fuss and angst, Jim doesn't do anything about it, because he's afraid of his stepdad. So what was all the hunting and searching and dreaming about a life-saving will for, Jim. Eh?

Honey tells Trixie about New York, and how people lock their doors and are too busy to visit all the time. GASP! Trixie is amazed. Giggle. Mr. Frayne dies. Gasp! A man in town is curious about an occasional sighting of Jim. The gang agrees to be more careful. They run around and ride some more. The next day, an inquiry regarding the Frayne heir shows up in the newspaper. Jim, afraid his stepfather will see this inquiry and come for him. Jim stakes out the Frayne mansion, protecting the heirlooms that are proof he's the Franye heir. So? Come out, make your case that you are the heir, Jim! But Evil Stepdad comes, and when walking the grounds, accidentally starts a fire when he drops a cigarette. Trixie, Honey and Jim try to suppress the fire before the fire crew comes. The hysteric stepfather screams about his stepson being burned, but eventually shows his true colors and freaks about the money being burned, right in front of the firefighters. The next day, Jim's gone, leaving a nice letter for Trixie and Honey. He has to leave. Then Mr. Rainsford, the attorney of the Frayne estate, appears. ;:) He makes an exciting announcement, and the girls go to ask Miss Trask if she'll drive them all over the country in Honey's red trailer to find Jim. Methinks there will be a mystery involved with this red trailer.
**
Trixie vs. Nancy

Nancy, generally through the early books and completely in the revisions, had that level, genteel attitude and perfectionism that was love-or-hate. I liked it. It was escapist, because I wanted to be so cool and collected. Yet I also knew it was bad writing, even for a series (the originals were much better, though). I like Trixie because she has a lot of faults, but she's not mean-spirited. She's "3-D" and fun. She's willing to accept her faults but realizes them too, and she doesn't try to be overperfect. The adults in this book aren't overly critical or preachy, although they are on the chintzy side. The secondary characters aren't sidekicks like Bess or Ned in Nancy Drew. :) However, my impressions of the mystery elements aren't as good. I don't really remember the Trixie Belden books I read (just plots and a few scenes), and in #1, the gang doesn't really try to solve a mystery. They look around a house, try to keep Jim under cover, and discover things randomly. It's kind of disjointed. Overall, I'd give this an 8/10

#43: Mystery of the 99 Steps

This used to be my favorite Nancy Drew mystery. It's a fun mystery, but the plot and events are hilariously corny. I think I can summarize it quickly...

Carson Drew's case, involving "Monsieur LeBlanc"'s mysterious financial habits, is almost completely given to Nancy. Nancy is also doing an exchange program with Monique and Marie, two girls from France. Their aunt just happens also to live in River Heights, and she has a mystery for Nancy, too.

Aunt Josette has a weird recurring dream of falling down 99 steps in Paris, where she lived when she was a kid. Aunt Jossette hopes Nan will help her get closure by finding the stairs, and stop the dream.

Nancy and Bess and George go to France--after several attempted break-ins, threats from a mysterious "Monsieur Neuf" (Neuf=#9), who also puts a sign in Nancy's car--"Beware the Green Lion!". According to the story, in the Middle Ages "green lion" was a code for an acid that destroys gold. Also in the Middle Ages, people were trying to turn lead into gold. :P

After randomly looking around for 99 steps, Nancy finds it at a random ruined chateau. It turns out that Aunt Josette's childhood au pair was married to Louis Aubert, who tricked Monsieur LeBlanc into thinking coal could be turned into gold. Louis managed to LeBlanc to sell all of his (LeBlanc's) fortunes in order to purchase diamonds--so that when everything "became gold", the price of gold would collapse and they could sell diamonds for millions at a profit. Not only is LeBlanc very, very stupid, so is Aubert. Even though he might trick LeBlanc into giving him tons of money for the "experiment", LeBlanc is pushing Aubert to introduce his "experiment" to the public. LeBlanc's trick is covering gold with charcoal and then firing it off. You'd think it would be a short-lived trick, right? Wouldn't LeBlanc see past it? Nope. This is a very very clumsy mystery.

Moving on! It is revealed that when Josette was little, her au pair (who is found alive and well in France) was in love with Aubert and dated him.. One day, she had to take young Josette to the lab so she could be with Louis, but didn't want Josette to know about the lab. The au pair blindfolded Josette and pretended they were playing blindman's bluff. She started to lead Josette to the steps, but Josette stumbled and fell down the stairs. Josette was unhurt, but was (understandably) really traumatized.

The bad guys are arrested--the au pair is sorry and is innocent--and all is well.

• Nancy attracts the attentions of Henri, an attractive young man, at a ball. Henri later helps her try to catch a disguised Louis Aubert. Aww, too bad Ned doesn't know. :P
• During a tour of another historic site, an overweight woman almost causes an accident, making the girls stumble down the stairs. This woman is very rude and annoying. Because overweight people are always crude, selfish people, you know.
  
• Nancy saves a little boy who climbs on a statue of Joan of Arc to see a parade. Everyone cheers for her.
  
• As mentioned, there's no Ned. No Burt or Dave either.
• The girls talk about Joan of Arc. "Joan was seventeen when she requested [supplies] to help fight the English invaders," said Nancy. "I bet he laughed at her," George remarked. Then we get a history lesson--complete with dates. Really. These "history lessons" are worked into the girls' conversations, common in the Nancy Drew international mysteries.
  

**
Next: Taking a break from Nancy's exploits with a recap of one of my favorite childhood horse stories: Thoroughbred #1: A Horse Called Wonder

#47: The Mysterious Mannequin

Yay! My first blogged international mystery!

__
We open with Mr. Drew receiving a package. A mysterious package. There is no name or return address on the package, but it was posted from Turkey. It contains a prayer rug. Mr. Drew assumes its probably from Farouk Tahmasp, a former client and tailor shop owner. Mr. Tahmasp was falsely accused of smuggling rugs (not smuggling rugs!! OHNO!). His name was cleared, but he fled to Turkey before he was told of the sentence. Nancy thinks a message could be hidden in the rug because she "heard that years ago in Turkey, messages were hidden in rugs." Of course she did.

While Nancy unravels (no pun intended) the message in the rug, a Turkish man stalks her. One night, he tries to steal the rug, but Nancy comes down and pulls it away from him. Then he hides a scimitar in the rug (while the Drews and Hannah are away). Nancy rolls out the rug, and gosh darn, she must have unrolled it really violently. The scimitar almost stabs her. This little incident doesn't phase Nancy, though, and the scimitar-free rug is deciphered.

The message says to bring a certain mannequin to Istanbul. The mannequin, one sitting in Farouk's old tailor shop, is gone, though. Nancy remembers it from childhood; she laughs that she once thought it winked at her. Nancy gets clues from a crazy old man who loiters in the tailor shop (under new ownership). "Haw-Haw" shows her the slippers that were once on the mannequin. But..the soles are worn! Nancy surmises that the mannequin must have been dragged across the floor to storage, but a woman in a nearby apartment talks about the mannequin, saying it is strange that it wasn't in the window all the time. Hmm.

Nancy, Bess, and George go about searching for clues from this place to that person, until their adventures take them to the Turkish/Greek district, where they eat at a Greek restaurant and have grape leaves stuffed with meat (YUM). Nancy asks the owner questions about various people connected with the mystery. A man whom is dining nearby gets angry and drives the owner away. The girls get free yogurt and Greek bread as a sort of apology from the owner.

One day, they see the same man who tried to steal the rug showing a letter to a dark-haired, possibly Turkish woman. She cries and runs off. When the girls chase the man, he drops his wallet to distract them, but they keep going. All for naught--the man gets away. There is no ID in the wallet, but there's the letter, saying Farouk's dead. Nancy thinks that the message is fake and deceiving and that it was given to the dark-haired woman for a reason. (ya think?)

Nancy tracks down the young woman. Her name is Aisha Hatun, and Nancy learns that she and the mysterious man, now known as Arik, don't get along. Arik wants to date her; but she doesn't want to date him. She loves Farouk!

Arik was under suspicion at first, but is found to be innocent of the rug stealing/scrimitar crime. He has a doppelganger--his cousin.

Nancy finds discount fares to Turkey and believes that she can find out more in Turkey, and possible find Farouk! He can tell her where the mannequin is and so he can have it shipped to Turkey. What's this? Bess and George get permission to go, along with Ned, Burt and Dave! Guess Emerson has generous semesters. Aisha goes too, hoping to find Farouk.

Adventure abounds. Bess wanders from the gang to buy perfume. Then a boy tricks her, saying her friends are looking for her, but he locks her up. Gullible Bess, after some 47 books, haven't you learned!? The boy is Arik's cousin's brother. Aslanapa, Arik's cousin, delivers an ultimatum: tell about the mannequin, or Bess goes bye-bye! But all by themselves, the crew finds Bess and has Aslanapa arrested!

Nancy, George, Bess, Ned, Dave, and Burt (oy!) goe to the place indicated in the rug, a big ancient cistern. Aslanapa's brother, angry about his brother's arrest, is back. He pushes Nancy into the cistern. The boys save Nancy and have Aslanpa taken away. Nancy insists that she's okay and continues to tour the cistern with the crew. Then a handsome young Turkish man walks in. IT'S...Farouk! There's a big dinner, praise for Nancy, obligatory praise for the others. It's told that Aisha used to be the "mannequin" for some reason. Surprise. Not.

• Helen Corning/Archer appears. The girls meet her for tennis, and Helen thinks she knows where the mannequin is, but it flunks out, of course.
• At a restaurant located by a scenic water wheel, a boy falls in the water, Nancy jumps in and saves him. George helps her; however, Nancy gets ALL the praise.
• I love this part: Nancy is reading aloud from the rug part of the message: "I love..." Ned walks in, saying "Me? That's great!" :D The message continues to read "...her" "Carson, please bring mannequin. I love her."