The Mystery of the Tolling Bell (Original)

    "Nancy becomes involved in another mystery when she accepts an invitation from Mrs. Chantry, a client of Mr. Drew, to vacation at her cottage in a picturesque seaside town. Carson Drew has promised to join his daughter, but fails to arrive. The alarming disappearance of Mr. Drew and the odd circumstances surrounding his rescue are only the start of a series of highly dangerous adventures for Nancy and her friends Bess and George. Mrs. Chantrey's story about a nearby cliff side cave reputedly inhabited by a ghost intrigues Nancy and she decides to investigate. Several frightened townspeople claim to have seen an apparition and heard the weird sounds of a tolling bell just before water rushes from the cave. Will Nancy discover the true cause of these mysterious occurrences?"

- Yet again Bess who is often described as simple minded and cowardly saves the day. She rescues herself and George from drowning.

- Too much goes on when Nancy goes to see her father at the hotel; being told to come, being told to not come, the note in the lobby, finding him, losing him, Ned losing Nancy, Ned getting false information. It was just too much misdirection going on while also trying to move the story forward.

- It seems that everyone in Candleton was very eager to give their life savings to a stranger traveling through town selling stock. Surprised these people haven't been duped before.

- Nancy and Ned drive to Yorktown in Ned's car yet Nancy grabs a map "that she always kept in the car". Clearly the writer forgot whose car they were in.

- If I were Nancy I would have been absolutely livid at the fisherman who tries to "rescue" her from the back of the cave by tossing a fishing net over her and hauling her up the cliff. If Nancy hadn't something to grab onto at the last minute she would have died because of this idiot.

- A dwarf man is compared to an elf many times and the villain of the book is physically deformed which is all a bit ableist. Also the other culprits are described as darker skinned, larger features, and all those racial villain stereotypes.

- I really like the names Sweet Chimes and Mon Coeur and the heart-shaped compact. Not hard to see why people would buy it, good packaging is so important with make-up.

- Nancy and George staying in the cliff house after Ned leaves for the police department is so dumb. They should have waited for him to return.

- George going down the tunnel after Nancy instead of going for help was also extremely dumb. She should know better by now.

- I think the culprits happening to be the one to rear end Ned was not necessary. Why did every unfortunate incident have to be them? That's too much coincidence.

- At the end when Ned and Nancy find the bell in the cave it says Nancy opened the door and walked back into the cliff house yet when they went down the tunnel it says they made sure to prop the door open so they wouldn't get locked in.

- I've never heard of the tired swimmers carry that Bess uses for George. I looked it up and could only find an old video from 1933. Not sure if it's an outdated technique or not.

Source: Dissolve

    This book is very coincidence heavy and most of it involves Nancy happening to be at the right place at the right time. I do enjoy the seaside setting and Ned's presence as well as the lack of Nancy getting a concussion or being caught and bound by the bad guys. I think it's a bit unethical of her to keep the bell at the end however.

    Overall it's one of the better Nancy Drew books and significantly better than the re-written version. The cover is also stunning.

Connie Blair: The Puzzle in Purple

    Connie has just enrolled in a local art night school and on her first day she meets two boys who take an interest in her; handsome and cocky popular boy Roby Woodward and shy and awkward Eric Payson who is Mr. Woodward's protégé. 

The school is having a fancy dress ball in two weeks. The art school is located inside of an large, old residence and the Fairy Tale Ball is to be held in the ballroom. Some of the senior students have been tasked with painting murals of fairy tale scenes to hang in the room for the event. Eric is creating a Rapunzel mural and for reference has borrowed an expensive purple cape from Miss Catherine, an elderly woman who admires Eric and so happens to be Roby's aunt. On Connie first day the cape goes missing from the model's locker which causes Eric worry.

    A week later Eric musters up the courage to ask Connie to the ball and she decides to go with him and invites her twin, Kit, to come too. The next day Roby asks Connie to the ball but she informs him she already plans to go with Eric. Roby laughs and insists he'll deal with Eric and Connie will go with himself instead. Connie gets furious at Roby's conceit and tells him off.

    Kit arrives and the two girls dress as Snow Queens for their ball costumes. They are so identical in looks, voice, and costume that no one can tell them apart. As the dance is about to start the ballroom doors are opened and inside stands a skeleton, used by the school for anatomy reference, draped in the missing cape and all the murals, with the exception of Eric's, have been covered in purple X's.

    Despite the act of vandalism and queer prank the ball goes smoothly until everyone is walking home. Feeling playful in the snow Connie begins a game of tag with Eric which results in him stepping on a broken grate and breaking his leg.

    The twins go to visit him in the hospital the next day where they meet Roby's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Woodward. Eric lives with them and works at Mr. Woodward's factory. It appears they are sort of parent figures to the boy. While there Mr. Woodward complains that Roby has not yet come to visit Eric and that he is probably sleeping in till noon as usual. Miss Catherine also arrives for a visit and invites the twins to tea the following day.

    As they are leaving the hospital Roby arrives and gives the girls a ride home. He says Eric is his parents favorite child and that he only came to visit because it was expected of him. He also joyfully says Uncle Francis doesn't like Eric either but the subject is changed before Connie can respond.

    At tea the following day Connie learns that Eric is an orphan and Miss Catherine had met him when he was a small child and she was doing social-service work. "Uncle Francis" then arrives and turns out to be Mr. White, the superintendent of the art school building (a glorified janitor as Roby describes it). He, almost happily, states that the school has Eric as their number one suspect of the mural vandalism which could result in his expulsion.

    Eric asks Connie to bring him his sketchbook from his school locker. Roby brings her the locker key from home and inside Eric's locker she finds the purple paint which was used for the purple X's on the murals. Eric returns to school and is instantly informed he is the main suspect.

    Five large paintings worth $5,000 each were loaned to the school from Reid and Renshaw's to be used as decorations for the ball. With that over the paintings are packed up and shipped back to the advertising company. Connie is there when the paintings are delivered and opened to reveal they've all been slashed with a large X. With this serious crime in the mix an investigation is started by two detective from the insurance company. Eric is still the main suspect and being questioned constantly.

    Kit comes into town on a buyers trip for the hardware store and while at lunch with Connie she talks about her experience with Roby at the ball; Roby, mistaking Kit for Connie, shares the information that Miss Catherine has made Eric her sole heir and with the suspicion of vandalism she is likely to change her will now. 

    Connie makes an impromptu visit to Miss Catherine and supports Eric's innocence. The older woman informs Connie that she has never liked her brother Francis much and that he was a disappointment to the family. She confides to Connie that she is concerned over a knife she had gifted to Eric, that it may be used as evidence against him.

    Connie spends time with Eric on the weekend and, learning that the knife is in his school locker, she decides it would be best if they go remove it. They sneak in through the cellar and dig through Eric's locker but can't find the knife. Francis White and Mr. Jenkins, the school dean, arrive and the two young people try to sneak back out but Eric realizes he's forgotten his jacket in the locker room. They attempt to sneak back to the room and retrieve it but Mr. White discovers it first. Then the two come face to face with the detective who have been monitoring the school and saw them sneak in. Eric's coat is brought to the detectives who find the knife in a pocket.

    At this point Connie has realized that Mr. White is the real culprit and is able to explain her theory and get Eric off the hook. The book ends with them at Connie's family house for the weekend.

- I read my old review before starting this book and I'm afraid it blinded me a bit. In it I had said that the culprit was obvious from page 40. With this reading I assumed that meant Roby who was written with every sign pointing to him as being it. Much like how Eric could not be guilty because the clues point towards him to a suspicious degree, Roby could not be it because Betsy Allen has given the reader clues that point towards him to a suspicious degree.

- Fritz was just...not necessary. I didn't include him in my summary because his inclusion in the book is pointless. He is a obvious red herring. He is only included in the story at times where Connie needs to be suspicious of someone other than Roby. 

- Roby is the reddest red herring to ever herring. There is so much written just to make Roby look guilty in every single way yet not a single person suspects him, including Connie. As we learn more and more about him throughout the book we find he is not a good person yet at the end of the book when he's no longer needed for misdirection he is suddenly described by the other characters as a really great guy. This is quite annoying.

- Eric is described as being awkward and shy but instead of these being flaws Connie actually finds them endearing. Meanwhile smooth, confident Rob gets on her nerves. I thought this was nice. Normally characters are likeable despite their awkwardness but never for it.

- This book reminded me of the Nancy Drew Files with how the three suspects were laid out and all had their moments that make them look suspicious.

To continue on with examples of how the Connie Blair series is in fact not sexist:

• Connie is working fulltime and going to school. She supports herself with her job and she earned her school tuition through her work in the last book.
• Kit is still running the hardware store and going on buyer's trips alone despite her young age.
• Miss Catherine is a strong, independent woman and described as being "made of iron".
• Roby is good looking and charming yet Connie does not fall for his smooth talking and chooses for herself who she wishes to attend the ball with.
• Yet again no mention is made about Aunt Elizabeth being single and childless.

Connie Blair: The Riddle in Red

    With her temporary modeling job at Champions over Connie has gone back home to wait on the results of her job interview at the advertising agency Reid and Renshaw. Although Connie's life path was suppose to include college she decides she would rather head into the working world. Her father's unfortunate and unexpected heart attack drains the family financially and her parents consent to her taking a full time job.

    With her letter of employment Connie heads back to Philadelphia to continue rooming with her 28-year-old aunt Elizabeth and begin her job as a receptionist.

    On her first day she finds that the former receptionist was fired for using Angela Murray makeup products. Cleo Marville, who owns Cosmetics by Cleo, is the agency's biggest client and so the employees are subject to her eccentricities, which include using her makeup exclusively.

    Connie is asked to deliver an envelope to Cleo directly and when she arrives at the cosmetic factory she find an employee, chemist Mr. Paul, heatedly yelling at Cleo and throwing things around the office. It is Connie's arrival that deescalates the situation.

    Back at Reid and Renshaw the copy writers are struggling to create an acceptable advertisement for Cleo's new revolutionary nail polish created from a top secret formula. Connie mentions to her co-worker that the research department should conduct a survey with test samples to find out how the customers feel about the product. This idea gets passed along and accepted and Mr. Renshaw offers Connie the job of distributing the samples.

    After picking up the samples from the factory Connie goes to Cleo's glamorous house where she is told who to distribute the samples to; a stenographer, a homemaker, a college student, a wealthy women, etc. 

    Upon leaving Connie stops at a random house in the wealthy neighborhood to give a sample to the woman of the house. The home turns out to be occupied by Baron Von Glekin, the scientist that created the nail polish formula. Connie doesn't know who he is until later but gets bad vibes from him. While in the house she notices letters written on Angela Murray's stationary.

    Later while in a taxi with a chatty cab driver Connie learns that Cleo had a previous falling out with her sister. Connie checks with an edition of Who's Who to verify her belief that Angela Murray is Cleo Marville's sister.

    A conference meeting with Cleo is scheduled for the first work day after Thanksgiving. When she does not arrive at the advertising agency Connie is tasked with calling around to try to get a hold of her. However Cleo Marville seems to have suddenly disappeared. No one knows where she currently is and her last known whereabouts had been a football game the previous evening. The friends she had attended with said she left for an appointment but no one knows where or with who. Suspicion of foul play grows once the police find Cleo's car parked at the train station with the keys still inside. All her associates are questioned with the exception of the Baron who is suddenly out of town.

    One night after work Connie and Ken, a co-worker she occasionally dates, drive out to view Cleo's house. As they pass the Baron's house Connie sees a light flash in one of the windows. She notifies the police who put a watch on the house and catch a man running in through the back door, he is the same man as the butler Connie met on her first visit there and she finds him suspicious.

    The police decide to search the house and Connie and Mr. Renshaw come along. All three floors are fully searched with the exception of two padlocked rooms which, for some ridiculous reason, the police don't insist on searching. Connie is the only one taking Cleo's disappearance seriously and when the search does not turn her up Mr. Renshaw and the police act exasperated by Connie, perceiving her as a meddling child.

    Back at the office Connie has been given a new responsibility of opening and sorting all the mail. When she opens a package of advertisement proofs she finds one for Angela Murray has accidentally been included; it's for a new revolutionary nail polish made from a top secret formula. Guessing that the Baron has sold the same formula to both sisters Connie believes more than ever that Cleo has been abducted by him.

    Connie and Ken sneak out to his home in the late morning and climb a trellis to enter through a window. With the aid of a metal file they saw through the padlock on the locked room upstairs and find Cleo bound and gagged. She instructs Connie to run downstairs and call the police. Just as Connie has done this the butler returns but the police arrive before he discovers the couples presence.

    With the mystery solved Connie asks Cleo to reconcile with Angela which she does. A private lunch is thrown in which it's announced the Baron, fake Baron as it turns out and con man, has been captured, that Cleo and Angela will be combining their companies, and that Cleo wants to finance art classes at night school for Connie as a reward.

- I don't like Mr. Renshaw. He seems like an idiot and quite rude sometimes.

- Combining cosmetic companies is a stupid idea. The women have feuded for years then they get along for an afternoon and decided to combine companies.

- After Cleo is found Connie really becomes a busybody the way she tries to make Cleo reconcile with Angela. Connie doesn't know about the situation between the sisters. She's invested herself way too much in their private affairs.

- The police were dumb not to search the padlocked rooms and I have a very, very hard time believing they wouldn't. If you think someone is being held prisoner in a home obviously the locked rooms will look suspicious. I feel like Cavanna, or Allen as she's credited here, could have come up with something better.

- We never find out the Barons real name and that bothers me a tiny bit, I'm curious.

- I have no idea what the "red" in the title refers to. Nothing was especially mentioned as red. Cleo's hair is auburn but it's barely mentioned.

- Like I said in my last review, Connie Blair has been falsely dubbed as "sexist" when it is in fact the most feminist of all the female detectives series. Here's the example from this book, check my last review to see examples from the first book.

• When Connie thinks about her career goals it says "Connie was always seeking new worlds to conquer".
• After their father has a heart attack the girls take over being the providers for the family; Kit takes over the hardware store and Connie gets a job in an office. Kit is fully running the hardware store, including going on buyer's trips, and she's only 17. Connie is working as a receptionist and in her first month already gets opportunities to work on a large advertising campaign. She also plans to work her way up to higher position such as art department or copy writer and is willing to work hard to achieve her goals such as by going to art school at nights.
• Miss Cameron is an executive at Reid and Renshaw. She is well respected and Connie admires her for her business skills.
• Cleo Marville is a very successful business woman, as is her sister, and called a legend in her own time. She is always cool, collected, and in control even when being held prisoner.
• The men of authority like Renshaw and the police don't take Connie seriously because she's a young woman but Connie makes fools of them all by being right.
• And just like the last book there is no mention of 28-year-old Aunt Bet being single and childless.