Vicki Barr: The Hidden Valley Mystery

    When it comes to the Vicki Barr series I have read 8 out of the 16 books. Out of those 8 there was only 3 that I liked enough to keep: Silver Wings for Vicki, Behind the White Veil, and The Hidden Valley Mystery.

    I've already re-read Silver Wings for Vicki and was surprised to find I enjoyed it. I had recalled finding it long and boring upon my first reading years ago, only enjoying the mystery at the end. However when I re-read it I loved the whole thing and didn't find any of it boring.

    That makes me very curious to see how I receive this book. I also found this one long and boring in some places, I was eager to finish it and had planned on getting rid of it when I finished but, after placing it in my donation pile, I had second thoughts and put it back on my bookshelf.

Now a few years have passed and I can not recall if this book is good or not, I just remember wanting it to end yet giving it 4 stars on GoodReads. So lets find out.

- Vicki's figure is described as "small and frail" which seems a little odd to me. Frail gives the impression that she is old or ill. You would think a better choice of word would be dainty or something similar.

- One thing I have to say is that whether I find a Vicki Barr book good or bad I always find them wonderfully atmospheric no matter what the location, whether it's The Castle, on a plane, in New York, Hawaii, Mexico, etc.

- I always tend to like scenes set at the New York Airport. Vicki is so comfortable and confident in place that is considered hectic and strange to the average person.

- I think it was pretty messed up of Mr. Barr to keep Vicki in suspense of whether she was going to be allowed to go on the Mexico crew or not. He kept her in suspense until there was only half a day left. If he had said no, she couldn't go then that would have cause a ton of trouble for the whole airline.

He didn't seem to care how much trouble and embarrassment he was causing his daughter. Not to mention jeopardizing her whole career.

- I don't understand why Vicki and the crew are going to Mexico if their new route is solely traveling within Mexico. None of them seem to speak Spanish fluently and they all are having to relocate. Since the airline employs Mexican crews why are they bringing in Vicki and the gang? It just doesn't make sense to me. Now maybe if the airline was just opening in Mexico and the crew was going down there temporarily to train a permanent crew it would make more sense.

- This book is attempting to be social aware by talking about how Mexico has gone through oppression yet at the same time it uses offensive stereotypes. At one point Vicki wonders what her life would be like is she was Mexican and thus how it would feel to be "uneducated and ignorant".

- After arriving in Mexico Vicki, Dean, and Capt. Jordan eat a meal at their hotel. The bill is $16.50 in pesos. Vicki learns that 5 pesos is equal to 1 USD...so their whole 3 person meal only cost $3? That's crazy. The trio also waits until after their meal to have their currency exchanged which seems odd to me.

- Vicki goes to the floating gardens of Xochimilco and honestly, I'm so sick of this place. So many of the old series has a book located in Mexico and they always go to the floating gardens.

- I like how a bullfighter gets on Vicki plane with a case of swords and it's just like yeah, no big deal. Talk about a different time.

- Helen Wells claims that in Spain and Spanish speaking countries no one ever steals, ever...because they have too much pride (nevermind the fact that when giving a brief history of Mexico she focuses on how the Spanish stole Mexico and all its resources). What a stupid blanket statement. This reminds me of how in Clue of the Broken Blossom Vicki talks a business man into taxing his native Hawaiian workers because "making them pay taxes will give them a sense of pride and make them happy". It's things like this that annoy me about these books.

- The plane being shot at is an exciting event but I feel like it's irresponsible of them to continue with the flight after the airplane tail is tied on with rope. Shouldn't the passengers be given the option of unboarding the plane and waiting at the emergency field for other transportation. They could have crashed and killed all those people.

- Vicki, Dean, and Capt. Jordan have their rear tires shot out on a lonely road and make a hasty, although clumsy, getaway. Vicki calls Cissy to ask if she should report the incident to the American Embassy. Although Cissy says yes, she then makes a big effort to convince Vicki that it's not normal for Mexico to have "bandit gangs" and that can happen in any country. It's as though she's desperately trying to make sure that Vicki doesn't get a bad opinion of Mexico even though Vicki never said or thought anything of the sort. 

    Honestly Helen Wells put so much of this kind of thing into the book. It feels like she was desperate to convince the reader that Mexico is a perfect place and the crime in the book is just for story value and there's actually no crime in Mexico and blah blah blah. I dunno, it just seems weird to me. I understand that a lot of people associate crime and gangs with modern Mexico, I'm not sure if the same can be said for when this was written, but Wells could have simple had a character say "people have the wrong impression of Mexico" instead of having this weird, awkward, preachy dialogue every time a crime occurs. It just comes across like Wells was suffering from some serious white guilt.

- I started to get bored with this book around page 160. At that point Vicki stops being suspicious of Perez and starts firmly believe he is mixed up with the bandit gang. From there forward she continues to needle and make it known to him they she knows exactly what's up which seems very stupid and dangerous. Like the whole thing with the mantilla and holding the double rabbit sculpture, that's just letting him know that she knows which is stupid considering his gang has shot at her multiple times. Does she not realize he could end up murdering her in a foreign country?

- The escape from the village by plane is really great. There's so much excitement. I feel like this book has enough excitement that it would really make a good movie.

    I still can't tell if I like this book, I guess I do even though it gets dull at one point. One of my favorite things was Cissy, she was a really fun character and even tho she's in the book a good amount I still could have used much more of her.

Nancy Drew: The Secret of Mirror Bay

    "Aunt Eloise Drew invites Nancy and her friends to Mirror Bay Bide-A-Wee cabin near Cooperstown, New York, for a visit and a chance to solve the mystery of the woman who glides across the water.

    Upon the arrival Nancy becomes mixed up in a vacation hoax because she resembles the young woman involved, and is nearly arrested for fraud.

    On the wooded mountain near the cabin further exciting events await Nancy and the other girls. There in the deep forest, a weird luminescent green sorcerer appears and threatens to cast an evil spell on anyone investigating his strange activities.

    In a dangerous twist of circumstances Nancy finds that solving one mystery helps to solve another.    What happens when the young detective and her friends uncover a cleverly concealed criminal operation makes thrilling reading."

    This is the last Nancy Drew book I'm reading for the first time. After this I will have read all 56 books of the original series. This is really big to me. When I was little I use to dream about having the whole series and having read them all. It took a long time to make it happen but I'll have finally done it and it just feels like I've accomplished something for my childhood self.

    Ok enough being sappy! The summary doesn't make this book sound very interesting. The two books before this one, Mysterious Mannequin and Crooked Bannister, are so totally weird (a living mannequin and an attack robot) that I am curious to see if this one is weird too. But the summary mentions a "luminescent green sorcerer" so I would stake my money on yes, this book is going to be weird as heck.

- When Nancy tells Bess and George about the trip to Mirror Bay the girls ask when they are to leave to which Nancy says "tomorrow morning". That is quite short notice.

- Of course Nancy is the one who happens to look just like a wanted crook. It's never George or Bess.

- The conversations in this book are quite awkward. They're very straight to the point and remind me of the dialogue in the Nancy Drew games.

- This book has a lot of words that seem out of place: instantaneous, infinitesimal, solicitousness.

These words seem out of place in a children's book . Nancy Drew books are usually kept to a simpler language.

- The scene where Nancy rescues a woman from drowning is much more intense than the average Nancy Drew rescue. The woman begins to drown, ceases breathing, and Nancy has to perform CPR.

- I found it annoying that the price that Nancy paid for the valentine wasn't listed, it just said she paid a lot plus $10 on top of that.

- The mystery of the "sorcerer" seems strange. I guess the mystery that Nancy wants to solve is why the man is there and scaring people away. Nancy believes it's because the mysterious Sam and Mike are concealing something farther in the woods but she doesn't really speculate or have a clue what it could be. She mentions that her criminal look-a-like could be hiding there but doesn't really seem too eager to find out. Also none of them seem to take Bess' attempted kidnapping very serious.

- After encountering the mysterious glowing monster in the woods the gang spreads out around it but when they close in on it, it vanishes before their eyes. Dave explains this by saying the "monster" was probably wearing a special suit which glowed on one side and was dark on the other and that while they were encircling them the "monster" had taken off the suit, reversed it, and ran away. How could someone do all of that in plain site of 6 people who were circling them and have none of them notice? This book doesn't make any sense.

- The cliffhangers in this book are either very tame or non existent. I wonder if they were thinking about doing away with them.

- Ned decided to paint the rented sailboat which seems really inappropriate.

    I stopped taking notes on this book because it was too ridiculous. It actually kind of reminded me of The Flying Saucer Mystery which is a horrible, horrible book. Just absolutely terrible. So that kind of shows how much I enjoyed this one.

    However I do have to say the cover artwork is fascinating. Its the most unique and different one of the series and it really has a mysterious element to it.

    And now that's it, I've officially read the Nancy Drew series!  I own 9 more Nancy Drew books that I haven't re-read yet but I'm almost positive I'm going to keep them all so I think I'll postpone reading them for the time being. I have a ton of other books I'm more eager to get to at the moment. So I guess we are done with Nancy for now. Next up, Vicki Barr! 

Nancy Drew: The Mysterious Mannequin

    "The strange disappearance of Carson Drew's Turkish client and a strange gift of an oriental rug encoded with a message woven in the decorative border start Nancy on a difficult search for a missing mannequin. But then a robber tries to steal the rug from the Drew home. Nancy, Bess, George, Ned, Burt, Carson, and Dave travel to Istanbul to search for more clues, but then, Bess disappears during the search, after the chums meet a young Turkish woman." [x]

    This is the second to last Nancy Drew book that I am reading for the first time. I'm a little doubtful that I will like it because it was written in 1970, the 1970s books are the ones I tend to not like very much, and because Nancy and the gang travel to a foreign country. I do not like any of the books where Nancy travels to a foreign country with the exception of Fire Dragon.

- Mr. Drew gets sent a rug and Nancy's first thought is there must be a secret message woven into it. Oh please. I was rolling my eyes.

- I'm on page 36 and so much has already happened; the rug, the secret messages, Burt and Dave's flight almost crashing, going to the book store, going to the museum and the tailor shop and the locksmiths, Nancy's house being broken in. This books is trying to be action packed but it's resulting in it being choppy.

- The locksmith describes a suspect as wearing a bracelet then says "You wouldn't catch me wearing anything like that!" to which Bess replies "Why shouldn't a man wear a bracelet if he wants to?". Bess is such a sweetie.

- Nancy finds out that when Farouk left he purchased a plane ticket through a travel agent. If he was going back to Turkey why would he not just get one from the airport? Travel agents are more for tourist but Farouk is from Turkey and would know how to travel back there.

- Ned is working as an insurance salesman but he mentions his old job at a summer camp. I thought that was a cool little nod to some other books.

- River Heights suddenly has a big Greece/Turkey section. Exactly how big is River Heights?

- I was thrown when Aisha said her and Farouk had been in love because this whole time I thought Farouk was 40+ years old and Aisha around 18. So that was a little unexpected.

- The part where Nancy unrolls the rug and a scimitar comes flying out of it and stick into the wall was so ridiculous!

- Nancy gives an old man a heart attack by physically assaulting him and then complains that she can't ask him any questions because he's not conscious! This is so weird, I'm cracking up.

- I was surprised that Carson asked Nancy how she planned to pay for a trip to Turkey. Normally Nancy never thinks about the cost of flying around the world thanks to rich daddy Drew.

- Bess is referred to as Dave's "date" even when they're not on a date together. Why can't they just use the word girlfriend, ugh.

- Turns out the mannequin Nancy was suppose to find was actually Aisha. She would sit in the shop window everyday and pretend to be a mannequin. This is so stupid! Not only that but Farouk had absolutely NO reason not to write an actual letter to either Aisha asking her to come to Turkey or to Carson asking him to send Aisha to Turkey. The whole secret message in a rug was just absolute nonsense for the sole purpose of creating a fake mystery.

    This book is just so weird and stupid. 

Nancy Drew: The Clue of the Leaning Chimney

    "As a result of an encounter with a sinister stranger on a lonely country road, Nancy Drew and her friend Bess Marvin discover that a rare and valuable Chinese vase has been stolen from the pottery shop of Dick Milton, a cousin of Bess. — Dick had borrowed the vase from his Chinese friend, elderly Mr. Soong. He is determined to repay Mr. Soong for the loss and tells Nancy that if he can find "the leaning chimney," he feels he will be on the track of a discovery which will solve his financial problems.

    Nancy finds the leaning chimney, but it only leads her into more puzzles. Can there be any connection between the vase theft -- one of a number of similar crimes -- and the strange disappearance of the pottery expert Eng Moy and his daughter Lei?

    Join Nancy and her friends in their exciting adventures as they unravel all the twisted strands of this intriguing mystery. " 

    This is my first time ever reading this book! It's one of only three Nancy Drew books I haven't read before and I'm very excited to read it.

- The book summary mentions that there is a character named Mr. Soong. There is also a Mr. Soong (Grandfather Soong) in Mystery of the Fire Dragon. I guess Harriet Stratemeyer didn't know any other Chinese names, eh?

- It's nice to see Masonville mentioned again.

- The way Nancy asked to be told about how pottery is made was very awkward.

- I thought Mrs. Wendell was going to be difficult with Nancy. I was pleasantly surprised when she turned out to be an old family friend of Hannah's.

- I found it hilarious that Nancy hacks down the secret panel door instead of trying to figure out how to open it. Maybe it's because I just finished reading The Hidden Staircase wherein Nancy takes forever to find a secret panel but I just loved that she got straight to business with it. I also liked that the villain had put in the secret passage instead of it just happening to be there.

- Nancy gives Helen a kitten for her birthday and Helen says "you remembered I've been meaning to get one". I thought "meaning to get one" was such a weird way to describe getting a pet. Also I love that Bess' present to Helen is a figurine she made in her pottery class.

- Nancy take on 4 cases in this book; the theft of Mr. Soong's vase, finding the location of the China clay pit, finding the Engs, and Helen's parents missing vase. Nancy's lucky these all intertwined.

- The Hotel Royalton that Carr is staying at is an actual hotel however it appears The Oregon, the restaurant Nancy chases Carr through, either does not exist or no longer exists.

- When Nancy and Ned investigate the location of the China clay pit they hear "a cry for help that sounds like bong". I don't understand what that means. How can a cry for help sound like bong?

Nevermind, it gets explained later. Mr. Soong says the Chinese word for "help" is pronounced like bong so basically someone was yelling "Help" but in Chinese.

- This book has every recurring character in it; Bess, George, Helen, Ned, Aunt Eloise, and Togo. Its just missing Burt and Dave.

- Ned doesn't seem to do much in this book except complain and tease.

- I suspected that Ching was working with the villains but I didn't expect him to be Carr's brother. Also how strange is it that David and Ching are brothers yet one, who looks more Caucasian then Chinese, is given a name like David while the one who looks more Chinese than Caucasian is named Ching. Kind of weird.

    Overall it was good. I don't think I can give an accurate opinion of this book since it was my first time reading it, since everything was new to me it's hard to judge. I do think it was unique and something about it was different than most other ND books.

Nancy Drew: The Hidden Staircase (original)

    This was the first original text Nancy Drew book I read. I had found it a mix of exciting, gloomy, and boring. I remember I absolutely loved that Nancy had a gun with her but I found a lot of the scenes at the mansion boring and became frustrated with how long it took Nancy to discover the secret passages. This was also my introduction to racist dialogue in old books.

    To be honest I'm hoping I don't enjoy this books because I would like to get rid of it to clear up some space to my bookshelf. Also every time I see it I think of how I foolishly spent a whopping $75 on it.

- I'm surprised Nancy left her house after Nathan Gomber's visit. I know she locked the doors and windows but if he's as unscrupulous as she thinks then he could break in.

- I thought it was interesting she went for a walk by the river. I don't know why but I always thought it interesting.

- The first time I read this book I was impressed and happy that the characters from the last book made brief appearances. I wish that had happened in more of the books.

- When asked for help by Rosemary and Floretta, Nancy insists she's not a detective. She doesn't even call herself an amateur detective.

- I think it's smart of Carson to arm Nancy with a gun. She's going to an unfamiliar place where sinister things are happening and the only other people who will be around to help her is two elderly ladies. I very much wish other books featured Nancy with a gun. It annoys me a bit how in the revised books Nancy has such close calls yet Carson and Hannah simply make her promise to be careful even though her promise never has helped in the past.

- I find it very annoying that when Nancy is looking for secret passageways and trap doors she doesn't think twice about the strange built in sofas. She spends days searching the walls of all the rooms. I have to assume the thought of checking the sofa would cross her mind.

- Although I love that Nancy has a gun I feel like sleeping with it under her pillow is not very safe. Also wouldn't it be easier to grab if it was on her nightstand? Or is she trying to hide it from any intruders since things have been disappearing from around the mansion. Not to mention a gun and a flashlight under the pillow would seem very bulky and uncomfortable. Maybe that's why she has trouble sleeping while there.

- Hold up, Floretta and Rosemary were just described as "nearly 30 years older than Nancy"...that means they're only 46 at most? I thought they were elderly! That changes things completely!

- Floretta and Rosemary remind me of Bess and George. Floretta is very timid and easily frightened whereas Rosemary is a little more brash and level headed. When the girls hear a scream in the middle of the night, Nancy wants to investigate it. Floretta doesn't want to but when Rosemary bluntly tells her to stay there then Floretta says she's rather go than be left alone. That's always happening with Bess and George.

- I'm surprised the girls don't think of hiring an actual, professional detective. They'd rather just leave their home.

- This book has a very depressing atmosphere to it. Nancy is alone in the empty, old mansion with just the two women and all three are sullen and worried. There is no electricity, no telephone, and they don't seem to leave the house for a week straight. It makes me feel depressed. In the revised Helen is present and that alone would have helped.

- I'm always fascinated by Mildred Wirt's racism in these books. Although I see people speaking about Nancy's racist past I do not see anyone actually calling out Mildred Wirt for this, people just seem to blame Nancy Drew as though she was a real person and responsible. Anyways, I actually had never considered Nathan Gombet as an antisemitic stereotype until I had read another review. Maybe this is because I was unaware that Gombet is a Jewish name, I had never heard it before. Also when I had read this before I hadn't yet read other original text Nancy Drew books and was unaware of Wirts' pattern of scheming, money hungry characters with "hooked noses" and Jewish names.

    It's unfortunate that racism is behind the character of Nathan Gombet as he's an excellent villain. He's extremely heartless and cruel as well as obsessed with seeking revenge for imagined wrongs against him. Where as other villains are just committing crimes because they're greedy or something, Gombet actually seems out of his mind and mentally unstable.

- I feel conflicted when it comes to Mr. Drew walking into Gombet's trap. On the one hand it makes sense that Carson would believe the story of Nancy becoming seriously injured in an automobile accident. Gombet did provide details such as the cars steering gear broke and she ran into a ditch. It also stands to reason that Carson would be unbelievably terrified of losing his daughter after already having lost his wife.

    On the other hand Mr. Drew should have been much more suspicious of Gombet especially after having been threatened by him. He doesn't even think for a second that Nancy may have been injured by Gombet nor does the strange telegram reply he got on the train cross his mind.

- Gombet is called a miser throughout the book which I don't think is the correct word. A miser hordes money and penny pinches but no reference is made to him doing this. He instead tries to scam and cheat other people out of money.

- Gombet says he will release Mr. Drew is he gives him a check and signs a paper promising not to prosecute. Carson should have just done this as contracts signed under force are not legal and will not hold up in court. As a lawyer he should know this. I mean, I guess Gombet could wait for the check to clear and then not release Carson but I doubt it as people would notice if he was gone long/indefinitely.

- I enjoyed two chapters being dedicated to Carson and his abduction. They're removed from the rewritten version and Carson just appears in the end.

- I'm not sure why Gombet thinks forcing the Turnbulls to sell their house equates to them selling it to him. Other people have been interested in the house so why would they sell to the person offering the lowest price?

- Talk about luck that the only room in Gombet house that Nancy goes into is the one with the secret passage. I feel like the closet it a strange place for a secret passage, even Nancy says the room would be an unlikely place. Also you would think an underground tunnel would have it's entrance in the basement or at least the first floor.

- Something I found a little strange was Nancy's full name being used a lot through the text.

    Unfortunately, I enjoyed this book quite a lot. As I mentioned I was hoping to get rid of it but I just don't have a reason to.

Nancy Drew: The Secret of Red Gate Farm (original)

    "Out on a leisurely shopping trip, Nancy, Bess and George encounter an odd French-Chinese perfume saleswoman, who is reluctant to sell a particular fragrance to Bess. On a return train trip to River Heights, they ponder her odd behavior and encounter the malnourished Millie (Joanne in the later versions of the book) Byrd, who is on her way to "the city" to seek employment. Millie becomes acquainted with the girls, and when Nancy accompanies her to a job interview, she uncovers a mysterious code in the office. Millie's grandmother, owner of Red Gate Farm, welcomes the trio and Millie to her farm where they plan to vacation as paid boarders, and assist with waiting on other boarders. Once on the farm, Nancy uncovers a strange group called The Black Snake Colony—a "nature cult"—who are tenants on an outlying portion of Mrs. Byrd's farm. Accused of passing counterfeit money, Nancy shares details of the odd colony and the codes obtained in the office building with Federal agents. Nancy, Bess, George, and Millie go undercover disguised in the white robes and hoods worn by the cult members, and join them in their cave hideaway"

    I've read the original red gate farm only once but remember it being almost identical to the rewritten except for the opening scene.

- As the book opens I feel bad for Nancy who seems overwhelmingly stressed about missing their train while Bess and George don't seem to care much.

- I've always loved that the girls went out of town to go shopping. That rarely happens as it seems River Heights has everything anyone could ever need.

- I always giggle at $3 for perfume being considered exorbitantly high. The $3 is equal to $50 in today's money but even that isn't too shocking for perfume. Especially if it's a rare imported perfume like the girls assume.

- When Nancy shows her father the coded message he "adjusts his glasses". I never thought of Carson wearing glasses.

- The word "sallies" is used to refer to Bess and George's jokes. I love finding new old fashion slang in old books.

- "That means another pound added to my weight," Bess sighed as she gave her order, "but I'd as soon be dead as to give up sundaes!" Same, Bess, same.

- One thing I don't like about Mildred Wirt's writing is her overuse of sudden storms (Secret of the Old Clock, Bungalow Mystery, Lilac Inn, Shadow Ranch, Whispering Statue, and The Missing Formula are just the ones I can name off the top of my head in an instant). They're in many of her books and this one is no exception. In fact this book has two storms, one immediately after the other.

- It's mentioned that Bess had previously taken an interior decorating class. I love getting a little bit of backstory information on characters, especially Bess as she's my favorite character in every Nancy Drew series.

- I was under the impression that Nancy and the girls had been at Red Gate Farm for several weeks before they visited the roadside restaurant again. Yet the employees who accuse Nancy of passing the counterfeit bill act as though it had just happened the other day.

- It's unfortunate that I don't remember the details of the revised version because the farther I get in the original text the more I feel there is a lot of subtle differences but I'm just not sure. I know the opening scene is not in the rewritten version but I can not remember if the elderly boarders are kept in it or not, I also don't recall if it kept the second trip to the roadside restaurant or Nancy giving a ride to Black Snake Colony woman. I might have to re-read the revised text soon out of curiosity.

- At first the woman from the Black Snake Colony is described as old. Then later the woman refers to herself as old when she thanks Nancy for her help. But later it says the woman is not old, she only appears that way because she has stress lines or whatever. So that's confusing.

- I never understood why white robes with hoods were chosen as the outfits for the Colony. I'm not sure if the was Mildred Wirt's own decision or if it was part of the outline written by Edna Stratemeyer but it's just quite strange to me for obvious reasons. Also I always thought black robes with a snake image would be far more fitting for a group called the Black Snake Colony.

- Nancy overheard the woman in the grocery store say she heard there was to be a BSC ceremony that night. At first I wondered how on earth the woman could have learned that but then I thought maybe the leaders of the syndicate spread word so people notice their late night ceremony and believe they truly are a nature cult.

- It's too much of a coincidence for me that three Colony members happen to not show up the night Nancy, Bess, and George infiltrate the syndicate. Talk about luck Millie stayed behind.

- The fact that the girls get caught having snuck into the syndicates meeting, had bought the secret signal perfume, and had applied for a job at 305 really does look suspicious as heck. It's understandable the gang thinks they're spies.

- I don't understand why Karl was leading the raid on the cave when he had no association with the police or FBI and he had only met up with them at the farm a little bit ago.

- I have a hard time believing that within a few weeks the cave and boarders could have generated enough money for the farms mortgage to be paid off, an extension added to the house, and a new car. I think Mrs. Byrd is getting ahead of herself for even if the popularity of the cave and farm hold out the summer was almost over and that would leave less people around.

    I'm not surprised that I enjoyed this book upon this reading, it's the early books like this one that helped make Nancy Drew such a successful series. I'd actually love to read the revised text now but alas I don't have the time to spend reading a book I already know I'm keeping as the whole point of re-reading these books is to find ones to clear out of my collection.

    Also thought I'd mention that I only have 6 more Nancy Drew books to re-read! That's pretty exciting since I started out having over 70 to read! Three of the books I've actually never read before so I'm saving them for last. I'm excited to be finished with this series and talk about what books I decided to keep and which to get rid of.

The Mystery of the Tolling Bell

    "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?"

    I've read the original text version of this book twice and I really enjoyed it. However I've never read the revised. I understand the differences are minuscule, if this is true then I doubt I'll notice them since I haven't read the other version in quite awhile.

    I don't have very much interest in reading this version but since I'm getting rid of my copy I decided I might as well read it while I have the chance.

- I think the whole hotel scene didn't work very well in the 1970's setting. I think the scene worked well in the 1940's setting of the original as it had a very noir type vibe to it. Particularly the part where Nancy steps away from her fathers room for a minute just to return and find no evidence her father had ever been there. That was very Hitchcock-esque.

- I know a lot of people think Nancy's strange dream is a little too ridiculous but I love that part! I know that I've had dreams where things happening around me worked their way into my dream so I think it's very plausible. Also Nancy waking up in a ditch is so mysterious. I'm just surprised she wasn't freaking out. Imagine falling asleep one place and waking up in a ditch, whether she was moved there or had stumbled their herself, that would be very unnerving.

    I didn't take very many notes while reading this book. Mainly because I wanted to power through it.

    Overall it was ok. I liked the original version much more mostly due to the time period being a better fit for the mystery. I might end up re-reading the original in the near future and I'm interested to see if I still like it.