Nancy Drew: The Picture of Guilt

    "Nancy's spending Thanksgiving in Paris, the city of light, love...and mystery. Her neighbor is Ellen Mathieson, a professor whose study of painter Josephine Solo has suddenly taken a dark and disturbing turn. Ellen's research assistant is dead-- killed in an accident exactly like the one that took Solo's life six months before! 

Josephine Solo left a legacy of secrecy and scandal...even the possibility of a double life. But Nancy begins to suspect that some of the professor's students also have something to hide. Paris is full of powerful temptations-- forbidden romance, secret passions, financial greed-- any one of which could lead to a motive for murder."

    Awhile ago I acquired a fair amount of Nancy Drew Files from a thrift store that was going out of business. After reading them all there was only a few that I liked enough to want to keep and over time that amount was narrowed down to just two books; Secrets Can Kill and The Picture of Guilt. I just re-read Secrets Can Kill and decided to get rid of it as I doubt I'll want to read it again anytime soon. So this book is my last chance to keep a Nancy Drew Files in my collection. Let's see how that goes.

- Because Nancy is in France obviously a lot of people speak French, including Nancy who has spoken French since the original books. The dialogue is written in English since these books are English books for English readers but for some strange reason some words are in French. Here's an example; Nancy and George are almost run over by a motorcycle

"These motards," a middle aged man said angrily in French. "Never do they notice if someone is in the way! Are you alright, mademoiselle? Shall I call for the police?"

    If all the French dialogue is being "translated" to English than why leave a word like "motards" in French. "Motards" means motorcyclist but at first I though it was outdated slang/an insult, a combination of the words motorcycle and...well, you know.

- Nancy asks Ellen if she can use her phone book to which Ellen says phone books are outdated in France and instead everyone uses a computerized version called a Minitel. This sounded quite advanced for 1994, which is when this book was written, so I felt this might have been some fictitious thing but lo and behold it was a real! And it wasn't just a phone book, it was the internet before there was an internet. I had absolutely no idea about this, I found it really fascinating.

- For some reason I really enjoy the secret apartment. It's small, old, and furnished with just a few things, overlooks Paris, and even the raincoat in the corner make it seem so cozy.

- In the end-of-book-showdown with the culprits, villain 1 comes at Nancy with a crowbar. After she knocks him on to the ground villain 2 comes running at her. Nancy picks up the crowbar to defend herself but then, remembering villain 2 had already been knocked unconscious a little while ago, Nancy worries hitting him with a crowbar could cause permanent damage and sets the crowbar down...right next to the conscious villain 1 who is able to use it again as a weapon against her. Villain 2 has already MURDERED an innocent person and threaten/attempted to kill Nancy but she's worried about hurting him too much. Seriously, Nancy?

    I'm not sure what to make of this book. When it comes to the Nancy Drew Files there are no great books in my opinion. I would never consider any of them 5 star books, the most any of them are is 3 stars. So this book isn't great but it also isn't the worst of them. I think Paris is a fun setting and used well. I enjoy the studio party and finding the secret apartment but some stuff, such as the picnic, I found a bit boring. Oh, and I also hate that about half the book is spent trying to solve a murder that wasn't a murder. 

    Oh, and as for the cover art, who is that guy? Is it David? It cant be Keith because he wears all black. But David and Nancy never have any romance between them. Maybe the illustrator just decided to take George's tomboy-ness to the next level.

Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill

    Nancy goes undercover as a high school student to find out who has been breaking into lockers, stealing from the video lab, and ruffling through the school records. When Nancy's main suspect turns up dead on the schools stairs she has a new mystery to solve and a murderer to catch.

- "Hands on her hips, Nancy Drew stood in the middle of her bedroom and surveyed the situation. New clothes layed everywhere--strewn across the bed, draped over the backs of chairs, and spilling out of shopping bags. Laughing at the mess, Nancy reached for a just-bought pair of designer jeans. "How do you like the new look in private detectives?" she said, slipping the jeans on." Did this series start out with Nancy standing around in her underwear? Also she's trying to look like a normal high schooler but buys designer clothes for her school wardrobe.

- Right away we're told Nancy has a boyfriend, Ned, who she loves sooooooo much...but that sometimes she's gonna date other people cause how else would we expect this series to be successful in the super sexy 80's without a bunch of buff hunks posing on the covers?

- Nancy, Bess, and George have a pillow fight getting pillow feathers all over Nancy's new designer clothes. Feathers are such a pain to clean up and clean off clothes, it made cringe.

- Why is Nancy using her real name when she's supposed to be undercover? It states she's already a well established amateur detective. You think she'd use an alias especially after getting the threatening tape before even starting the case.

- I wish Jake was around longer. He's an interesting character; just a teenager but already running a blackmail ring thanks to his above average audiovisual skills. He's also confident and cocky and really gets on Nancy's nerves which I find amusing.

- After nancy's car catches on fire, rich daddy Carson buys Nancy a new Mustang GT convertible. I think Daryl speaks for all of us when he rolls his eyes and says "You've got to be kidding me". Nancy says she'll be using her allowance to pay her dad back for it. Nancy you're 18, why you still getting an allowance. Get a job with all your free time or accept payment from a case.

- Jake uses blackmail to get his victims to do stuff for him. He has Walt give him rides, Hal do his homework, and Connie...well it doesn't say what Connie did for him but she does tell Nancy "I had to do everything he asked"... Jake might have been even more scummy than we thought.

- The part where U.S.S.R. villains have a high speed chase with Nancy through the streets of Bedford was so ridiculous I ended up laughing. Especially at the part where Nancy is shocked to find out a red traffic light isn't going to stop international super villains who were just pointing guns at her.

- Nancy remarks that Jake "probably has something on half the school" yet she only focuses on Walt, Hal, Connie, and Daryl. She doesn't try to find out if Jake was blackmailing anyone else which, spoiler, he was and that's who murdered him.

    Overall this book is pretty ridiculous. I do give it a bit of a pass though because it's the first book in the series and the first books have the burden of introducing you to everything. People who had never read Nancy Drew books before had to be introduced to Nancy, Bess, George, Ned, and even Hannah. And then all readers, regardless of having read ND in the past or not, had to be introduced to the new ultra modern Nancy who's some what of a man-eater and has a nemesis.

Cherry Ames: Jungle Nurse

    "When Cherry Ames is offered a temporary assignment to help establish a health clinic in a small native African village, she sees it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Not only will she be visiting a strange and exciting part of the world-but, more importantly, she will have a chance to help the underprivileged people of a semi-primitive country.

    But no sooner has the clinic been built than Cherry finds herself caught up in the midst of a mysterious chain of event. Rough diamonds are being smuggled out of Africa and Cherry's acute observations lead her to believe that the clinic itself is the base of the smugglers' operation!

    By carefully putting together obscure bits and pieces of evidence, and at great personal danger to herself, Cherry sets a trap for the criminals.

    How the alert young nurse from the United States manages to put an end to an international smuggling ring provides a whirlwind finish to a fascinating story of mystery and intrigue."

    "For a fleeting moment she wondered if she might run into another mystery when she got back home. But she quickly dismissed the thought. Hilton, Illinois was such a quiet, typical Midwest town that it hardly seemed likely." (Cherry, you've already solved several mysteries at home.)

- Bob brags to Cherry about an African hunting trip his rich daddy took him on 5 years ago and how they killed so many animals. Cherry's pretty disgusted by this so Bob back peddles saying it was a different time then. You know, a whole 5 years ago. However Bob keeps bragging through out the book about hunting; "The shotgun I'll use to bag us a few sand grouse every now and then. There are millions of them down in this part of Kenya, and when they're broiled over an open fire they'll taste ten times better than the partridge or pheasants your twin brother probably hunts every fall back in Illinois." Why's he gotta come for Charlie like that.

- When Bob goes into town Cherry asks him to pick up some flower seeds because she wants to plant flowers around the village. He asks her what kind of flowers and she says "the pretty flowers your mother use to plant in her garden at home." Flowers are so fickle about weather, temperature, and everything that I don't think just any flower that grows in the US will be guaranteed to grow in Kenya.

- The village is aerial sprayed several times with pesticide to get rid of the fly that is making the villagers so ill. The stuff causes Cherry's eyes to burn and her to cough but Bob says its safe. Pesticides in the 60's, safe? Hmm I'm skeptical. Also I don't understand why everyone wouldn't be instructed to remain in their homes while the airplane is spraying.

- Sometimes in the evening Cherry sits with the children of the village and tells them stories such as Mother Goose and American folklore. And sometimes an adult from the village joins her and tells African stories. I thought that was quite neat, the cultures mixing to entertain children. There's very something sweet about it.

    Overall this story is really nice. There's something satisfying about seeing the steps of building a little hospital to bringing in the patients and healing them. The setting is fun, all the characters are interesting, and the mystery is believable.

    I find that most Cherry Ames books are either hit or miss. Out of the 11 books in the series that I've read there's only been two I've liked enough to want to re-read and those two books are not just good but great in my opinion. This is one of them.

Nancy Drew: The Message in the Hollow Oak (revised)

    "A group of professional detective challenge Nancy to tackle a mystery that they have failed to solve: find an invaluable message hidden by a missionary centuries ago in a hollow oak tree in Illinois. While searching the woods for the ancient tree, Nancy and her friends live with a group of young archaeologists who are excavating prehistoric Indian burial mounds on a nearby farm. A shadowy enemy stalks Nancy and harasses everyone at the dig. The young investigator pursues her dangerous adversary to the outlaws' cave, and is threatened hen she discovers an unusual treasure. How Nancy , with few clues to go on, solves this complex mystery will thrill all readers."

- I don't understand why church was added into all the revised texts. Was Harriet Stratemeyer very religious or was there a big church craze in the 1970's? It's ridiculous that even out in the Illinois wilderness they have a makeshift church sermon. I personally have no problem with Nancy attending church or being religious but it feels a little awkwardly placed into the text, not natural at all.

- While I was taking notes while reading this I simply wrote down "pg. 38-41" for this because there was just so much I had to remark on. Nancy, Julie Anne, and Clem are out searching for a hollow oak when they stop to have a picnic lunch. Clem entertains the girls with funny old stories such as one about a big catfish knocking over a fisherman, then suddenly changes the subject to his good luck coin: "Clem said there were no more big fish in the river, then abruptly changed the subject, "would you like to see my good-luck coin?"". This is such an awkward turn of conversation. It would make more sense and feel more natural if they had been talking about good-luck trinkets or even old superstitions of the local Native Americans the archaeology students are learning about. 

    The coin has the initials P.F. engraved on them which Nancy immediately decides must stand for Pére François since the coin was found in the area. However, Clem never said it was found in the area until after Nancy makes this remark. In fact talking about items found in the area would have been a better conversation to segue into the coin discussion instead of the funny catfish story. 

    Nancy tells Clem the coin is an important find and Clem says he's giving it to Nancy since the coin "don't mean nothin' to him"...but just a minute ago he said it was his good-luck coin. Nancy offers to pay him for it but he declines the offer because "what would I do with a lot o' money?". Gee Clem, I don't know maybe pay your bills, put food on your table, buy your wife a nice gift.

- The illustration on pg. 43 seems a little odd to me. Nancy is in the background looking at the helicopter in the sky while Julie Anne is in the foreground investigating the hollow oak which makes it look as though Julie Anne is the main character/detective.

- I really like how Art gets a crush on Nancy and wish this had caused more drama in the story.

- I have a feeling Clem's old car is not accurately depicted in the illustration which shows it as a large, clunky 1930's model. The description of it being old with thin tires, able to handle rough off road conditions, and be so light Nancy, Julie Anne, and Clem could turn it upright by themselves after it flips makes me think it's more like a car from the 1910's. 

- After the group returns from their tugboat trip Nancy asks Ned to call Roscoe Thompson, the helicopter pilot while she apparently stands around waiting and doing nothing. Why didn't Nancy make the call herself? That would make more sense since Roscoe already knows Nancy but has never met Ned

- At one point Art puts one of the lead plates into his pocket. I was under the assumption the lead plates were far too big to fit into a pocket. I'm quite confused about their size.

- On page 167 Ned uses a hunting knife to uncover one of the plates but on page 169 Ned has Dave use his hatchet to remove another plate. Why didn't he use Dave's hatchet in the first place? Seems that would be much easier than a hunting knife.

- I find the fact that the mystery of the hollow oak has gone unsolved for several centuries to be quite hard to believe. It wasn't so much a mystery as it was a scavenger hunt. All that had to be done to solve it was travel in the direction the arrows point. If Kadle hadn't been involved and Nancy had her own transportation the "mystery" could have been solved in a day.

- One thing I did appreciate was the added danger that this rewritten book brought in from the original. In the original story guns are involved and someone is shot. In this Kadle's henchman carries a gun and A.C.E. Armstrong said he believed Kadle was going to kill him once he had found the treasure of the Hollow Oak. This is quite a bit more intense and dangerous than the usual Nancy Drew book.

    Overall it's an enjoyable book and it's one I'm going to be keeping in my collection, although mainly because my copy is attached to Clue of the Broken Locket.

The Clue of the Broken Locket (original)

    "When two adopted parents are unsuitable for caring of baby twins, Nancy sets out to search for the rightful birth mother with the help of a broken locket."

- Upon meeting the Blair's Nancy mentions that it's a shame the adopted twins biological mother never claimed them. Kitty Blair responds by saying "when a mother abandons her children, she should lose all right to them!". Nancy immediately starts coming up with excuses for how the mother could have been tricked into being separated from her children. Just cause Nancy doesn't like the Blair's she's willing to defend an unknown woman. You don't have to like the Blair's to agree that abandoning children is wrong.

- This is one of the Nancy Drew books that contains bigotry. As much as I love Mildred Wirt's writing she seems to have been quite bigoted. Any money hungry villain's in the original books were Jewish. In this it's mentioned that the Blair's real surname is Sellenstein, which in itself would not raise any red flags. It was a normal practice for performers to change a long last name to a short, easy to remember one that would fit better on a theater marquee. However couple it with the fact that the Blair's have a get-rich-quick scheme to adopt children and pimp them out to the public mixed with Wirt's history of "hooked nose" characters scheming for money and yep, all signs point to antisemitism.

- Strangely enough an effort is made multiple times to let the reader know that not all theater people are like the Blair's. Its almost as if someone associated with the book was terribly worried about offending theater people. #notalltheaterpeople

- I love that the Blair's home is called Jolly Folly. I adore these type of quirky old-fashioned names for estates.

- Although I don't think the Blair's would be well suited parents I think Nancy quite exaggerates how bad some of their actions are. For example Mr. Blair tosses one of the twins, Jay, up into the air, catching him. Not an uncommon thing for parents to do with their children and most kids seem to enjoy it but for some reason Nancy is absolutely horrified at the sight of it. The child is not screaming or crying because of it (like in the rewritten version) and when Nancy tells Mr. Blair to be careful he mentions that he has experience catching grown men in tumbling and acrobatic acts.

- Nancy is also horrified to see that the Blair's allow Mr. and Mrs. Dunbar to hold Janet. When Nancy tries to protest they do not pay her any mind and I can understand why. Imagine you just brought home your adopted children and are introducing them to your best friend and some strange girl whom you've only just met earlier that day is freaking out about letting someone hold the child. I'm surprised they didn't kick Nancy out.

- There's so much in this story which make it feel very dated which I personally love; Nancy and Bess hang around the Blair's while everyone is drinking alcohol and smoking, Nancy's car has a rumble seat, Rodney was "gassed during the World War", the use of the word "perambulator", etc.

- No one in this book is likable and Nancy is a straight up brat and funnily enough the illustrations reflect that. In the one for page 35 Nancy's sour face make her look like she'd be the villain of the story.

- Once Nancy finally tracks down Ruth Brown she never comes straight out and asks is she is the twins mother even though she is desperate to know. By this point Nancy has already confronted Ruth with the information she learned at the orphanage (that Ruth brought the babies there, worked there, and quit) so why not just ask, you've already creeped her out by knowing so much, what's one more question.

- Nancy doesn't tell Rodney that she's found his long lost twin sister Ruth until she hears back from the reverend who baptized Rodney and Ruth so she can "be sure" they're each others brother and sister....but all that would prove is that the reverend baptized them. Rodney already admits to having a twin sister named Ruth Brown. Seriously, what's wrong with Nancy in this book.

- Ruth remarks that it will be hard to work for Mrs. Blair because she "has a harsh tongue" but this is after Ruth witnesses Mrs. Blair scold Colleen for allowing the babies to become seriously injured. As long as Ruth doesn't throw the babies down the stairs or something she really doesn't have anything to complain about.

- Hannah whines soooo much in this book! I was ready for Nancy to fire her.

- I find it hard to feel sympathy for Nancy when she gets publicly accused of stealing Mrs. Blair's locket. If she hadn't tried being so buddy-buddy with Colleen and covered for her by mending the dress, putting Mrs. Blair's clothes away, and anything else Colleen probably wouldn't have felt such a need to get revenge on Nancy. Instead of seeing Nancy as a false friend who betrayed her she would have just thought of her as another upper-class b*tch who looked down on a servant girl. I'm not saying Colleen is in the right in anyway but Nancy had something coming to her.

- I find it strange that Nancy never once thinks that the twins mother may have passed away especially when it turns out she almost did pass away after being struck by lightning and that's how she lost the babies.

- I thought it was very refreshing that Ruth was not the twins mother and that the mother was not brought into the book until later and related to, what seems like, an unimportant side character.

Overall it's a good book. I enjoyed almost every scene and the locations, such as the Blair home, are great. I do have trouble believing Nancy would be able to waltz on into the Blair's home so freely so many times but that's easy to overlook.

As for which book is better, the original or revised, well its not really possible to compare them since they are completely different books written decades apart. The only similarities are a broken locket and twin babies. Which reminds me, we never find out the real names of Jay and Janet.

Nancy Drew: The Clue of the Broken Locket (revised)

    "Nancy Drew and her friends are plunged into a network of strange events when they visit Misty Lake. The very night they arrive they meet pretty, red-haired Cecily Curtis, who seeks Nancy's help in solving two mysteries: one concerning Cecily's fiancé, Niko Van Dyke, a popular singer who believes that his record company is cheating him out of royalty payments; the other, involving a family treasure hidden before the start of the Civil War- Cecily's only clue being half of a gold locket.

Nancy's investigations lead her to Pudding Stone Lodge, where the sinister Driscoll family lives. Elusive humming noises, a flashing light in the attic of the lodge, the periodic apparition of an excursion launch which had sunk in Misty Lake years ago, and the fleeting appearance of a frightened girl who strongly resembles Cecily give Nancy plenty of opportunity to test her sleuthing skills.

Braving a series of dangerous situations and discouraging developments, the alert young detective perseveres in her attempts to solve both mysteries and reveal the astounding secrets of Pudding Stone Lodge."

    I was excited to re-read this book because I recalled it being one of my favorites however seeing as how my recent re-readings of my favorite Nancy Drew books have turned out I was quite eager to see if this one would still remain a favorite. Like a good amount of the other books I couldn't remember hardly anything from this story. All I remembered was the cottage on the lake, the large stone house, Cecily, Satin, the children, and counterfeit records. I didn't even remember Susan or the ghost ship!

- I think the setting for this book is PERFECT. A cozy little cabin on the edge of haunted, foggy lake with a dark past; it was the perfect setting for a mystery. I also loved the retro touches, which were of course modern at the time, that include the soda fountain, counterfeit vinyl records, and Niko's bands name; The Flying Dutchmen. Its so kitsch, I love it!

   - Like most readers I'm pretty disgusted that the girls don't mind Satin catching and eating a mouse inside the little cabin. I mean Nancy changes her clothes anytime she steps foot outside so you'd think she'd be more sanitary cautious.

- The rock throwing incident is ridiculous. The villains throw a heavy rock at the back of the couch which causes Cecily and Niko to fly off it and hit their heads on the fireplace hearth...you know, totally plausible.

- When Nancy and Cecily sneak into the Driscoll's and find Susan they decide to sit down and have a nice lengthy chitchat with her about everything that's happened instead of, you know, getting to safety. I can't stand when these books do this.

    Upon this re-reading I found the book to be entertaining. Like I said I thought the setting was perfect, half the mystery was good (the counterfeiting), and I thought the boys joining in worked out really well unlike most of their appearances where they show up solely to take the girls to a dance, party, etc. Strangely enough though I had trouble getting through this. Normally I read Nancy Drew books in 3 sessions but this book was at least 10! I just kept putting it down even though it wasn't boring, annoying, or whatever. It just couldn't keep me going for two long without me needing a break.

Nancy Drew: The Bungalow Mystery (revised)

    While on vacation at Twin Lakes Nancy meets and befriends an orphaned named Laura Pendleton. Laura is there to meet her new guardians, Mr. and Mrs. Aborn. The Aborn's seem nice enough but when they begin doing strange things like demanding Laura hand over her inherited jewelry and lock her in her room, Laura decides to run away to River Heights in the hopes that Nancy can help her. Nancy begins to investigate the Aborn's which leads her to a strange bungalow in the woods and a giant mystery.

   - While in the cabin in the woods Nancy uses matches she had taken from the hotel dining table. It specifically says she took them during dinner yet after dinner she changed clothes before going to the Aborn's:

"Eagerly she reached into the pocket of her dress, recalling that at dinner she had taken a pack of matches from the hotel dining table for her souvenir collection. Good! The pack was still there!" Pg.116

"Then she changed to walking shoes, sweater, and skirt." Pg.103

"Awakening at six o'clock, Nancy put on the simple black cotton dress from her suitcase and pumps. After brushing her hair until it snapped with electricity, she was ready for supper." Pg.103

 - Mr. Aborn says he's going to write and sell a story about the mystery. He declares he will donate profits from the story to Nancy's favorite charity, the River Heights Youth Center. How did he know this is Nancy's favorite charity? Although she mentions it in the book she doesn't tell Mr. Aborn that.

- After Jim and Cathy help her move the fallen tree from the road Nancy says "is Mrs. Aborn a blonde-haired woman, rather small and slightly, Cathy?". Why does she direct this question solely to Cathy? Jim knows the Aborn's too.

- I've read this book many times before and I always find it quite creepy. The way Nancy always feels, rightfully so, as though she's being watched in the woods and in the shack add such a disturbing element to it.

 - I found the ending to drag out quite a bit and also found it very irresponsible of Laura to give Nancy such a personal piece of her mothers jewelry at the very end.

Like I said, I've read this many time but I think this might be my final reading.