The Secret of the Golden Pavilion (1959)

*spoilers!*

I'm not really sure what to say about this book. The mystery was okay as far as ND books go, but the writing.... I don't know. It surprised me, because I usually really like the older ND books, I love the differences in writing style and society influence (the way they talk and act, etc).

..... But this time there was something lacking in the writing, and the only thing I can really pinpoint about why I didn't like it so much is lack of believability. And I'm not saying that other ND books are totally completely realistic, with a teenage female amature detective you have to give a little... But the jumps that Nancy made in this book were just too far-fetched. It felt like the author was rushing through the hows and whys in order to push the story along.

For instance, after Nancy and Ned find the symbol in the Pavilion's roof, and find out that it means "king", Nancy immediately knows that a treasure of an ancient Hawaiian king is buried there. Despite there never being talk of a treasure or a king before this. There are a lot of jumps like that in this book. Add to that the fact that Nancy trusts so many strangers so easily, telling so many people about her work and suspicions when she barely knows them (which she would never do in later books), and I think this book was a disappointment. ( )