The Clue in the Jewel Box

Look, I don't read these for believable plots, I read them as comforts from my childhood that are now hilarious with all their contrivances. This one was published in 1943 and the contrivances are truly mind-boggling.

Nancy meets an "aristocratic" (because you can totally tell bloodlines by looking) elderly woman having a fainting spell at a department store and she and her chums help the woman get home. Turns out she's the dowager empress "queen mother" of Russia an unnamed country that had a bloody revolution a few decades ago but is currently an ally of the U.S. in a war that is never mentioned so it would be awkward to bring up that tawdry past by naming the country even though all the details are super obvious. Soon (by which I show more mean, the next day), of course, Nancy is a trusted friend of the former royal and becomes involved in the search for her missing grandson who was smuggled to the U.S. as a small child. (So Anastasia but for some reason with the boy child instead of one of the girls.) River Heights is apparently a popular place for royalist Russians émigrés from the unnamed country, which you would think might make it easier to find the long-lost grandson, but of course that wouldn't make for a twisty enough plot.

Also Nancy has ditched her roadster with no explanation and is walking and biking everywhere (with the occasional taxi ride) because it would have offended her readers who were on gas rations (because war, but shh!) to have her driving everywhere. The best part, though, was when her old friend and occasional series guest, Helen Corning, pops in and explains that she's been in Paris with her dad(!), having a grand old time(?!), and they had an "exciting trip" coming back from Europe(!!!). Personally I would think someone having a grand old time in Paris in 1943 during a war that is never mentioned but is influential enough to get Nancy to ditch her iconic roadster would be more offensive than said roadster, but I guess that's just me.

Anyway, (spoilers, lol) our girl sleuth finds the missing prince, catches all the bad guys, models a winning design in a fashion show, and manages to get her dad the perfect birthday present, of course. show less

This was a fun adventure as Nancy not only tries to solve the mystery of a missing grandson for a nice old woman who turns out to be secret royalty who escaped during troubling times in her home country.

While searching for this missing man, Nancy finds her suspicious of many characters and the secret to the true identity lies in a jewel box with hidden compartments.

I absolutely loved Nancy Drew growing up. This was a series I latched on to for dear life and never let go. Anytime my mom and I would go to antique stores, we'd peruse the Nancy Drews and add them to the collection (oftentimes my mom had to make deals with me on how many I could buy). So, while I don't remember the exact details of each and every one, the entire series was amazing and really fed my love for reading (especially novels full of suspense and mystery). Thank you, Carolyn Keene, for giving us an intelligent female character to fall in love with in Nancy Drew!

I was disappointed in Nancy throughout this story. I would have thought she would have been wiser, smarter in handling this case, but even a great detective gets tripped up some times. This book was a huge learning moment for me.

#20 An antique dealer’s revelation about a former queen’s priceless heirloom starts Nancy on a trail of exciting adventures. Madame Alexandra, now living incognito in River Heights, asks Nancy to find her missing grandson. With only one clue to go on – a faded photograph of the prince at the age of four – the young detective begins her search. Nancy’s investigation unmasks a slick imposter and reunites the long-separated family in this suspense-filled story.

For now, let this title stand for all the dozens of Nancy Drew books I devoured when I was 11 years old and feeling lost and alone. I adored these books and read a book a day for weeks from the Public Library in Harvard, Nebraska during the summer of 1960.

Nancy Drew has two mysteries on her hands- who has been doing all the local pickpocketing and is the man she has discovered really the grandson of a queen? Once again Nancy's luck and careful observation lead her to discover the answer to both mysteries and how the two are related.