The Secret of the Golden Pavilion

This is the second Nancy Drew I have read this month. I have been pleasantly surprised. This one is set in Hawai'i, and I was expecting a lot of general, watered down nods to the island culture. Surprisingly, the book's treatment of Hawai'i is more than I expected. The book was published in 1959, so it does show a mid-century perspective here. However, the author uses a lot of Hawaiian terms for the food as well as cultural and literary artifacts. There are explanations and stories, so the terms and references do not seem as if they are just jammed into a generic plot. The multiculturalism of the islands is also acknowledged.

The negative reviews that I have read comment on the thinness of the mystery, which is true. We know these show more authors were on a page count, so I do think the portrayal of Hawaiian culture and locations did get in the way of producing a more complex mystery in the pages allotted. Also this one was much less violent than the last one I read, even though it is earlier. show less

*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 show more 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. show less

Nancy is on the case, once again! Her father’s client, Mr.Sakamaki needs help. His deceased grandfather’s estate, Kaluakua has a mystery nobody knows. Its Golden Pavilion may be haunted, and two middle-aged suspects claim to be the grand children of Grandfather Sakamaki and are going to run and take over the estate. Nancy must prove them wrong and stop a terrible gang called the Double Scorps who are trying to steal the secret kings cape in the Golden Pavilion. Are the posing grandchildren part of the Double Scorps and are going to inherit the estate for all of the Double Scorps? What does a sacred king’s cape have to do with the Secret of the Golden Pavilion? And who is that ghost that dances by the Pavilion every night? Nancy is show more going to find out everything, from the Double Scorps, to perhaps two Grandfather Sakamaki. show less

An decent ND story. Really focused on the locale in this one -- Hawaii, the fiftieth and newest state.

I am a huge fan of Nancy Drew books! This one is a great chapter book for more advanced readers; the mystery keeps the reader engaged, while the familiar plot and characters make the reader feel comfortable.

CONT. REAL. FIC. : All of the events in the book are completely plausible, but the characters are made-up.

3 Stars

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