Weekly Reader: Cardinal Machines (Cardinal Machines Book One) by Tracy Eire; Engaging Science Fiction Mystery YA Romance Explores The Union Between Woman and Machine

 

Weekly Reader: Cardinal Machines (Cardinal Machines Book One) by Tracy Eire; Engaging Science Fiction Mystery YA Romance Explores The Union Between Woman and Machine

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Tracy Eire's Science Fiction novel, Cardinal Machines,  explores the complex relationship between humanity and machinery. Nothing new in that, except that machinery is personified by an android taking the form of a handsome young man and humanity is personified by a cynical young woman working as a private investigator. Also that the relationship between the two develops into a potential romance, so Cardinal Machines explores the complex quasi romantic relationship between woman and machine. 

Katherine Zoey Cardinal Collins had a pretty rough life even though she is still in high school. Her parents died when she was very young leaving her to be raised by aunt and uncle. Her aunt was reported missing and presumed dead. Her uncle turned to alcoholism to cope with his grief and trained his niece to work in his very dangerous field of private investigation to the point that after he died, she took over his business.

Zoey has been cut off from her mother's wealthy powerful family, the Cardinals, and she has been struggling financially ever since then, though she refuses to ask for a handout. She is estranged from the Cardinals until she learns that her great aunt Katherine, for whom she was named, has died leaving her the heir to a custom ocean. Before Zoey can get out a surfboard and plunk a flag in the middle of the Pacific claiming it for the Cardinals, a handsome dark haired man arrives with a perfect mannequin like body and a stilted emotionless way of speaking. His paperwork reveals that he is C001-Oisin, pronounced "Ocean," and is fresh from the assembly line of her great aunt's robotics company. 

Ocean is an android specifically made for law enforcement, so Zoey can get some assistance in the pursuit of dangerous criminals. Katherine, the elder, apparently left Ocean to Zoey as a peace offering and to remind her that no matter how far she runs, she is still a Cardinal so she might as well suck it up and live with it.

Cardinal Machines blends the tone of Mystery, Science Fiction, YA, and even some Romance to create a work that is the best of all of these genres. The Science Fiction aspects are certainly the most prominent. The setting is in the near future in which AI is not yet a constant presence, but people are in fear of it becoming so. Many people make derogatory comments and threats toward Ocean to the point that Zoey and his former colleagues at the LAPD spend as much time protecting him from violent technophobes and other androids who are programmed to kill, as much as they protect the flesh and blood citizens around them from dangerous other humans. 

There are also real questions about how much Ocean has adapted to humanity. He has a very strict honor code which he follows the law to the letter and he doesn't always understand the shades of gray nuances that sometimes following a dangerous person can provide. In one chapter, he follows a suspect relentlessly while Zoey learns the suspect's background and why he chose to act as he did. As far as upholding the law, Ocean is a seasoned veteran but when it comes to understanding humans, he is still a rookie.

That also applies to his emotional state and his ability to reason and question his programming. As Zoey gets to know Ocean, she sees him adapt beyond his initial minor emotional responses and act out of sacrifice, self-preservation, feeling and in other ways beyond his programming. When they begin to experience a deeper connection, he moves beyond a faceless being of technology and behaves almost human. The questions of how human AI can become and how their experience with humans changes and adapts them is answered through Ocean's relationship with Zoey and others.

Cardinal Machines is not only a tribute to the future but to the past, specifically the hard boiled detective genre notably through Zoey's character arc. Zoey is sort of like what would happen if Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade or Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe adopted a daughter and exposed her to the dangerous elements that they lived with day after day. The results are a tough talking rebellious cynical teen who is much harder than the other high schoolers around her. When the other kids rebel, they might sneak out past curfew or steal the family car for a joyride. When Zoey rebels, she becomes a bounty hunter to search for dangerous criminals for money. Nancy Drew she ain't.

Sometimes Zoey's dangerous profession catches up to her as her apartment is shot at, she is drugged and kidnapped, and either she or Ocean are held up multiple times throughout the book. Her experiences with society's worst gives her a very negative perspective on humanity as well as an almost addictive thirst for danger. She lives for the danger of catching crooks, whether it's an ex husband who owes for child support and doesn't mind attacking Zoey with a gun or a robotics employee turned corporate spy who might have been a victim of an organized crime murder. It's the excitement and adventure that draws her as much as the idea of protecting innocent people from violent ones. Her experience with the dark side of human nature makes up for Ocean's innocence and confusion, making them a perfect couple that fill each other's needs.

Even though Zoey is in a hardened profession, she is still a teenager and in high school. That's where the YA aspect comes in. It would almost be a distraction from the philosophical science fiction questions and the hard edges mystery suspense, but somehow it works as almost a lighthearted contrast to the rest of the book. The school age gossip of hook ups, break ups, mean teachers, and popular kids is an almost welcome distraction to the darker stuff circling around Zoey on a regular basis. Zoey's closest friends are popular girls, Clara and Anne and Noah, who is at odds with his family because of his sexuality and who harbors a not so secret crush on Ocean. The three friends defend Zoey when townspeople attack her for the audacity of owning an android or when schoolmates spread rumors about what she and Ocean are actually doing. Because of their loyalty, Clara, Anne, and Noah form a loving and nonjudgmental family for Zoey in the absence of her biological one and accept Ocean into their circle as well. They provide an emotional center in Zoey's life, an emotional center that she will  defend.

The emotional center in Zoey's life is also provided by Ocean as he does for her. Zoey is certainly initially aroused by Ocean's attractiveness and he proves to be a good partner in crime solving.  They balance each other out with Zoey's street smarts and experience with the dangerous aspects of humanity and Ocean's more educated approach and ability to research information instantaneously. They become very protective of each other and often pull one another out of danger or draw a weapon on someone if they sense that their partner is in danger. 

Zoey addresses the physical aspects of their partnership by kissing Ocean and he responds in a very um shocking manner. What draws them is not only their physical connection, but their emotional one. Ocean is a learning android and he learns to care for and protect Zoey. He is able to question and rebel against his programming because of his feelings towards her. Through her, he understands humanity. He doesn't see Zoey as one of several who need his help. He sees her as Zoey, someone unique and individual.

In her own way as Ocean questions his initial programming, Zoey questions hers. She was afraid of getting close to anyone because she felt surrounded by death. She didn't want to lose anyone else or feel responsible when they died. Ocean breaks down that wall she put around herself as she breaks down his. She opens herself towards him. When they finally get together, it is a completion that they both evolve and adapt themselves.  Because of this, Zoey and Ocean are among my favorite romantic couples that I read this past month.

Cardinal Machines blends Science Fiction, Mystery, YA, and Romance to create a child that combines all of their aspects into one. This child, like its protagonists, questions its earlier programming influences and adapts into something different and unique.

Classics Corner: The Nancy Drew Mysteries Books 1-10 by Carolyn Keene; The Quintessential Literary Detective Heroine

 Classics Corner: The Nancy Drew Mysteries Books 1-10 by Carolyn Keene; The Quintessential Literary Detective Heroine

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: When someone mentions teen detective, there is one name that we instantly turn to: Nancy Drew! (Okay some may throw in The Hardy Boys, but Nancy Drew definitely wouldn't be too far behind.) For good reason, she has been solving mysteries for 91 years, been the star of four long running book series, five films, three TV series, and several computer games. Like many long running characters, Nancy Drew has gone through various changes in appearance, personality, technology, social issues, and acknowledgement of sex and violence. But what has never changed is Nancy's adventurous spirit, curious nature, and penchant for finding and solving mysteries everywhere she goes.

The Nancy Drew series began life in 1930 as part of The Stratemeyer Syndicate. Publisher, Edward Stratemeyer found success with previous works like The Rover Boys, Tom Swift, and The Hardy Boys, so he wanted to find a character who solved mysteries and had adventures that appealed to girls. He pitched the idea to Hardy Boys publishers, Grosset & Dunlap suggesting names like Stella Strong, Dana Dare, Diana Drew, Nan Nelson, Helen Hale, and Nan Drew. The Grosset & Dunlap liked Nan Drew, but lengthened the name to Nancy. (Though Dana was used for a subsequent Stratemeyer series as The Dana Girls).

Like the other Stratemeyer Syndicate books, The Nancy Drew series featured a mystery series that offered a new volume published at least once a month (though the first few were written simultaneously to gravitate interest), have a cliffhanger at the end of each chapter, refer to previous volumes on the writing though could be read out of order, foreshadow future adventures in the final chapters ("Little did she know, Nancy's next adventure, The Hidden Staircase would be just as exciting…"), and be ghostwritten by several authors writing under a pseudonym. In Nancy Drew's case, the pseudonym is that of Carolyn Keene.

The first Carolyn Keene was, in reality, Mildred Wirt Benson who gave Nancy her feisty spunky personality and adventurous spirit. Nancy was very outdoorsy, sassy, athletic, and could take down enemies twice her size.

 In the late 1950's, the books were rewritten and continued by Stratemeyer's daughter, Harriet Adams. Adams rewrote the original books and continued the series on her own. Adams made Nancy just as spunky but also made her more feminine, classier, and versed in etiquette. This was a Nancy who knew how to fix a car and get out of a locked room, but could also have tea with a dignitary. Some have accused Adams of softening Nancy's character, but she is also the Nancy that many Readers are familiar with and she is still an independent woman ready for a mystery.

While Nancy has looked different, basic things about her character remain the same. She is 18 year old high school graduate. (16 in the original series. She was aged up to keep up with mandatory school going age and to give her more independence as a legal adult.) She is described as attractive and usually red or titian haired (though covers vary from showing her as blond, brunette, or dark haired.)

She lives in an affluent neighborhood, River Heights, Illinois with her widowed attorney father, Carson, and housekeeper/surrogate mother, Hannah Gruen. (Her own mother died when she was three, ten in the original series). She is an amateur detective so accepts no payment for her cases. She does it for the love of mysteries and adventures.

 She is well off enough to travel great distances, even travel to other countries like Scotland, France, Turkey etc. She drives a hot modern car that changes with the times (a red roadster, blue convertible, silver mustang, a hybrid etc.) and is usually dressed in the latest styles (Medium length and curly, flapper bob, flip, waif short are some examples of hair cuts. She has worn everything from a line pencil skirt to blue jeans). 

She is aided by her female friends, Helen Corning, Bess Marvin, and George Fayne, her boyfriend, Ned Nickerson, and, on occasion,The Hardy Boys in crossover specials. The covers often show her investigating a clue, observing or escaping from a creepy place, standing outside some exotic location and quite often holding a magnifying glass or a flashlight.

Because they were written for children, murder is never the case. The mysteries, more often, involved kidnapping, theft, fraud, and con jobs. The supporting characters are usually good or evil and the villains are fairly easy to guess. The suspense usually lies in the danger Nancy falls into in finding the truth and exposing the criminals.

The series has been accused of being formulaic in plot and being "junk literature." Similar to Barbie, Nancy has been accused of raising too high of expectations for girls and women. Some have seen her as wish fulfilment, a mythic hero, a supergirl who is too good at everything (in essence a Mary Sue), or a contradiction of femininity. However, she has had many fans including Hilary Rodham Clinton, Sandra Day O'Connor, Sonia Sotomayor, and Laura Bush. Many women have considered reading her books a rite of passage passing the books along to younger sisters, daughters, and granddaughters. (My mother did. Her favorite was The Secret of the Wooden Lady.) She has remained a part of many girls and women's consciousness and will remain ever so.

In tribute to this marvelous character and the over 90 years that she has spent getting solving one mystery after another, I am reviewing the first ten books of the Nancy Drew Mysteries, the original and the best, the series started by Mildred Wirt Benson and continued by Harriet Adams that was published in 1959 and has continued 

 to be republished.

I know that there are purists who swear by the 1930's editions, but unfortunately I have never read them. The 1950's versions are the ones that I grew up with and judging by their frequent appearance, so have many other girls and women. I am choosing to review these versions. 

Of the modernized subsequent series, I highly recommend The Nancy Drew Files which began in 1985. Since it's for a slightly more mature audience, the prohibition against murder was lifted and characters were frequently killed. There were also more shades of gray involving characters, so the suspects were more of surprises (sometimes even the person who hired Nancy in the first place.). Nancy and her recurring characters are more developed as sometimes Nancy is the target of other men's romantic interests which she sometimes reciprocates. There was even a story arc in which she and Ned broke up for a number of volumes. This is the second best Nancy Drew series.

Now on for the best Nancy Drew series. The first ten books in The Nancy Drew Mysteries are: 

1. The Secret of the Old Clock

 Plot: After saving Judy Turner, a young girl, from a near fatal car accident, Nancy becomes involved in an inheritance dispute between the snobbish well to do Tophams vs. the kindly impoverished friends and relatives of the late Josiah Crowley. In her search for a second will rewarding the other relatives, Nancy runs into a gang of furniture thieves.

Note: The first Nancy Drew mystery ever. It introduces Nancy, her father, Carson Drew and housekeeper, Hannah Gruen.

Review: The first book in the series is also the first Nancy Drew book that I ever read. I remember seeing it in a bookstore in Pensacola, Florida and hearing my Mom talk about how much she loved the series so I became interested. While I read mysteries before with Encyclopedia Brown and watched Scooby Doo, Nancy's adventures are what made me fall in love with the genre to the point that mysteries are among my favorite genres. Because of that, I have a special place in my heart for The Secret of the Old Clock. It's one of my favorites in the entire series.

This book is where the Readers get a real first sense of Nancy as a character. She is someone who is willing to put her feet to the fire to aid someone in trouble and is not afraid to argue against people who stand in her way like mean girl sisters, Ada and Isobel Topham. (The Topham Sisters seemed to have been set up as ongoing antagonists who were apparently supposed to thwart her investigations, but this is the only volume that they appeared. However, the spoiled narcissistic bullies were probably the prototypes for Brenda Carlton, the spoiled narcissistic gossip reporter in The Nancy Drew Files series.) In fact, the furniture thieves subplot is very short and puts Nancy in danger in some chapters, such as getting locked inside the closet of the Topham's summer home. The real villains are the snobbish Topham Family who abuse the people around them and lord their wealth over others, like the Crowley relatives.

We also get to see a lot of development in the Crowley relatives. Each one is in financial straits and need the inheritance to help with day to day living and a certain wish. Judy's great aunts, Edna and Mary, need assistance to help with Judy's care and educational needs. Alison Hoover wants to take singing lessons to become an opera singer. Fred and William Matthews want to travel. Elderly, Abby Rowan needs someone to take care of her in her declining years.  This is a small group that needs a miracle to help them and it comes in the forms of a kindly elderly relative and a plucky teen detective.

2. The Hidden Staircase

Plot: While visiting her friend Helen Corning's great grandmother, Flora, and great aunt, Rosemary, Nancy investigates what may be a haunted house and some suspicious intruders. Meanwhile, her father is held hostage by a gang trying to obtain financial and property rights.

Note: While Helen Corning had a small role in The Secret of the Old Clock, here is the first book where she is established as Nancy's first friend and sidekick.

Review: Many have cited this as a favorite book in the series and it is easy to see why. The Hidden Staircase has all the ingredients of a perfect mystery, haunted house, unexplained happenings, rumors of ghosts, and death threats.

There are plenty of creepy passages such as one where Nancy, Helen, Flora, and Rosemary look at the ceiling to see the chandelier spinning out of control or when they hear violin playing in the distance. Of course the eponymous hidden staircase is a thrilling tense chapter as Nancy investigates it to find solutions.

This is also the kind of mystery I love because it becomes personal to the main detective. In Nancy's case, one of the villains, Nathan Gomber, threatens Carson because he represents land owners who were upset with the results of a land dispute claim. When Carson is reported missing, Nancy genuinely worries about her father and tries to solve the case when she learns that the ghost and her father's disapperance are linked. So she investigates for her father as well as her friends.

The one drawback to this book is Helen and it's easy to see why she leaves in favor of the more interesting and identifiable, Bess and George. As far as sidekicks or supporting characters go, she is kind of dull and usually mostly serves as simply a gateway to the mysteries that involve her very large extended family. However, there is one cute memorable chapter involving Nancy and Helen finding a trunk of old clothes. The two younger women, Flora, and Rosemary wear Colonial period costumes as Nancy and Helen dance as "Mr. And Miss Colonial America" to harpsichord music. Then of course something happens and they run outside in period clothing, much to a police officer's confusion.

3. The Bungalow Mystery

Plot: Nancy and Helen are befriended by Laura Pendleton, a young heiress living with a pair of cruel guardians. The duo are surrounded by missing jewelry and mistaken identities when Laura goes missing.

Review: This is another book which takes great care in developing the victim. Laura aids Nancy and Helen when their canoe is in danger of tipping over. She is also in mourning for her mother, Marie, and is anxious about her new guardians, The Aborns. Laura has every reason to be anxious especially when The Aborns behave mean and haughty upon their 

introduction, mistakenly refer to Laura's mother as "Mary,*and constantly ask about her mother's jewelry implying that Laura was left destitute. They definitely don't leave a good impression on Laura or Nancy. Laura is a sweet naive nervous character, the type who definitely needs help.

In true mystery sense, especially in YA mystery sense, coincidences pile on top of coincidences that provide helpful clues for Nancy's investigation. In an unrelated case, Carson solicits Nancy's help to interview potential suspects in an investment-securities fraud. Of course, one of those names happens to be related to Laura's case and provides the breakthrough that Nancy needs to help her.

Some suspense occurs later when Nancy investigates the mysterious bungalow in the title and is spotted by The Aborns. She also finds out that they are more than just money grubbing relatives of Laura's.

  

4. The Mystery at Lilac Inn

Plot: Nancy stays at the lovely Lilac Inn for some R&R. Unfortunately, with a gang of skin diving thieves, a ghost wandering the grounds, a snooty and suspicious inn employee, a jewel thief, and a woman who bears a strong resemblance to Nancy, her vacation proves to be anything but restful or relaxing.

Note: The final regular appearance of Helen Corning. She later reappears in the books, The Password to Larkspur Lane and  The Clue in the Jewel Box happily married to Jim Archer.

Review: This is one of the few Nancy Drew plots which retains a really strong element of plot twists. For the first time, an obviously obnoxious character is not the one committing the illegal acts and the reveal of the thieves are genuine surprises. 

Lilac Inn is a lovely location with flowers growing along the areas and is beautiful enough to stage a wedding as Nancy's friend, Emily plans to do. (Personally it would make more sense for Helen to be planning her wedding at Lilac Inn, to give her a stronger send off, but that's just me.) It's the type of setting that would be too nice to have something creepy happen, which of course means that in a mystery something creepy is guaranteed to happen.

There are some almost Edgar Allan Poe-like moments where Nancy is mistaken for her look alike where someone speaks to Nancy in River Heights and insists that they saw her elsewhere. Another time Nancy discovers that her charge plate was used to make a purchase that she did not know about, so the thief could have either stolen the charge plate in her purse or worse sneaked into her own house and bedroom and made off with the charge plate. It is an even more frightening prospect when Nancy learns that the doppelganger was part of a revenge plot against Nancy and her father. It's a kind of scary idea that someone who looks like you seeks to do you harm out of pure revenge and hatred. It is enough to make one doubt their own actions, memories, and even sanity.

    

5. The Secret of Shadow Ranch

Plot: Nancy is invited to vacation at Shadow Ranch which is near Phoenix, Arizona. There are sightings of a ghostly horse as well as tales of a Wild West outlaw and his alleged buried treasure. Meanwhile, Bess and George's younger cousin, Alice is searching for her missing father and the girls are stalked by a group of desperados who are extremely interested in the buried loot.

Note: The first book that introduces Nancy's most frequent and well-known friends and sidekicks, cousins, Bess Marvin and George Fayne.

Review: This is the first mystery that is set outside of River Heights and the setting helps make this book. There are some moments that invoke the Western setting such as the girls riding horseback into the desert and the appearance of the phantom horse. We also see some ghost towns that offer scares more of the human variety rather than supernatural.

We also meet Bess and George and as I said, they are much better supporting characters than Helen. Bess is the frilly, talkative, romantic, fashionista and frequent damsel in distress. Usually she is the one counted on to sprain her ankle and get caught by the villains or is the slowest at catching onto Nancy's plans. George is the athletic, quiet, quick witted, more serious tomboy. When she is kidnapped (particularly in The Clue of the Velvet Mask), it's to prove how dangerous the people are that they can take her on.

In a way, the two offer the different polarizing sides to Nancy's character with Bess being the more feminine side and George being the more active. Since Nancy balances both of those characteristics, she is able to adapt to any situation better than her friends.

The only disservice this book does with Bess and George is failing to give  them a proper introduction. In the first chapter, they are simply there without explanation or meeting Nancy for the first time. They already in Nancy's life and know about her love of mysteries without the Reader learning about how she knows them. (Subsequent books retcon this by saying that they are old high school or childhood friends and have known each other most of their lives.) 

A humorous error is spotted in the text. Nancy is mentioned knitting a sweater for Ned, whom we assume is her boyfriend, Ned Nickerson. However, she won't meet Ned for another two books. Subsequent editions spotted the continuity error and changed the recipient of the sweater to Carson. However not all of them. My version gives Nancy unexplained psychic abilities to make a gift for a young man that she hasn't yet met.

6. The Secret of Red Gate Farm

Plot: Nancy, Bess, and George have a mysterious trip by train where they encounter a strong smelling perfume, a fainting girl, and a man who speaks in code. After befriending the fainting girl, Joanne, the trio are invited to her family's farm where a strange nature cult are staying next door and the girls encounter a ring of sinister characters.

Review: Among the early volume of this series, this is one of my favorite. There is a strong sense of paranoia when Nancy and the other girls learn that several characters that they meet are part of the criminal ring. The criminal ring is well thought and wide spread from a saleswoman who sells a particularly strong smelling perfume to a stockbroker who interviews Joanne for a secretary to transcribe stock reports. At first everything that they encounter seems to be random and unconnected, but upon closer inspection they are all related.

One of the clues that Nancy uses to help solver the mystery is a code. Codes are some of the more interesting plot points in mysteries and this one is no exception. They are an engaging brilliant addition to mysteries as they reveal how smart the crooks are to make it up and the detective is in cracking it. It always makes me wonder how hard it is for authors to create the codes, the system for interpreting it, and to have it make sense.

There are some suspenseful moments in the final third of the book as Nancy, Bess, George, and Joanne disguise themselves as cult members. Every moment there is a real sense of danger as the girls investigate, but fear being exposed. They go through the rites, observe the actions, quote passwords, and listen to the leader speak inching ever closer to the time when they have  to take off their masks and be recognized as imposters.

 

   

7. The Clue in the Diary

Plot: Nancy and her friends drive by a house just as it catches on fire. While observing the accident, she sees a mysterious man sneak away and a diary written entirely in Swedish. Nancy becomes involved in the lives of an impoverished inventor, his family, and an unscrupulous financier while become interested in the handsome and helpful, Ned Nickerson.

Note: This volume features the debut of Nancy's boyfriend, Ned Nickerson.

Review: Okay I admit it, I'm a confirmed Nancy Drew and Frank Hardy shipper. I feel like superheroes, detectives are best paired with other detectives because they understand the thirst for danger, the desire to help others, and the intellect that it takes to solve crimes. Though Ned is a sweet guy.

Nancy meets Ned for the first time as he departs from the fire which she, Bess, and George witness. At first, they think he is a suspect until he reveals himself as a true loyal friend and occasional muscle when Nancy needs someone to hold down the villain du jour. It's also refreshing to see the male character take a backseat and do the traditional worrying part that is usually reserved for the male detective's wife or girlfriend. Just as it is to see the female character put herself forward as the active daring one.

The Swenson Family are another one of those nice well developed characters that Nancy agrees to help. Swenson's diary provides vital clues, but is hampered because of it being written in Swedish adding a layer of confusion to the text. We also seen an accusation of murder when financier Felix Raybolt's widow accuses Swenson of murdering her husband.

 

8. Nancy's Mysterious Letter

Plot: While helping the local postal worker, Nancy mistakenly receives a letter telling her that she has inherited money. The recipient is actually an actress named Nancy Smith Drew (no relation). As if that wasn't weird enough Nancy's name twin is the target of a Lonely Heart's Club con artist and thief.

Review: The Lonely Hearts Club scheme is similar to the one used by real life serial killers, Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck. They advertised for lonely wealthy women to romance Fernandez (with Beck posing as his sister) then trick them into signing away their inheritance before killing them. While Edgar Nixon, the Lonely Hearts con artist, doesn't specify what he does with the women once he gets their money, the possibility is there and does not bode well for Nancy S. Drew's potential survival.

The mystery arrives to Nancy by happenstance as she helps postal worker, Ira Nixon, Edgar's brother who has almost passed out on his route. He abandons his mailbag which happens to be stolen by Edgar who happens to be in the area. Of course Nancy and Nancy S. Drew happen to share the same name so Nancy can get involved. It almost stretches credibility even for a Nancy Drew book how it begins.

There are some suspenseful moments, particularly at Emerson University where Ned is a student and where Nancy is followed by Edgar Nixon and associates. One passage features Nancy nearly being knocked out by a falling curtain as she chases a suspect in the auditorium. Another has her getting chloroformed by an associate of Nixon's. 

There are also some brilliant touches to Nancy S. Drew's character. A Shakespearean actress, she peppers her speech with quotes from his plays. A letter in which she expressed doubt about her relationship with Edgar is written entirely in quotes from Shakespeare's plays and sonnets.

9. The Sign of the Twisted Candles

Plot: Nancy encounters a reclusive old man, Asa Sydney, who is being mistreated by his guardians. While getting involved in helping his young ward, Carol Whipple, earn her rightful inheritance, Nancy gets caught in a family feud that directly involved her besties, Bess and George

Review: Similar to The Hidden Staircase, this is another volume in which Nancy has a personal connection to the mystery. This time it involves her relationship with Bess and George.

When Nancy helps Carol, after Asa's death, she gets involved in a long-standing family feud between the Sydney's and Bess and George's mothers' family, The Boltons. It gets to the point where Bess and George refuse to speak to Nancy and won't help her on her case. This shows a cattier side to the cousins but also shows that sometimes friendships change when there is money involved. However, the three friend's argument is temporary and they restore amends by the end of the book.

This is the first of two books where abuse is central to the plot. Asa is kept isolated by Carol's cruel guardians, The Jemmits who also abuse her. They are a nasty duo and among the most hateful of Nancy's antagonists. They are ones who deserve their comeuppance long before they receive it.

10. The Password to Larkspur Lane

Plot: Nancy receives a mysterious message via passenger pigeon just as she is helping her old friend Helen Corning Archer's grandparents with some alleged ghost sightings around their property. The message and the strange apparition lead Nancy straight to an elderly woman, Mrs. Eldridge, who has been kidnapped for her money and helid on Larkspur Lane, a nursing home that makes the psychiatric hospital in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest look good.

Review: This is the second Nancy Drew book in a row that deals particularly with elder abuse. Nancy learns that Mrs. Eldridge is being held in a combination nursing home/mental hospital where the staff are more concerned about receiving money than helping the people in their care. While many of the plots don't have much in the way of current relevance, this one does. Real life stories of elder abuse, and bad treatment in assisted living centers and psychiatric hospitals are far from unheard of. Anyone with an aging parents or mentally ill family member may relate to this story all too well.

Some of the plot points are convoluted such as the arrival by passenger pigeon of an important clue. There are some points, such as the blue light outside Helen's grabdparents' home that has only a tangible connection to the nursing home. So the plot isn't as focused or as good as some of the other books in the series.

There is a strong level of tension when Nancy and Bess go incognito to Larkspur Lane where Nancy is disguised as an old woman and Bess her nurse. Together, they see for themselves the bad treatment and abuse inflicted on Mrs. Eldridge by her guardians. 

What else can be said about Nancy Drew, except happy anniversary and may you have plenty of other adventures in your future.