There's a certain amount of nostalgia in going back and re-reading books that you haven't read for years and years, and that is certainly true with re-reading the Nancy Drew books. Growing up, I read the yellow spine books, which were the revised texts for books 1 through 34. As an adult, I was first introduced to the original text books through the Applewood reprints of books 1 through 21. I bought those and read them as they were published, but I haven't re-read any of them since (well, at least not until we started doing these Central Florida Sleuth meetings). So, picking up the original text version of The Clue of the Broken Locket, quite honestly, was just like reading it for the first time. I honestly did not remember anything from this story.
The story was written by Mildred Wirt (who wrote the originals stories for the first six Nancy Drew books, then came back with this one after a 3-book break) based upon an outline provided by Edna Stratemeyer Squier. The one thing I do enjoy about these early Nancy Drew books is that each mystery was unique - they weren't all some form of "sabotage" as today's books all seem to be. This mystery centered around the adoption of a pair of twins who were found abandoned in an old canoe on a river bank. With them were some articles of clothing and a broken locket on a chain. The twins are adopted by a very absorbed couple who happen to be actors, and who believe they can use the twin babies to further their career. Nancy's father handled the details of the adoption, but he is now regretting it, as he sees how shallow Mr. and Mrs. Blair (the adoptive parents) are. Nancy has the opportunity to meet them and is completely disgusted by them. So, in true Nancy Drew fashion, she decides to set things right by trying to find the real mother.
The story features a number of unusual elements and characterizations that, quite frankly, caused me to take longer than normal to read the book. The first thing that stood out to me is the way Hannah Gruen is portrayed. Hannah is the faithful housekeeper in the Drew household, and while she has always been concerned for Nancy's safety, she has never been as vocal as she was in this book. Additionally, Hannah's voiced worries about Nancy bringing those twin babies into the house to be cared for is completely uncharacteristic - "if you're aiming to bring those babies home with you, I may have something to say about it," she says on page 33. When Nancy jokingly asks if she doesn't like babies, Hannah's response is, "I like them all right, but I don't enjoy turning myself into a nursemaid!" Hannah's overzealous concern for her cooking is also a bit unusual. When Nancy asks her to help her by bringing some doll clothes to the Blair's house, Hannah responds on page 28: "And you want me to come out to Jolly Folly in a taxi?" the housekeeper demanded incredulously. "I"m right in the midst of my baking." Later, when Nancy isn't eating because she is so focused on the mystery, Hannah complains on page 138, "Humph! If it ain't one pair of twins it's another. I declare, no one gives me any consideration in this house. Here I slave all morning baking cake and cooking a fine luncheon. Then your father telephones he won't be home, and you refuse to eat!" Nancy suggests serving them with tea when Rodney and Ruth arrive; however, that plan is also thwarted when Nancy, Rodney and Ruth are called away to help with the babies - to which, Hannah Gruen stands aghast on page 148 and wails, "You can't go before you've eaten!" Finally, on page 169, when the girls head out and ask Hannah to prepare a picnic lunch for them, she complains, "Now you'll be gone again all day, and my nice cakes never will be eaten!" I don't think I can ever recall a book where Hannah complained so much!
Another interesting tidbit about this book are the characters themselves. Mr. and Mrs. Blair are so over-the-top, and Mrs. Blair particularly, with her false desire to have the children (which she admits she can't wait to show off to her "friend," who has a child of her own and has belittled Mrs. Blair because of her lack of children), but at every turn, she is disgusted with their crying, and she repeatedly reaches out to Nancy to come over and help quiet the children because the nanny she hired, Colleen, is more interested in her boyfriend and playing dress-up in Mrs. Blair's fine clothes than she is in caring for the children. And the Blair's producer/agent, Edwin McNeery, wants absolutely nothing to do with the Blair's new children - he is more interested in whether the Blairs will ultimately ruin his latest production. Then there is Carson Drew. We see quite a different side of Carson in this book. Yes, he's still overly indulgent of his daughter - but he shows real regret in arranging this adoption, after he discovers what kind of people the Blairs are. Further, when the Blairs threaten Nancy after they think she has stolen a necklace from Mrs. Blair, Carson stands up to their attorney, threatening him with slander if he takes any action against Nancy or publishes any false narratives, accusing her of being a thief. Oh, and we learn Carson is a smoker in this book - for on the very last page, Nancy slips in her father's study where she finds Mr. Drew sitting "in his lounging robe, dreamily blowing rings of smoke toward the ceiling and watching them dissolve into formless vapor" (p. 219).
But the final oddity about this story is the last remarks made by Nancy on page 219. Curled up next to her father, Millie writes how they "gazed into the open fire before them." Then she has Nancy remark, "When I look into those flames, I am reminded of other fireplaces." The statement has absolutely no context, and the only thing I can figure, is Nancy is remembering the fireplace where Mrs. Blair threw the bundles of clothes she believed to belong to the twin babies, which sparked a reaction out of Rodney Brown that caused Nancy to believe Rodney had a connection with the twin babies. Even if that is the case, the whole scene at the end is unusual (made even more unusual by the fact that there is no reference to the next mystery in the series, which, at this point, had become a staple in the series, advertising the next book at the end of each mystery).
We could also talk about all of the unbelievable coincidences that lead Nancy to unravel the mystery of the twins' parentage, but let's face it - every Nancy Drew mystery is made up of highly unlikely coincidences that would never happen in real life. But I do want to mention the cover art, as well as the internal illustrations (for the original text, anyway). The internals are unique, in that they are spread so far apart in the book. There is one illustration for page 35, but the remaining three illustrations are for pages 181, 197, and 209! So, readers back in 1934 saw the first illustration at the beginning of the story, then had to wait nearly 150 pages before getting to the next illustration, with two more coming in quick succession thereafter! I found that odd, since usually the internals are usually spread out throughout the entirety of the book.
As far as the cover art goes, this is the only Nancy Drew book to feature four different covers. The first is painted by an unknown artist (why Tandy did not provide the cover as he did for all of the others in the first 26 books of the series remains a mystery), and features Nancy Bess and George finding the other half of the broken locked in the canoe in what appears to be the early morning. The second cover art, provided by Bill Gillies, provides the same scene, but it appears later in the morning. The third cover art, provided by Rudy Nappi, features the same scene, but with the addition of the old man (Enos Crinkle - who Nappi used himself as the model for) smoking a pipe and the scene appears to have been shifted to even later in the day. The fourth and final cover art was also provided by Nappi, but gone is the old pipe-smoking man, and now the scene is at night. Not sure if it was intentional by the publishers to make each cover later and later in the day, or if it is just coincidence (which might be the case since this is, after all, a Nancy Drew book!).
At any rate, the story was actually very enjoyable. Nancy is still the head-strong girl as first written by Millie in those early Nancy Drew books, and the mystery is less about whodunnit and more about reuniting lost family and rescuing those twin babies from a horrific home life. I will say that the identity of the twins' parents come as a bit of a surprise, but it makes for a nice twist to the tale.
RATING: 7 unlatched baby cribs out of 10 for mystery, drama, and a wailing housekeeper who doesn't want her food going to waste!
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