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bargainsleuth's review
5.0
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It’s time to jump back on the horse, so-to-speak, and continue my reading of my beloved Nancy Drew books. At the beginning of my journey when the pandemic first hit, I was reading the Original Texts (OT) and then the Revised Text (RT), plus sprinkling in the new Nancy Drew Diaries series. I got majorly burned out doing that, so I set Nancy aside for six months and am happy to say I’m back reviewing the books. I hope to have one review a week, but we’ll see how it goes.
The Ringmaster’s Secret OT and RT are roughly the same book with some minor revisions. And can I just say, Nancy really takes a beating in this book! She’s knocked out or strangled THREE times! There’s a long-running joke about Nancy getting knocked out within the series book community, and it even makes it way into the current Diaries’ series. But Nancy is never worse for the wear, and of course, recovers quickly.
George is also knocked out at one point and she and Nancy are kidnapped. Nancy is also thrown into a hungry lion’s cage. Have no fear, Ned comes to the rescue and has his hand clawed. At an airport, Nancy’s bag is stolen briefly and when she opens it, acid fumes temporarily blind her. Really, the danger Nancy and her friends put themselves in!
As I read the book, I wondered why I had liked it so much as a kid. I loved horses, and Nancy practicing stunt riding must have held some appeal. After just a few weeks of practice, Nancy is so good at stunt riding that the circus that’s in town asks her to fill in for a rider with a broken ankle. But even as a child, I was not a fan of circuses. I went once and felt terrible for the animals having to walk aimless around in circles. So that couldn’t be what enthralled me as a child. Maybe it’s just because Nancy is so adept at whatever she wants to do, and I was a virtual clutz. At one point, she uses ventriloquist trick to throw her voice. Is there anything Nancy can’t do?
Maybe I loved the book because Nancy, as usual, can do pretty much whatever she wants. At the beginning of the story, it’s mentioned that her father, Carson Drew, the lawyer, would be out of town for a while. And at one point in the story, Nancy feels she needs to ask her dad’s permission to fill in at the circus, she has no idea where he is or what city he is in! When they finally connect with each other, they decide at the last minute to hop a plane to London! There’s quite a bit of traveling in the story, so maybe that’s what held the appeal to me. We never went anywhere when I was growing up, other than our grandparents’ house in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, about 3 1/2 hours away. As a family of 9 on a teacher’s salary, vacations were out of the question.
As with most Nancy Drew books, you really have to suspend disbelief in order to get through The Ringmaster’s Secret. The fact that Aunt Eloise sends Nancy a charm bracelet with horses on it, saying it might have belonged to a famous aerialist, who used to work for the very circus that comes to River Heights, whose daughter, Lolita, works for the circus as an aerialist and has a charm that matches Nancy’s bracelet, that Lolita’s fiance’, Pietro, a clown in the circus, has a father who used to work with Lolita’s mother and believes he saw her a few years ago when Lolita thought she was dead… you just have to go with the flow of the story and roll with it. The bad guys nearly have signs over their heads saying “I’m guilty,” but it’s all in good fun for a Nancy Drew mystery.
Overall, this is a solid entry in the canon of Nancy Drew Mysteries. It’s got lots of sleuthing, action and adventure, and a very good, if predictable ending.
It’s time to jump back on the horse, so-to-speak, and continue my reading of my beloved Nancy Drew books. At the beginning of my journey when the pandemic first hit, I was reading the Original Texts (OT) and then the Revised Text (RT), plus sprinkling in the new Nancy Drew Diaries series. I got majorly burned out doing that, so I set Nancy aside for six months and am happy to say I’m back reviewing the books. I hope to have one review a week, but we’ll see how it goes.
The Ringmaster’s Secret OT and RT are roughly the same book with some minor revisions. And can I just say, Nancy really takes a beating in this book! She’s knocked out or strangled THREE times! There’s a long-running joke about Nancy getting knocked out within the series book community, and it even makes it way into the current Diaries’ series. But Nancy is never worse for the wear, and of course, recovers quickly.
George is also knocked out at one point and she and Nancy are kidnapped. Nancy is also thrown into a hungry lion’s cage. Have no fear, Ned comes to the rescue and has his hand clawed. At an airport, Nancy’s bag is stolen briefly and when she opens it, acid fumes temporarily blind her. Really, the danger Nancy and her friends put themselves in!
As I read the book, I wondered why I had liked it so much as a kid. I loved horses, and Nancy practicing stunt riding must have held some appeal. After just a few weeks of practice, Nancy is so good at stunt riding that the circus that’s in town asks her to fill in for a rider with a broken ankle. But even as a child, I was not a fan of circuses. I went once and felt terrible for the animals having to walk aimless around in circles. So that couldn’t be what enthralled me as a child. Maybe it’s just because Nancy is so adept at whatever she wants to do, and I was a virtual clutz. At one point, she uses ventriloquist trick to throw her voice. Is there anything Nancy can’t do?
Maybe I loved the book because Nancy, as usual, can do pretty much whatever she wants. At the beginning of the story, it’s mentioned that her father, Carson Drew, the lawyer, would be out of town for a while. And at one point in the story, Nancy feels she needs to ask her dad’s permission to fill in at the circus, she has no idea where he is or what city he is in! When they finally connect with each other, they decide at the last minute to hop a plane to London! There’s quite a bit of traveling in the story, so maybe that’s what held the appeal to me. We never went anywhere when I was growing up, other than our grandparents’ house in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, about 3 1/2 hours away. As a family of 9 on a teacher’s salary, vacations were out of the question.
As with most Nancy Drew books, you really have to suspend disbelief in order to get through The Ringmaster’s Secret. The fact that Aunt Eloise sends Nancy a charm bracelet with horses on it, saying it might have belonged to a famous aerialist, who used to work for the very circus that comes to River Heights, whose daughter, Lolita, works for the circus as an aerialist and has a charm that matches Nancy’s bracelet, that Lolita’s fiance’, Pietro, a clown in the circus, has a father who used to work with Lolita’s mother and believes he saw her a few years ago when Lolita thought she was dead… you just have to go with the flow of the story and roll with it. The bad guys nearly have signs over their heads saying “I’m guilty,” but it’s all in good fun for a Nancy Drew mystery.
Overall, this is a solid entry in the canon of Nancy Drew Mysteries. It’s got lots of sleuthing, action and adventure, and a very good, if predictable ending.
blondierocket's review against another edition
This one joins my list of favorites as Nancy joins the circus to help solve her latest mystery, using all her skills to trick not only her friends but the bad guys into thinking she is someone else.
Definitely a fun read and one that every Nancy fan is sure to enjoy, or even those reading for their first time.
Definitely a fun read and one that every Nancy fan is sure to enjoy, or even those reading for their first time.
stefhyena's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
How lucky that Nancy's new hobby is doing circus riding (just for fun) and that she is an absolute natural at it. This means that when a circus performer gets sabotaged mysteriously (and for reasons that are never explained) she can take over and do as good a job as someone who has been doing it as their profession their whole life.
I mean how hard can it be somersaulting onto and off horses and standing on them and stuff. It's just a matter of timing and as Nancy at one point explains to Bess it gets incredibly easy once you have done it 2-3 times.'
LOL. At least in this one Ned was in the background a bit more although he had the obligatory fight with a bad guy he was chasing where they both managed to simultaneously knock each other out. Poor Ned, this happens to him a lot.
What else? There is a priceless bracelet, a usurped inheritance. An incredible amount of accomplaces for a relatively small return and at least 2 places where the plot flatly contradicts what it said a paragraph before. Good times! Also everything just happens- very rapidly and without waiting for you to really be in the scene.
It's rubbish but it's awfully addictive rubbish if you learned to read in English in the early 80s (as I did). Also this one was despite completely beggaring belief better than some I have read lately and a bit more feminist too.
Apparently things like Veronica Mars were inspired by Nancy Drew which is a sort of prototype for girl detectives. So you have to love it for that.
Enjoy or not.
I mean how hard can it be somersaulting onto and off horses and standing on them and stuff. It's just a matter of timing and as Nancy at one point explains to Bess it gets incredibly easy once you have done it 2-3 times.'
LOL. At least in this one Ned was in the background a bit more although he had the obligatory fight with a bad guy he was chasing where they both managed to simultaneously knock each other out. Poor Ned, this happens to him a lot.
What else? There is a priceless bracelet, a usurped inheritance. An incredible amount of accomplaces for a relatively small return and at least 2 places where the plot flatly contradicts what it said a paragraph before. Good times! Also everything just happens- very rapidly and without waiting for you to really be in the scene.
It's rubbish but it's awfully addictive rubbish if you learned to read in English in the early 80s (as I did). Also this one was despite completely beggaring belief better than some I have read lately and a bit more feminist too.
Apparently things like Veronica Mars were inspired by Nancy Drew which is a sort of prototype for girl detectives. So you have to love it for that.
Enjoy or not.
celtic_oracle's review
3.0
The first few chapters were painful to read, but the story eventually picked up.
laura_cs's review against another edition
5.0
Definitely one of Nancy's most dangerous and intriguing cases yet... Also, I feel like Nancy and Barbie (yes of the doll variety) would be great friends, always learning new skills together and dabbling in just about every profession there is.
rebeccaelizabeth94's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A solid nostalgia read, decent mystery 🙂
zenithharpink's review
3.0
Not my favorite Nancy Drew mystery, but it was passable. I literally rolled my eyes when it was revealed that Nancy's latest talent is horse trick-riding--and good enough for the circus, too! Okay, Nancy, okay.
I recommend this book to fans of the series.
I recommend this book to fans of the series.
manwithanagenda's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
In classic fashion Nancy takes some riding lessons and shows a knack for trick riding, just when her teacher's circus past begins catching up to him. There's a mystery at the circus and only Nancy is talented and pretty enough to join a troupe and winkle out the secret of a silver charm bracelet, a mysterious ringmaster and his adopted daughter.
I let some time pass by, but I do remember that this is the one where Nancy gets some acid in her handbag to teach her a lesson about being so nosey.
Perfectly ridiculous, but satisfying.
Nancy Drew
Next: 'The Scarlet Slipper Mystery'
Previous: 'The Clue of the Velvet Mask'
I let some time pass by, but I do remember that this is the one where Nancy gets some acid in her handbag to teach her a lesson about being so nosey.
Perfectly ridiculous, but satisfying.
Nancy Drew
Next: 'The Scarlet Slipper Mystery'
Previous: 'The Clue of the Velvet Mask'
kendranicole's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0