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bargainsleuth's review against another edition
5.0
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The Clue in the Crossword Cipher has got to be one of my favorite Nancy Drew Mysteries so far. There’s so much to like, and there’s also so much crazy stuff going on, you can’t believe it. There’s a lot of WTH going on!
It’s time for another travelogue, this time to the country of Peru. Nancy’s friend Carla is visiting River Heights and has to return to Peru, but as she prepares to do so, she asks Nancy for help solving a family mystery. There’s an old plaque that’s been passed down through the family for 300 years, but the meanings of the carvings have been lost. Carla wants Nancy to solve the mystery, and with her father’s permission, and a phone call to Bess and George, it’s off to South America. But before they can even leave, the plaque falls into the Muskoka River and Nancy must dive in to save it.
Also before she leaves town, Ned stops by to say goodbye and good luck and kisses Nancy! I do believe this is the first time that’s happened in a book. I recall him trying to hold her hand or a hug, but a kiss! That’s huge in the Nancy Drew Mysteries world.
Besides all the history and local culture that’s surreptitiously sprinkled throughout the book, there’s a lot of peril for Nancy and the gang. She sits on an ox and a boy cracks it on it’s haunches and it takes off with Nancy on board. Luckily, George’s quick thinking gets the ox to stop. A man throws a rock at Nancy. “the rock whizzed overhead and hit a tree with a resounding thud. The next moment it ricocheted and struck Nancy a stinging blow on the back. Stunned, she teetered for a moment, then toppled over!” Luckily, she’s not knocked unconscious but is a little off. Later, someone throws roofing material at Nancy and she has to jump to safety. Later still, this same man throws a homemade bomb at Nancy in an attempt to kill her.
And those things pale in comparison when Nancy and the gang are flying to “the Argentine” to look for clues and the door of the plane opens right as Nancy is walking past, so she’s almost sucked out of the plane. Somehow some of the men manage to save her, despite the fact that they’re almost sucked out as well. Then the door comes loose and hits the fuselage, yet somehow the plane, with zero air pressure and a damaged fuselage, manages to fly all the way back to Peru at a lower altitude and lands safely. WTH? I won’t even mention the EARTHQUAKE they experience. Seriously.
The bad guys turn out to be smugglers who are smuggling quinine in hollowed out utensil handles, made from a wood that is illegal to cut down. There’s absolutely no reason for the smugglers to come after Nancy, other than the fact that she’s trying to solve the mystery of the old plaque.
One thing I did not like about this book is that the fat shaming of Bess hits an all-time low. It’s almost non-stop as meals are a frequent topic. George is absolutely relentless, it’s my least favorite trait of my favorite character. It’s absolute B.S. that Bess gets called out for her weight when she sits on alpaca and a man says they won’t carry a load over 100 lbs. Well, I’m sure George and Nancy are both over 100 pounds, so the alpaca wouldn’t have moved for them, either.
Of course, Nancy and the gang use the plaque to find a treasure box with gold statues in it including one of a monkey. I absolutely love the artwork for this volume because I would have had a hard time visualizing the marks on the plaque.
The Clue in the Crossword Cipher has got to be one of my favorite Nancy Drew Mysteries so far. There’s so much to like, and there’s also so much crazy stuff going on, you can’t believe it. There’s a lot of WTH going on!
It’s time for another travelogue, this time to the country of Peru. Nancy’s friend Carla is visiting River Heights and has to return to Peru, but as she prepares to do so, she asks Nancy for help solving a family mystery. There’s an old plaque that’s been passed down through the family for 300 years, but the meanings of the carvings have been lost. Carla wants Nancy to solve the mystery, and with her father’s permission, and a phone call to Bess and George, it’s off to South America. But before they can even leave, the plaque falls into the Muskoka River and Nancy must dive in to save it.
Also before she leaves town, Ned stops by to say goodbye and good luck and kisses Nancy! I do believe this is the first time that’s happened in a book. I recall him trying to hold her hand or a hug, but a kiss! That’s huge in the Nancy Drew Mysteries world.
Besides all the history and local culture that’s surreptitiously sprinkled throughout the book, there’s a lot of peril for Nancy and the gang. She sits on an ox and a boy cracks it on it’s haunches and it takes off with Nancy on board. Luckily, George’s quick thinking gets the ox to stop. A man throws a rock at Nancy. “the rock whizzed overhead and hit a tree with a resounding thud. The next moment it ricocheted and struck Nancy a stinging blow on the back. Stunned, she teetered for a moment, then toppled over!” Luckily, she’s not knocked unconscious but is a little off. Later, someone throws roofing material at Nancy and she has to jump to safety. Later still, this same man throws a homemade bomb at Nancy in an attempt to kill her.
And those things pale in comparison when Nancy and the gang are flying to “the Argentine” to look for clues and the door of the plane opens right as Nancy is walking past, so she’s almost sucked out of the plane. Somehow some of the men manage to save her, despite the fact that they’re almost sucked out as well. Then the door comes loose and hits the fuselage, yet somehow the plane, with zero air pressure and a damaged fuselage, manages to fly all the way back to Peru at a lower altitude and lands safely. WTH? I won’t even mention the EARTHQUAKE they experience. Seriously.
The bad guys turn out to be smugglers who are smuggling quinine in hollowed out utensil handles, made from a wood that is illegal to cut down. There’s absolutely no reason for the smugglers to come after Nancy, other than the fact that she’s trying to solve the mystery of the old plaque.
One thing I did not like about this book is that the fat shaming of Bess hits an all-time low. It’s almost non-stop as meals are a frequent topic. George is absolutely relentless, it’s my least favorite trait of my favorite character. It’s absolute B.S. that Bess gets called out for her weight when she sits on alpaca and a man says they won’t carry a load over 100 lbs. Well, I’m sure George and Nancy are both over 100 pounds, so the alpaca wouldn’t have moved for them, either.
Of course, Nancy and the gang use the plaque to find a treasure box with gold statues in it including one of a monkey. I absolutely love the artwork for this volume because I would have had a hard time visualizing the marks on the plaque.
laura_cs's review against another edition
5.0
Nancy's off to Peru to solve a mystery of a friend's family heirloom, which may lead to buried Incan treasure! There's danger at every turn, and a mysterious El Gato at the head of it all.
hstapp's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-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
2.0
This was okay but I'm dropping it to a 2 because some of it is so outrageous. What were they doing?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Fatphobia
the_ghost_penguin_reader's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
zenithharpink's review against another edition
3.0
This one didn't feel natural-the villains were more opportunists than actually being involved in Nancy's mystery. This was more a tourism ploy for Peru and South America in a more general sense rather than a Nancy Drew mystery.
I recommend to fans of Nancy Drew, but not really any others.
I recommend to fans of Nancy Drew, but not really any others.
amandadelbrocco's review against another edition
3.0
I believe that I read this as a young child because it seemed familiar but I don’t think it was my favorite Nancy Drew book, and that still holds true. Some of it was completely unbelievable (but retrospectively, isn’t that true of all of these novels)?
brighthappyness's review
2.0
Wasn't as racist as I thought it was going to be but there was a lot of the excessive Bess fatshaming, the "magical" Native American trope, hints of white saviorism so I really couldn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked to...did I mention the excessive fatshaming like it's getting worse for some godawful reason. Nancy and Carla definitely should have flirted more though they had more chemistry than Ned and Nancy js 💀
ms_aprilvincent's review against another edition
2.0
The three girls were intrigued by the various effigies, most of them made of clay. Many were hunched-up figures, seated with their knees near their chins. "This was also the position in which [the Inca} usually buried their mummies," the guide explained.
No, Nancy Drew. No.
Too many exclamation points. Nancy Drew is always in peril, but she never dies.
No, Nancy Drew. No.
Too many exclamation points. Nancy Drew is always in peril, but she never dies.