This summer join us on a road trip as fred flare’s
Keith and Lulu jump into Nancy Drew’s blue convertible and hitch a
ride to Maryland to help her solve The
Clue of the Broken Locket. So long,
River Heights!
Keith: Well, what did you think of this one? Let me guess, "It was the
best Nancy ever!"
Lulu: I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but I was actually a
little disappointed in our girl this time out…
K: Really? That’s controversial. I’m surprised, because I
thought there was tons of action, which I know you love, and some fun new
characters. Even a black cat named Satin.
L: Yeah, Satin’s okay. I was just feeling more critical than usual,
I suppose. Since we’ve recently read some old school Nancy’s,
this era’s version just seems a lil’ too eager to please, too
goody-goody. I miss her taking charge, being bossy. And I think she relies
on boys – Ned and her Dad – way too much.
K: Oh no, you’re going all hard-core on me. I kinda like goody-goody
Nancy. She has certain things going for her, too. And there’s nothing
wrong with getting a little help from your friends.
L: True. Okay, so let’s recap… How did this one start again?
K: Nancy, Bess and George take a little trip to Misty Lake outside Baltimore.
L: Right. Nancy loves going to the lake!
She went to Moon Lake in The
Secret of the Old Clock. Our last review, Password
to Larkspur Lane, featured
Sylvan Lake. I’ve even read ahead and can tell you that next month
we’re off to Wellington Lake in Message
in the Hollow Oak…
K: Can’t wait. I’ll pack my swimsuit.
L: I really like it when Nancy has an offsite adventure. There needs to
be some crime-solving downtime in River Heights. Even the bad guys want a
day off once in awhile.
K: So Nancy, George and Bess hit the road in search of trouble! Well,
actually she’s helping her dad deliver a set of keys to a summer cabin
for one of his clients. Mr. Henry Winch, the owner of a local confectionery
and bait store who was supposed to deliver the keys, was frightened away
by a spooky phantom boat.
L: Legend has it that, around the turn of the century, there was this
a picnic grove near Henry Winch’s store. One night a boat took a group
of vacationers out on Misty Lake, sprung a leak and everyone died. Recently,
the phantom boat with all its passengers has been appearing nightly, scaring
tourists away from the area.
K: It’s Nancy’s job to solve the mystery and save the resort
town from financial ruin!
L: Among other things. During their visit Nancy, Bess and George are caught
in a web of intrigue involving several mysteries that are – you guessed
it! – intertwined. On their
very first night they meet Cecily Curtis
who immediately seeks Nancy’s help in solving two of them.
K: The first one is really exciting. Cecily’s fiancé, Niko
Van Dyke, a pop star who is what we might call a chartopper, believes his
record company is cheating him out of royalty payments. Cecily refuses to
marry him until the whole thing is sorted out.
L: Cecily has some issues of her own, though. She is in search of a treasure
that was hidden by her family. Her only clue is half of a broken gold locket.
K: This sets up the main story lines for what becomes a rather Scooby-Doo
style of mystery, although there were many common Nancy themes throughout
the episode.
L: Nobody loves a theme more than me, but I think she went a little overboard
in
this one.
K: Okay, more controversy. How do you mean?
L: Well, there was the mistaken identities, the hidden treasure, the reunited
couple,
the impostures, the near-drowning experience, the glowing ghostly
apparitions, the twin orphan babies and, of course, a reversal of fortune,
for good measure.
K: So, readers, there you have it. That’s pretty much the entire
episode in a nutshell. Wait, Lutricia, let’s talk about that locket,
since it really is key to solving all the mysteries.
L: This was actually pretty interesting. The locket we’re speaking
of belonged to Cecily’s great-grandmother during the Civil War when
Maryland found itself on the border of
North and South and many families
were broken apart. The half that now belongs to Cecily has a hidden message: "Will,
I hid your half of fortune. Directions in iron bird.
Your brother Simon."
K: This clue leads Nancy to Cecily’s long-lost cousin Susan, who
has the other half of the locket. Susan is being held against her will by
these evil, nasty record thieves. They end up also being the ones responsible
for the phantom boat apparitions, to distract anyone from noticing their
production of illegal recordings.
L: And the iron bird clue? Nancy figures out that the iron bird is actually… a
pink flamingo in the garden! Well, maybe it wasn’t really pink but
I like to imagine it this way.
K: Whatever makes you happy. The flamingo contains directions to the
treasure so order is restored, Cecily strikes it rich, the record pirates
go to jail, Niko and Cecily get married and everyone goes home happy. Cecily
and her cousin Susan even have their locket repaired to give to Nancy as
a memento.
L: I’m so happy we have our very own memento, the locket
pin that
commemorates this review! Even though maybe this wasn’t my fave episode,
I look forward to many more adventures together with Nancy.
K: Me too! Tune in next month when we help her decipher The Message in
the
Hollow Oak.
06/2003
