56 Weeks with Nancy Drew - The Clue in the Diary

Week 7, Book 7

Welcome to the 56 Weeks with Nancy Drew series! If you are new here, welcome. You can find my introductory post to this series here. Please note I will be including plot spoilers in this review series. I explain my reasoning at the start of this post.

Edition pictured: Revised text (20 chapters, 174 pages)

Cover illustrated by: Bill Gillies

Revised text publication date: 1962

Original text publication date: 1932

My edition printed: approx. 1977

Ghostwriter: Mildred A. Wirt Benson

Editors: Edna Stratemeyer Squier & Harriet Stratemeyer Adams

Revised by: Harriet Stratemeyer Adams

Setting: River Heights, Sandy Creek, Mapleton, Stanford

Originally published in 1932 and written by Mildred Wirt, I will be reviewing the revised text edition of The Clue in the Diary, published in 1962 and pictured above. 

Nancy Drew and her friends enjoy a picnic by the roadside on their way home from a carnival in Sandy Creek (Diary 1-2). They spend the time reminiscing about their day until the light fades. On the way home, the girls drive through an affluent area. While admiring some of the homes, there is an explosion and they see a house burst into flames. Worried people may be inside, they rush to the scene (4). Nancy sees a man running away from the house and shortly after she stumbles across a diary that has been dropped on the ground (6-9). Could it be a clue to the mysterious explosion?  

Before they leave town, Nancy’s car is rear-ended, she meets the ever helpful Ned Nickerson, and she finds out that the man whose house was destroyed is unanimously disliked. How’s that for a day at the fair?

In this one, Nancy finds a missing person, uncovers a money order theft operation inside the post office, stops an unscrupulous business man, saves an innocent man from a life behind bars, and reunites a family. Along the way, she runs into the side of a doghouse, nearly knocking herself out, gets rear ended, slapped in the face, and shaken by the shoulders. 

And she still has enough time to have a picnic, invite herself and her friends over to someone’s house for dinner (it’s fine, she’s buying), prove she knows the Swedish language when she sees it, help out with the chores, go grocery shopping,  show she is just as susceptible to road rage as the rest of us, go to a frat party (better you than me, Nancy), see a historical mystery film, get questioned by the police, share an afternoon cuppa with Hannah, eat 13 meals, one ice cream soda, and flirt like mad with Ned Nickerson, who appears on the scene to offer his services so many times that any woman in her right mind would assume she had a stalker.

Time of year

I only noticed one clue as to the time of year in this book, and even then it doesn’t give much away. It is a comment made by an elderly man among the locals who have flocked to watch the fire.

    “ 'Pears mighty strange to me that a fire would start when the place ain’t been occupied all summer” (17-18)

From this we could assume it is still summer or the man is referring to the summer that has just past. I’m inclined to believe this one is set during the summer because Ned Nickerson is around home too often for someone who is supposed to be away at college. Ned does take Nancy to a dinner dance being held at the home of one of his fraternity brothers (91). But I think the fact that the party is being held at someone’s home and not the fraternity house, also suggests it could be summertime.

Timeline

This book is set over seven consecutive days, which is fairly standard for the books in this series. It could be set from Monday to Sunday, but the only indicator we have of this is what Bess says on day six.

    “I was to go out with Jeff Allan tonight, but I’ll put it off again.” (148)

Planned dates usually happen on Saturday nights in these books. However, if day six is a Saturday night then that means Nancy and Ned went to the dinner dance on a Thursday, which seems off. But I do think that that must be the case. If for no other reason than that no mention is made of Nancy going to church in this book and when she is at home she always makes time for church. The only activity that is mentioned on the last day in this book is a victory celebration at the Drew home. Unless she had been up very late the night before and Hannah thought she should sleep in, I’m sure Nancy would have gone to church. However, it may have been awkward to mention it with the way the scenes piece together. Nancy broaches the idea of having a victory dinner to Mr. Swenson and the plan is discussed, then it cuts to that dinner the next day. 

If Nancy and Ned did go out on a Thursday night, that would lend further credence to it being summertime. It does not seem likely that a conscientious person like Ned would go out on a school night. 

The Mystery of the Two Neds

There is a particular kind of joy that comes with reading a book series in order. In this case, it’s very particular! I’ll explain by showing you a bit of dialogue that made me cackle.

    “I’m Ned Nickerson,” he declared with a warm smile. “Anything I can do?” (16)

That sounds a lot like an introduction, doesn’t it? That’s because it is one. Which is odd because Nancy was supposed to have been dating someone named Ned two books ago, in The Secret of Shadow Ranch.

    “As for you, Nancy he’s really flipped!”

    “And what’ll poor Ned do?” George teased.

    Nancy grinned. “We’ll be home but the time he gets back from Europe.” (Ranch 111)

At first I thought this was a mistake. We have already established that in these books time is fluid. Way too many books are set in and around the summer for the timeline to work. From The Bungalow Mystery to The Mystery at Lilac Inn time is completely disregarded. At the end of The Bungalow Mystery we are told when the next book is set. 

    In less than a week, Nancy was facing up to the challenge of The Mystery at Lilac Inn. (Bungalow 179; emphasis added)

I believe The Bungalow Mystery is set during the last week of July. (You can find my reasoning with proof from the text here.) But instead of starting in August, The Lilac Mystery is set in May.

    The next second something rammed the canoe violently. The impact capsized the craft, hurling Nancy and Helen into the chilly May water. (Lilac 2; emphasis added)

Until now, we have never met a character for the first time that had been mentioned in a previous book. As far as I’m concerned, it’s absolute madness. That can mean only one thing. There must be two Neds!

I know, I know. These are books that have one person writing the outlines, another person writing the text, another editing, and still more people revising that text 30 years later. These books are for children, and perhaps they were not intended for close reading. It is also very possible that the publisher did not take as much interest in timelines as I do! But I think children are just as likely to pick up on details as adults are. Perhaps, more so when you consider that a lot of children reread books over and over again, and rereading seems to be a habit that is less prevalent with adult readers. Although, I do know many adults who revisit the same books again and again, and I count myself lucky to be among the number of people who know the joy that comes from rereading beloved books.

I would love to check the original text to see if Ned gets a mention in that version of The Secret of Shadow Ranch. Without the ability to do that, at this point, I would say that the Ned referred to there is an entirely different Ned. Nancy certainly treats him much more casually than she treats Ned Nickerson in The Clue in the Diary. In this book we are made to believe that this Ned is special. 

    He had been rather curious concerning Nancy’s new acquaintance. Mr. Drew sensed that his daughter was more interested in him than in other young men whom she dated. (Diary 33)

And besides Carson Drew’s interpretation of the situation, and the number of times George and Bess tease Nancy about Ned, Nancy is shown to be more excited about Ned than she has been about any other man in this series thus far.

    After Ned had hung up, Nancy fairly danced back into the bedroom. She sent one slipper flying toward the bed, and the other into the far corner of the room. The young sleuth attempted to convince herself that her jubilant spirits were the result of Ned’s discovery. The ring might be a clue to the identity of the person who had set the Raybolt house on fire. Bess and George, she knew, would have interpreted her reaction very differently! (27-28)

Nancy is attempting to convince herself that she is excited about Ned’s discover. It doesn’t say anything about her being successful in her attempt.

    “Ned Nickerson has phoned you five times, Nancy,” Hannah said with a smile. “It seems that he wants to invite you to a dinner dance. One of his fraternity brothers is giving it—on the spur of the moment—tonight. Ned would like you to call. I have the number.”

    Nancy’s heart was already pounding with excitement as she dialed. Of course she would accept! (91)

Nancy, full of excitement for something other than a mystery? It can’t be!

“Singing a gay tune” as she showers and changes, she is “[s]till humming gaily” when she heads downstairs three-quarters of an hour later (91, 92).

Now, this isn’t to say that Nancy is about to throw up all of this mystery malarkey for a young man. She is just as passionate about solving this mystery as she always is when she comes across a problem that needs solving. She even does a little sleuthing at the party, by questioning a young man whose father is the Stanford postmaster about missing letters.

    Just then a record of dance music began to play and Ned claimed Nancy. For the remainder of the evening there was no chance to resume the conversation about stolen letters. But throughout the evening, the matter was constantly on her mind. By the time the party was over and she had said good night to Ned, the young sleuth had a theory about the thefts. (95)

Despite her attraction to Ned, Nancy is just as focused on crime solving as she has ever been. From the passage above, there is every indication that Nancy can successfully balance crime solving and a relationship. Although, I’m not sure how much Ned would appreciate it if he knew his date’s mind wasn’t entirely focused on him!

There is only one other indication that Nancy might not be as serious about the relationship as Ned is, and it comes at the very end of the book.

    “Say,” said Ned, “I have a notion to start a diary of my own!”

    “Why don’t you?” Nancy asked lightly.

    She became conscious that Ned’s eyes were looking straight at her. “I will if I can fill most of the pages with entries of dates with you.”

    Nancy evaded the question. “I enjoyed your help in solving the Swenson mystery. Maybe we’ll soon find another one we can work on together.” (174)

This sounds like a brush off to me. Nancy might as well have said, ‘can we just be friends?’ or, ‘let’s keep this relationship professional’. The other side of this is that Nancy may not have felt it prudent to respond with too much excitement to Ned’s suggestion. Did nice girls in 1962 avoid appearing overly eager? Maybe. 

But if that’s the case, then why change now? She couldn’t have been more obvious in her feelings up until this point in the story. Is it that without the excitement of a mystery to solve, Ned has lost some of his allure? For Ned’s sake, I hope this isn’t the case. I hope there are two Neds, that Ned Nickerson and the Ned mentioned so offhandedly in The Secret of Shadow Ranch are two characters that happen to share the same first name. Otherwise, Nancy’s feelings for Ned really do go downhill. And he will always be at risk of being ousted for the next handsome man with a mystery for Nancy to solve.

Favourite quotation

Now, for my favourite quotation, which is completely unrelated to what we’ve been discussing.

I don’t know which came first. My love of Nancy Drew or my obsession with car chases, but I do know that scenes like the following fed my imagination when I was a child.

    Nancy stole a glance out of the rear window. Her spirits sank. The State Police car was gaining on them, but did not look as though it was going to pass the convertible.

    An uneasy thought crossed Nancy’s mind. “If those troopers are after Joe Swenson, then George, Bess, and I might be arrested for aiding a suspected criminal to escape!” (117)

The idea of being in a car and looking behind you to see that someone was “gaining” on you gave me such a thrill when I was little. The word still gives me a little thrill!

If you read this book, tell me which scene was your favourite. And I would love to hear any and all thoughts you have on my theory of the two Neds!