The 17th book in the Nancy Drew mystery series is Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk. The original title was The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk. Released in 1940 and revised in 1968 this story places Nancy and her friends on a cruise ship. This book is available as an eBook for Amazon Kindle (affiliate link).
Revised Edition 1968
Story Synopsis:
From the moment Nancy Drew boards an ocean liner leaving for New York, she becomes involved in a new and dangerous mystery. A man on the pier gestures to someone on board in the sign language of the deaf. BEWARE OF NANCY DREW AND NE, he signals. Who is Ne? Can it be Nelda Detweiler, a young South African who shares a cabin with Nancy, Bess, and George? When Nancy learns that Nelda has been accused of stealing a diamond bracelet in South Africa, she wonders whether the girl is a thief or the innocent victim of a vicious plot.
Then an unclaimed brass-bound trunk, delivered to Nancy’s cabin by mistake shortly after she embarks, becomes the first clue that leads her to believe international jewel thieves are aboard. And soon afterwards she realizes that her life and the lives of her friends are in danger. Mystery and intrigue follow the girls across the ocean; but with her usual ingenuity Nancy solves the mystery and defeats her enemies before the ship reaches New York.
Review:
Nancy, Bess, and George travel from Rotterdam, Holland to New York on a cruise ship called the Winschoten. When a brass bound steamer trunk with the initials ND on it is left in the girls’ cabin, they presume it belongs to Nelda Detweiler, their room mate from Johannesburg, South Africa. They quickly learn it is not hers, and report it to the assistant purser. At the same time, Nancy’s own trunk is missing. When no one responds to the report on the mysterious trunk, the girls and the captain get the help from the on board locksmith. Inside the trunk are men’s clothing, with no further identification. Further inspection results in the most exciting find, and trouble starts to follow the girls and their new friend.
Throughout the story, the girls try to have fun, although some terrible disasters ensure. A meteor hits the ocean nearby, causing quite a scene on the ship. George gets a head injury while in the hold with Nancy, and Nancy and Nelda are thrown overboard during an evening dance.
While the references to the hard of hearing and sign language are not disrespectful, the writer isn’t using the most updated references and terms. I noted this, but it didn’t bother me enough to give it a lower score.
The story is well paced, but there is some repetition with night time sneaking around. At one point Nancy accuses someone to the captain and insists an arrest is needed on very little evidence. However, her suspicions and plan to nab the culprit(s) work out in her favor.
Overall, this book is an exciting read and great addition to the Nancy Drew series.
Nancy Drew Canon Observations:
Nancy is described as having strawberry-blonde with sparkling blue eyes, eighteen years old. Bess is described as “pretty and slightly plump” and George is “athletic”. All three are described as attractive. Nancy is said that she learned the entire alphabet in sign language two years before but could only remember the letters in her name.
Ned Nickerson is mentioned once by Bess when she speaks to Nancy; “You look positively ravishing!” She giggled. “You’d better watch your step. Don’t captivate some young man on board and get your poor friend Ned Nickerson at home all worried!” At the end of the story, he talks to Nancy on the phone, saying he, Burt Eddleton and Dave Evans are driving in the new Nickerson family station wagon to come pick them up.
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Extra Notes:
Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a member of The Putnam & Grosset Group.
Copyright of Simon & Schuster
In the 1999 printing of the book, it has a note “Acknowledgement is made to Mildred Wirt Benson, who under the pen name Carolyn Keene, wrote the original NANCY DREW books.”
Original Edition 1940
Review:
This story starts out in Nancy’s hometown, River Heights. She, Bess, and George are planning a trip with a group of girls from Laurel Hall school to South America. This is simply because Nancy’s father, Carson Drew, is traveling west to Salt Lake City, Utah, for a business trip and doesn’t want to leave Nancy at home for several months.
Carson had purchased a new brass-bound trunk with Nancy’s initials on it for the trip.
Several exciting events happen before Nancy sets sail, including a car accident, party with Nancy’s friends out at a park where a lightning strike on a tree stuns Nancy unconscious, a wealthy mother tries to intimidate Nancy into not going on the trip, Carson asks Nancy’s help with a mystery, and Nancy does some snooping in a trunk factory.
The name of the ship in this version of the story is called the Patrician.
Nancy Drew Canon Observations:
In the first scene, Nancy tosses a tennis racket into the corner of a room, alluding to her playing the sport. Nancy is described as attractive, endowed with a good figure, clear complexion, intelligent blue eyes, golden hair, and a pretty face, who is not deeply concerned with her appearance.
Hannah Gruen, the Drew’s housekeeper, is in a few scenes at the start of the book.
Snowball the cat makes her first appearance. When someone rings the Drew’s doorbell, Hannah Gruen answer it. No one is there, but a latched basket. Inside, resting on a silk cushion, is a large white Angora cat with a blue ribbon around her neck and a tag reading “To Nancy Drew, in gratitude for her help in the past.” It is signed “A friend.”
Effie makes an appearance. She is a maid who often does work for the Drews every once in a while. She is first mentioned trying to sweep a rug instead of using the available vacuum, then making several mistakes, including hemming a dress for Nancy way too short and unevenly.
Extra Notes:
Published by Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.
Illustrated by Russell H. Tandy
There are 25 chapters in this edition:
