Ricki Jill

Showing posts with label Nancy Drew. Show all posts

Happy Literary Friday, My Lovelies! Today is the last Friday in October, so it's also the last Nancy Drew Mystery Story I'll be sharing (until next year, perhaps). I've enjoyed getting in touch with my inner sleuth, and I hope you have, too.

Today's mystery is The Witch Tree Symbol. I saved it for last because it reminds me of Halloween with the photo on the cover and its title.

This mystery takes Nancy, Bess, and George to Pennsylvania Amish Country in search of an antiques thief who stole from an estate near Nancy's hometown. Some of the furniture stolen once belonged to George Washington: One of the items was his desk that's rumored to contain a hidden drawer with a mysterious gypsy letter describing where to find treasure. The perp knows that Nancy is on the case and on his trail, so he does everything to sabotage her from trying to run over her cute little terrier to accusing her of being a witch to the Amish community. Bess makes this mystery story more scary than it is because she's convinced that someone has hexed them.

Re-reading this as an adult, Nancy lets down the sisterhood when she says to Ned: "'I can sure use a man's help. I hope you've brought us some luck.'" The modern woman that I am now is convinced that Nancy is saying this ironically because this is mystery number 33 and Ned hasn't solved one. Single. Case....

In spite of the girls' injuries, Amish superstition, and Bess's constant whining (Girl....you almost deserved your fat shaming in this book), Nancy solves the mystery and encourages an Amish teenage runaway girl to return home.

Now a little bit about the title: The witch tree is a tree that has the witch's broom fungus, like in the photo on the cover:

Here's a photo of a tree with this fungus:

via

The symbol refers to hex or witch symbols often seen on the side of Amish barns. There is a tie-in with the symbol and the witch's tree in the book.

via

There are two schools of thoughts about the origins of these signs. One believes them to be a talisman for luck, and the other professes them to be just for show or decoration. But their name certainly belies the "just for show" theory as the word hex is related to witchcraft.

In case you missed any of the Nancy Drew Mystery Story Literary Fridays, below you'll find links to the posts as well as the Nancy Drew Tea Party Post.

The Hidden Staircase

Nancy's Mysterious Letter

The Sign of the Twisted Candles

Nancy Drew Tea Party

I hope y'all have a great weekend filled with fun activities and engaging mystery stories!

Until next time...

Happy reading!

Ricki Jill

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: The Witch Tree Symbol

Friday, October 27, 2017

Happy Literary Friday, My Lovelies! Today is the third installment of Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, and I hope y'all are enjoying these posts as much as I've enjoyed writing them.

It was fun re-reading this as an adult because I know why the child version of me loved it: This book has the trifecta of creepy ghosts, costumes in the attic, and several secret passageways and hidden staircases.

Basically this story is about Nancy's friend, Helen Corning, and a mysterious haunting of Helen's great-grandmother's estate, Twin Elms. I've never lived in a house with a name, and it seems as if many of the houses in Nancy Drew Mystery Stories have names! Helen and her Aunt Rosemary ask Nancy to visit Twin Elms for a few days and solve the mystery of the ghost. Furniture moves, music plays, and the ghost has sticky fingers because he's stealing jewelry and silver. Nancy is torn about whether or not to take on the case because Nancy's father Carson could be in danger. One of the landowners selling to the railroad didn't get his signature notarized, so a conman convinced him to "disappear for a bit" in order to extort more money from the railroad. The conman's name is Nathan Gomber, and he's the one who "warns" Nancy about impending danger to Drew due to his legal services to the railroad. According to Gomber, the landowners feel cheated by the railroad and their counsel, Carson Drew. Gomber is a busy, nasty criminal, and he's been harassing Helen's great-grandmother Miss Flora to sell Twin Elms!

Some of the details I loved about this book are the masks the ghost wears (I can remember I was particularly scared by the gorilla in the window). Nancy has a date with Dirk the tennis player to a play and then a dance. (Where did this guy come from and where's Ned?) I also enjoyed the old fashioned food and ways meals were served. So delightfully formal! I should take out my sherbet glasses and serve grapefruit slices in them like Helen Gruen serves fruit to the Drews....why the heck not? One of the desserts served in the book is "floating islands" which is a French dessert made popular by Julia Child. You can see one and read the recipe HERE.

Next week is the last Friday in October (where has October gone?), and it will also be the last Friday of my Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series. I'm saving the scariest one for last, so I hope you won't miss it!

Until next time...

Happy reading!
Ricki Jill

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: The Hidden Staircase

Friday, October 20, 2017

Happy Literary Friday! Thanks for joining me for the second Nancy Drew Literary Friday! I'm featuring a different Nancy Drew book each Friday during the month of October.

In this installment, our favorite sleuth learns from her mailman while he's en route to her home that she's receiving a letter from London. Nancy is intrigued, and since it's a very cold day, she invites Ira the mailman inside for hot cocoa. He leaves his mailbag in Nancy's foyer, and someone steals the letters from his bag. Thats a federal offense! Nancy is so disappointed because now she may never know who sent her the letter. Ira remembers who sent it, and Nancy contacts a London law firm and is disappointed to learn it was erroneously sent to her as there's another Nancy Drew who's been left a large inheritance! It's a case of mistaken identity.

As Nancy attempts to locate the whereabouts of the other Nancy Drew, her boyfriend Ned tells her that there's a Nancy Drew at Emerson College serving as the drama coach. Perfect timing because Nancy and her friends Bess and George all have dates to an Emerson College football game and fraternity dance. One thing that's shocking about this book re-reading it as an adult is that the girls spend the night at the fraternity house! WTH? That's NO WAY to get a Zeta bid at the University of Alabama, ladies! :/ Looking back on it I think one of the reasons I probably liked this book is the weekend at the college, the dance, Nancy's dress, and Nancy's errand to the jewelry store to repair her pearls before the trip.

I also loved the independence Nancy has in her convertible. And in this book, she shows Ned Nickerson that she can parallel park better than he! Got to love her! There's also lots of danger in this installment. The bad guy and his minions try at least four times to cause Nancy bodily harm. The other Nancy Drew is no slouch, either. She leaves a coded missive written entirely of Shakespearean quotes. I must have been a sophisticated little squirt as this one was a favorite.

This is a very pretty cover. I love how her pretty raspberry pink suit matches the postage stamp!

I hope you're enjoying my Nancy Drew posts. I know I'm having way too much fun!

Until next time...

Happy reading!

Ricki Jill

Literary Friday: Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: Nancy's Mysterious Letter

Friday, October 13, 2017

Happy Literary Friday, My Lovelies! Welcome to the first October Literary Friday featuring America's favorite sleuth, Nancy Drew.

Today's favorite Nancy Drew Mystery Story is The Sign of the Twisted Candles.

I love the cover of this book! Nancy's titian hair looks so shiny and pretty in the light of the candle. But wait! Who's that menacing older man with the long beard looking at Nancy? Scary stuff!

In this mystery, Nancy tries to find clues and treasures in a secluded inn called The Sign of the Twisted Candles. The reclusive, wealthy owned of said inn is Asa Sidney, a centenarian who started out as a chandler in England but found his fortune in America as an inventor and investor. There are hidden treasures all over the inn marked with "twisted candle" signs that Nancy and her new friend Carol Whipple are tasked to find. Carol is the foster child of the inn's not very delightful managers, the Jemitts. This couple has been keeping family members from Mr. Sidney, and Nancy soon suspects that they're stealing from him as well.

Due to his age and the circling vultures of his extended family, Mr. Sidney asks Nancy to contact her father, attorney Carson Drew, because he needs legal services. In the meantime, Nancy's friends Bess and George are snubbing Nancy over her new friendship with Carol. There's a deep, dark family secret in Bess and George's family, and they're hurt with Nancy over her friendship with the interloper Carol (Both Bess and George are related to Asa Sidney). So with Nancy's besties temporarily out of the picture, Nancy asks Carol to help her find clues and collect treasures.

Carol is fairly inept because she's scared and allows herself to be kidnapped, so Ned helps Nancy back at the inn in her quest to find more treasure. Unfortunately, the two guards Carson Drew hires to protect the inn and Mr. Sidney's estate are completely incompetent: both are tricked (more than once) and one is knocked-out and stashed under the porch. Nancy is put to sleep with a chemical and hidden under a bed! Oh, the drama of it all!!!

Without giving out any additional spoilers, this story stood out from others when I was young. I'm sure it's because there were so many bad people, a kidnapping, a mysterious Victorian inn with a turret room, clues leading to treasures, and a fight between Nancy and her besties.

I don't have any twisted candles, but I do have a couple of twisted candlesticks!

I couldn't resist these flowers at the floral market yesterday because they are so bright! They are neon bright....I wish I knew the name of them, but I forgot to ask. They're almost as bright as Nancy Drew! ;P (I didn't edit this photo at all.)

And in case you missed it, here is a LINK to the Nancy Drew Tea Party post.

What was your favorite series when you were going up....The Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew, or did you have another favorite?

Until next time...

Happy reading!

Ricki Jill

Literary Friday: Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: The Sign of the Twisted Candles

Friday, October 6, 2017

Happy October, My Lovelies! You're invited to a Nancy Drew Tea Party kicking off a month of Literary Fridays featuring my favorite sleuth.

First off, I'd like to share with you my inspiration:

I was inspired by the October 2017 edition of Country Living Magazine. There's a feature on hosting a Nancy Drew Halloween Party for adults, and it's about the cutest thing I've ever seen. If you grew-up reading Nancy Drew and enjoying her adventures with Bess, George, and Ned, you must buy this issue before they're gone.

I was sold when I saw the adorable magnifying glass cookies!

Although the party in the magazine is an evening Halloween party, I decided to host a Nancy Drew Tea instead.

MENU:

Scones with Lemon Curd

Magnifying Glass Cookies

Tea

I made the cookies, and they were freakin' hard! Mine aren't Pinworthy live Country Living's, but that's okay. We still had fun!

I love lemon curd on plain scones!

This tea party is a kick-off for October's Literary Fridays! Every Friday in October I will be featuring a favorite Nancy Drew book. I hope you'll get your inner sleuth on and join me every Friday this month and celebrate America's favorite detective!

Did you read Nancy Drew Mysteries when you were growing-up? Do you have any favorites?

Until next time...

Blessings!

Ricki Jill

Ricki Jill

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