What do You think about The Spider Sapphire Mystery (1967)?
Nancy Drew is trying to unlock the case about the missing spider sapphire and one made in a lab. Although one is in River Heights it is not the same one the real one has spinettes but it River Heights it doesn't. Nancy gets hooked in to this mystery because her friend Ned went missing right before Nancy, Bess, George, Burt, Dave, and Ned were going to go on a trip with the boy's collage.The gang got beat up, kidnappped twice, and Nancy got a plastic bag put over her head. The people with the spider sapphire really didn't want Nancy interfering with their hopes to sell the sapphire.In the end Nancy and Ned go into this dungeon in search for the sapphire. Nancy finds it in a box that was hidden in the earth a little. She took the sapphire and put it in a mask she had gotten. Thats when they tried to leave but couldn't then out walked the men who had broughten all the trouble for the gang. They wanted the sapphire and they thought Nancy had which she did but said she didn't.The searched Nancy and Ned the couldn't find the sapphire anywhere. Thats when they started telling Ned and Nancy the plan the was suppose to happen. Then the police walked in and arrested the men. They asked Nancy if she knew where the gem was and she said she had it. She said she would return it to the owner herself and the police said it was okay. Nancy saves the day once again.
—Emily
This book is actually an insanely boring hunt for a sapphire with a fossilized spider inside it.OMG GUNFIRE! Someone shoots out Nancy's tires. Actually, no, they shoot at her tires while she's parked, but don't manage to actually puncture them. So. Hm.Safari to East Africa! Wondering when she's going to go to Antarctica to look for Bernadette. If a person is black, they're referred to as "a black," like, "the cab driver was a black wearing a gold chain." There's also some bitchy girl who chills out and is beautiful after a baboon steals her blond wig.Ned is drugged and kidnapped by unknown assailants. Nancy briefly loses consciousness when someone ties a bag over her head. George gets kidnapped by a "baboon" that ends up being a black in disguise. Ned gets knocked unconscious in a fight. Nancy and Ned get their hands burned by acid.
—Melanie
This Nancy Drew novel was intriguing to me because it was a destination story -i.e. not solely based in River Heights or America. I loved the incorporation of East Africa into the plot line as well as the different culture and society and learning about it too, even though some of the information may be (most likely is) outdated. The lure of jewels was quite tempting as well and I am always amazed at how Nancy manages to wriggle herself into the strangest most convenient situations, like she and her friends Bess and George are allowed to accompany a university class of students and their professor on a trip to East Africa -how convenient for you Nancy that THAT happens to be where your mystery hunt will take you next!Always good fun and a delightful read to pass the time.
—Stephanie
