The Strange Message In The Parchment (1992) - Plot & Excerpts
The Strange Message in the Parchment is a children's story by Carolyn Keene (pseudonym) and the 54th book in the Nancy Drew series. After a friend's father receives a mysterious phone call, Nancy Drew is invited to Triple Creek Farm to try to find a hidden message in a parchment painting. But when the painting is stolen Nancy becomes involved in tracking a kidnapper and extortionist.I’ve always been a voracious reader. So, as a child, one of my favorite things about summer was the frequent trips to our local library, which was less than a mile from our house. Like most young girls of a certain age (ahem), my love for mysteries started with Nancy Drew—there simply was no mystery too baffling that she couldn’t solve. And as I would read her most current adventure, I would imagine myself following in her footsteps … taking charge and plunging ahead, getting into mischief, chasing down culprits and solving the mystery. Even though I haven’t re-read any of these books since I was a child, I still think that Nancy is a great character—her courage, confidence and fierce independence, makes her an iconic source of inspiration for young girls everywhere. A must-read children's book, The Strange Message in the Parchment is another wonderful Nancy Drew mystery.
I'm not sure what to make of this Nancy Drew title. Usually nothing stands in Nancy's way as she jets around the world to solve her crimes, but this time a trip to Milano, Italy is deemed too expensive. Nancy also gets to tour a slaughterhouse in this one! She is very practical in her realization that meat has to come from somewhere. Of course, Bess is appalled at the idea even though she loves her lamb chops!Nancy meets a man who is always quoting scripture which is another departure from the norm. Of course, in many of the books Nancy is often described going to church before starting her detective work on Sundays, but there were actual footnotes with chapter and verse in this book. I'm a Christian so I thought it was great, although very unusual for the books. The gang doesn't show up until the end of the book, so it was a little weird reading the descriptions of Bess and George when the book was almost over.Not your typical Nancy Drew book but worth a read.
What do You think about The Strange Message In The Parchment (1992)?
Hmmm...Nancy ready to give up a mystery because the mystery object was stolen?! Worried about her ability to reproduce a stolen painting?! Too expensive to fly to Rome to check out a clue?! What is wrong with Nancy in this mystery? First, and probably last, time I read this one. It's in that group of 5-10 that I consider the worst of the original 56 hardcovers and 119 Digests that compose the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories so I didn't expect much. I'm interested to see what the next two which I've never read, are like.
—LuAnn
I'm saying "liked it" because I read it with my daughter, and she liked it, but this was not my favorite Nancy Drew book. It had anti-immigrant, anti-union sentiment at times and quoted the Bible throughout -- when I literally read a line that stated that migrant workers on a farm should speak English if they're working in America, I couldn't believe I was reading this aloud, but once again, we learned a lot of vocabulary words (and I'm pretty sure I was the only reader picking up on this stuff). The build up of the mystery was weak, but I guess by book 54 that will happen...
—Mary
