What do You think about The Whispering Statue (1970)?
There is just something about a Nancy Drew book that is relaxing.While the actual story-line itself is very juvenile, it was a refreshing read. I still that a lot of the scenarios that Nancy gets into aren't realistic for the time period (late 1930's), I've found that the books are fun to read. This particular one has Nancy and her friends trying to solve two mysteries at one time - the vanished whispering statue and a collection of rare books. Being that trouble has a way of finding Nancy, she not only manages to solve both cases, but to get kidnapped as well. The book moved very quickly and it made for a pleasurable couple of days worth of reading. I read this for the Statue category in Book Cover Bingo and I rented the book from the library.
—Dawn
Ah, sweet nostalgia. I spent many happy hours with Nancy and her chums George and Bess when I was younger. This particular book is special to me because I have a copy from my grandmother which she inscribed with her name and the date she received it as a gift: March 18, 1943.This is pretty standard Nancy Drew fare. Unlike the books published when I was young, George and Bess don't really have unique personalities and just fulfill the function of bosom buddies. Nancy is as much a Mary Sue as ever, but, c'mon. She's Nancy Drew. Of course she's talented, beautiful, kind, and brilliant. She is pretty much the mold for all of the girl geniuses of the future. In this volume we also meet Togo, Nancy's scampish little dog, for the first time.Best Quote:"You meant well, Nancy, but this time I'm afraid that in your great zeal to solve mysteries you have overstepped yourself."
—Kasey Jane
Maximal Drew. The ghostwriters load this installment of the adventures of the titular detective with members of Team Drew including Dick and Burt and square them off against a host of baddies. Two problems arise. 1) how to keep them and their nefarious doings straight (wait, so the bookshop owner and his assistant worked with Marco De Keer to hire Trunk Ransson....) and 2) throwing in a few more villains late in the standard 20 chapter proceedings. After a while it doesn't seem like the author had the mystery and it's solution down before embarking on the story and had to pull a baddie out of his/her butt to guide it home.The book also gets a little rough in Chapter 19 when Nancy gets herself gagged and encased in a marble statue. For a brief moment we wonder if the whispering statue of the title also had an unfortunate locked inside it which is a fairly gruesome end. Also, the book fails to introduce #15 in the series on the final page - did this ghostwriter not get the memo?In short, a lesser example of the classic series and one you can skip over in your bedtime reading.
—Jonny99
