I’ve always heard that Nancy Drew was a role model for girls. Of course, this was at a time when girls were expected to do little more than look for a suitable husband. The initial series of books were published in the 1930s and 1940s, with extensive re-writes and editing being done on many of the books in the 1970s. It wasn’t until after the re-writes that things changed dramatically for women. I’m in in my 50s and when I was younger girls still didn’t play Little League. It’s important to think about that now, because there’s really some issues with the books from a female perspective.

The Clue in the Crumbling Wall starts off really good. On the first page, teenage amateur detective Nancy Drew meets a female police officer – you’ve come a long way baby! How about Nancy thinking about going to the police academy to become a police detective for real? Nah, never happen…

Anyway, the police officer, Lieutenant Masters, wants Nancy to help her find Juliana Johnson, the aunt of a little girl who’s been in trouble with the law, Joan Fenimore. Juliana has an inheritance coming, and Lt. Masters believes that with the money she will be able to make a better life for the little girl and her mother, Vera. We all know how well having money has worked for Paris Hilton.

Anyway, without a thought the Lt. reveals to Nancy in the first chapter the name of a juvenile offender and her mother.

In addition, Nancy has a more sinister mystery to solve. Someone has dug up and stolen two of her rosebushes! It’s time for the death penalty!

I don’t know why I did it,” Joan began to sob. “I wish my Aunt Juliana would come home. I’m sure she’d buy us some nice things.”

You got it, before she’s even been told about the situation with the Fenimore’s and their mystery, Nancy is already involved with their situation. Just what has this little girls’ mother been telling her that she thinks that the best thing that can happen to her is to have money so she can have “nice things”? What if Juliana doesn’t want to share the money?

The message in The Clue in the Crumbling Wall seems to be that if you have money, all your problems will be solved.

There’s more that I take issue with. There’s been a pattern in the books that Nancy and her friends can do what they want and justify it. If it’s trespassing or breaking and entering, that’s fine. In one book, she broke into a bungalow after capsizing in a canoe and justified it. However, if someone who is “a villain” in the story even commits a breach of etiquette, the tone seems to be they should be strung up and are worthy only of Nancy’s disgust. Unfortunately, there’s more of the same here:

“Oh, I’m so glad Joan brought them back!” Nancy declared. “I’m sure she wouldn’t have taken them if that Hooper boy hadn’t urged her to.”

So, Joan stole Nancy’s rosebushes, and Nancy excuses her for the action while blaming a playmate for the suggestion. There’s something wrong with that.

The mystery itself is unremarkable and predictable. The ending is wrapped up much like watching a Scooby-Doo cartoon where all is revealed, and they live happily ever after. The pacing is better here than some others, as events unfold fairly uniformly, even if some situations feel forced and contrived.

There were some good points. Best friends Bess Marvin and George Fayne did get angry with Nancy’s single-minded pursuit of her mystery and getting treated poorly by Nancy. It didn’t last, but it did show that everyone isn’t just letting Nancy ride roughshod over them. There was a funny moment with George getting locked in a shed with no clothes. Sometimes the best of intentions backfires, and it was nice to see that happen to Nancy – it makes her a little less infallible and more human.

I don’ t have a problem with my daughter reading The Clue in the Crumbling Wall, and she read it after I did and liked it fine. She did wonder why it was okay for another woman to be a police officer but not Nancy (we had previous discussions where I’d told her that women just didn’t do those things in those days). I thought it started off promising but failed to deliver in the end.

I didn’t like the overall message of the book at all, which seems to be that having money means you have no problems. In a day and age where I’m trying to teach my children differently, The Clue in the Crumbling Wall didn’t help. The same is true for excusing Joan’s actions and placing all of the blame on her playmate. It sends the wrong message on many levels. I would be prepared for a few discussions with my daughter after she read this.

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