Sometimes life just thrusts a mystery upon you. Take the case of Nancy Drew and The Clue of the Black Keys. The eighteen-year-old detective is minding her own business walking through the airport after a weekend In New York with her friend, Bess Marvin. The two girls are on their way to their hometown of River Heights. As she’s headed toward her car, a young man introduces himself. His name is Terry Scott and he has a mystery for her.

In Mr. Scott’s mind, this mystery was so urgent, that he couldn’t even wait for Nancy to arrive home from the airport. He explained to her that he was one of four professors who had unearthed a great find in Mexico over the summer. Just after the four unearthed a stone tablet that they believed would lead to the treasure once it was deciphered, one of the professors, Dr. Pitt, disappeared along with the tablet. Although the authorities were notified, nothing turned up and the remaining professors had to return home.

Terry Scott shows Nancy one of the clues they have to the mystery on the tablet – part of an ancient obsidian key. While they are talking, someone makes an attempt to steal the key. By the description of the man, it seems as if he was someone who camped near the four professors and disappeared about the same as Dr. Pitt did.

The mystery takes place all over with action happening in River Heights, the Florida Keys, as well as back in Mexico. As Nancy Drew novels go, this one had considerable action and it kept the story moving along quite well. Some of the circumstances might be hard to believe. It seemed as if Terry Scott ran hot and cold at times as far as how much he wanted the mystery solved. Instances such as his having to meet Nancy’s plane contradicted times when he seemed content to wait and see what happened, such as when he was asked to translate a diary that might also contain clues to the mysterious treasure.

What separates The Clue of the Black Keys from other Nancy Drew books is the fact that I actually found myself stumped. The way the various characters are written, I couldn’t be sure who was innocent and who was guilty throughout the story. At times it seemed as if Professor Scott had something to hide. Other times I found myself wondering if Dr. Pitt had managed to double-cross the rest of the team. When Nancy meets the other two professors involved in the dig, they too act suspiciously.

From an adult point of view, there are still issues with the story. Nancy once again seems to run circles around the authorities. Her father cautions her about getting herself into danger yet seems to chuckle as Nancy escapes dangerous situations. Nancy’s drive to solve the mystery at hand overrides spending casual quality time with her friends and boyfriend, yet they remain loyal even as she runs roughshod over them.

From the point of view of my thirteen-year-old daughter, this was one of the best Nancy Drew books. She liked the fact that there was more action and suspense to the mystery. Good use was made of the recurring characters in Nancy’s life, although both of us agreed that the new characters just introduced for this story didn’t quite have the depth they could have. Still, with so much crammed into just 174 pages, it made for one of the better reads in the series.

If you’re reading the Nancy Drew books, for the most part, you don’t need to read them in order. That’s good because I recommend The Clue of the Black Keys over a number of other stories in the series. It’s not obvious like other mysteries and makes for a good read for adults as well as the age group it’s aimed at.

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