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The Nancy Drew series was originally released as a trilogy in 1930. The books were such
a big success that the publishers asked the author, Mildred Wirt, to write a fourth book
as soon as possible. Nancy Drew became a regular series, with one to two new books being written
each year.
Today, I'm reviewing The Bungalow Mystery, Book #3. If the series hadn't taken off, this
would have been the final Nancy Drew book.
The book begins with an extended action sequence. Nancy and her friend, Helen Corning, are boating
on Twin Lakes, when a humongous storm arrives out of nowhere. The boat sinks, Helen hurts
her arms, and Nancy almost drowns trying to save her.
Gee, I haven't seen a nautical disaster this bad since the Titanic. No, not the steamship;
the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Supermystery.
Nancy and Helen are saved by a girl in a nearby rowboat. They make it to shore and break into
a nearby house to wait out the storm. The girl introduces herself as Laura Pendleton.
She's sixteen years old, and her mother recently died, leaving her an orphan. Laura came to
the lake to meet her new guardian, Jacob Aborn.
I should note that there are two editions of this book: the 1930 original and the 1960
rewrite by Patricia Doll, who co-wrote Nancy Drew Book #34. The two editions are mostly
the same, but the rewrite is more condensed. For example, the storm sequence takes three
chapters in the original, while it takes two chapters in the rewrite.
There are some larger differences between the two editions--like Laura's guardian being
married in the rewrite--which I'll point out as I go along.
When the storm passes, the girls go to their respective motels. Nancy and Helen do typical
vacation things, and before leaving, they meet with Laura and her new guardian. Mr.
Aborn. He puts on a facade of friendliness, but it is obvious that Mr. Aborn is evil.
He yells at Laura when he thinks no one is listening, and in the rewrite, he almost runs
over Helen Corning.
Helen, you can't die yet! Your contract clearly states that you are Nancy's best friend for
one more book, before Bess and George replace you.
This is where the two editions of the book split. In the original book, Laura begs Nancy
to take her away from Mr. Aborn, and the two of them drive to Nancy's home.
In the rewrite, Nancy goes home by herself. Her father tells her that he has just been
hired by a local bank to investigate an embezzlement case. Someone has stolen a lot of bonds, and
he wants Nancy to investigate a list of suspects. This subplot ends up being a wild goose chase
that lasts for five chapters.
Eventually, the two editions of the book sync up again, when Laura arrives at Nancy's doorstep.
She ran away from the Aborns, because they tried to steal her mother's jewelry. Nancy
locks the jewelry inside the Drew Family safe.
Okay, not to make fun of the artwork here, but I _love_ the expression on Hannah Gruen's
face here. Laura is showing off these fancy jewels, and Hannah literally could not care
less.
The next day, Nancy goes out to the Aborn's property. In the original, she is there delivering
a letter from Laura; in the rewrite, Nancy is there to investigate. She sees Mr. Aborn
with a suspicious package, and she tries to sneak after him quietly, but he catches her
and forces her to leave.
Here's a strange difference between the two editions. In the original book, the Aborn
house is a bungalow; hence the title of the book. In the rewrite, it is a normal house,
with a mysterious shack. Why did they remove the bungalow in the rewrite of "The Bungalow
Mystery"? That's like taking the clock of "The Secret of the Old Clock"!
That night, Nancy breaks into the Aborn's motel room, or house, depending on which edition
you're reading. The Aborns are tearing the place apart, looking for Laura's jewels. While
Nancy watches, they find a safe and steal everything inside. There's also a tense moment
where they almost catch Nancy, but she manages to successfully hide from them.
After this, Nancy goes to the Aborn bungalow, or the shack, if you're reading the bungalow-free
edition. Inside the basement, she finds the real Jacob Aborn, tied up.
Mr. Aborn explains that he has been held hostage in his house for the past two weeks, while
a criminal named Stumpy Dowd has been impersonating him, in order to steal Laura's inheritance.
Wait. Stumpy has been impersonating this man for two weeks? But...he only met Laura two
days ago! What was he doing for the first twelve days? The book never explains.
Nancy tries to free Mr. Aborn, when Stumpy appears and knocks her unconscious. He ties
her up with some rope, then leaves. Nancy _ties up_ the loose ends of the case, while
she _unties_ the loose ends of the rope. Once she's free, she unlocks the chains on Mr.
Aborn, and they exit the house.
Back in River Heights, Mr. Drew meets Laura for the first time. Depending on the edition,
they have a conversation about her guardians or about the bank theft. Laura shows him a
picture of Mr. Aborn, and Mr. Drew recognizes Stumpy Dowd as a criminal. They rush to Nancy's
aid, just in time to join in on the car chase.
Yes, I know a car chase is unrealistic at this point, because Stumpy had at least a
ten minute head start on Nancy, but just pretend he stopped to use the bathroom before driving
away.
The car chase is exciting, and in the original version, Mr. Drew and Stumpy Dowd exchange
gunfire. The chase ends when Stumpy misses a sharp turn and crashes off of a cliff. Stumpy
is too injured to move, and the Drews are able to pull him and his luggage to safety
before the car explodes.
Five points to this book, because Mr. Drew yells at Nancy for risking her life over someone
else's luggage.
Everything is cleared up after that. The luggage contains all the incriminating evidence, and
the police arrest Stumpy. Laura lives happily ever after with her real guardian, and she
gives Nancy a piece of jewelry as a keepsake.
The End.
---
Post-book Followup
I was only able to read part of the original edition, before I got kicked out of the bookstore
for not buying anything. What I read was certainly entertaining, so I'm giving the original version
a 9 out of 10, with a one point margin of error.
As for the other edition, what I enjoyed most were the rewritten sections which are a condensed
version of the original. In particular, the second half of the book is fantastic, A+ material,
and I could not put it down.
However, all the material that was ADDED to the rewrite is pretty bad. The wild goose
chase that takes up chapters 5 through 9 has its moments, but overall, it is not very well
done and drags on for way too long. The new material in Chapter 4 could have been explained
better, which leaves half of Chapter 18 as the only new material that I actually enjoyed.
I have no idea why they cut the bungalow out of the rewrite. Chapter 18 tries to justify
the book's title, by saying Stumpy was hiding in a different bungalow, but like a penguin
at a popsicle stand, I'm not buying it.
Overall, it's a story with a good beginning, followed by a bad draggy section, and concluded
with a fantastic second half. My final score for this book is a 7.5 out of 10. I would
give it a 10 out of 10, but I had to take off for the quarter of the book which was
bad.