Thoughts on Beverly Gray Part III

The idea that the Beverly Gray series could have influenced some of the Nancy Drew mysteries has occurred to me as I have read through some of the Beverly Gray books. There are at least two instances in which a certain plot element in a Beverly Gray book appeared later in a Nancy Drew book. It could just be a coincidence, but it is something to consider.

During volumes 6 through 8 (Grosset and Dunlap numbering), Beverly Gray and her friends cruise around the world on The Susabella. In volume 6, Beverly's friend, Jim, explains how he was given half of a treasure map (pages 76-77):

"That is he gave me half of it," Jim said. From his pocket he brought a soiled, ragged piece of paper and spread it out on the red-checkered tablecloth. "He believed if he kept half and I had only half I could not run off with his treasure and no one would bother to steal only a half from him." He ran his finger along the ragged edge. "You see neither half is any good without the other. I couldn't find the treasure without his half."

"But could he find it without your half?" Lenora asked.

Jim shook his head. "No, and that is one thing I can't understand. Slim must have been hard pressed for a friend and a means to preserve the map or he never would have trusted me with half of it."

Without getting into too many plot-spoiling details, Beverly eventually sees the other half of the treasure map before it is destroyed, memorizes it, and copies it down from memory. In Beverly Gray on a Treasure Hunt, the friends travel to a Pacific island in search of the treasure with their enemies in hot pursuit and even must deal with a stowaway. After their arrival on the island, Beverly's enemies attack, holding the ship's crew hostage.

This is all rather similar to the plot of the Nancy Drew mystery, The Quest of the Missing Map, and of course, the Nancy Drew book was published after Beverly Gray volumes 6 through 8. In The Quest of the Missing Map, Nancy becomes friends with the Smith family, who has a torn half of a treasure map. From pages 19-20 of the original text version:

"Father took a parchment map from the safe," Mr. Smith went on, "but instead of giving it to either of us, he tore it diagonally from corner to corner into two pieces. 'You're to share the treasure equally,' said he, 'and to make sure of that I am dividing the map in such a way that no one can find the buried chest without both sections.' "

Much of the plot of the Nancy Drew book centers around the search for the other half of the map. Meanwhile, villains pursue Nancy at every turn in hopes of obtaining the Smith family's half of the map. Nancy even memorizes the map and makes a copy of it. Once Nancy and her friends have obtained both halves of the map, they sail to the treasure island. The villains pursue Nancy and her friends on their trip to the treasure island, and one of the villains stows away on their boat. Upon their arrival to the treasure island, Nancy and her friends discover that the villains had arrived before them.

There is also a strong similarity between one scene in Beverly Gray's Return and a scene in the Nancy Drew mystery, The Clue in the Old Stagecoach. In Beverly Gray's Return (pages 135-139), Beverly and two other people are asked to meet one of the villains at a certain house. As Beverly and her two companions wait, the Countess de la Fournay arrives and urges them to leave immediately, for there is grave danger. After the group leaves with the Countess in her car, they see the house explode from a nearby hillside. They are shaken by their narrow escape.

In The Clue in the Old Stagecoach (pages 136-139), the Monteiths request that Nancy meet them at a deserted farmhouse so that they can a discuss a mystery that the Monteiths need help solving. Nancy, Bess, and George arrive at the appointed time and wait outside near their car, deciding not to wait inside the farmhouse. Soon, the earth begins shaking, and the farmhouse collapses. Nancy and her friends are horrified that they were nearly killed.

I also find some similarity between one of the Beverly Gray books and one of the Vicki Barr books. Beverly Gray's Secret was published in 1951 while Peril Over the Airport was published in 1953. In Beverly Gray's Secret, Beverly goes undercover at Barton Airline to discover whether Mr. Barton is guilty of producing counterfeit money. Beverly notices right off that Mr. Barton is very disorganized and relies too much on his employees. At the end of the story, it is revealed that someone was trying to ruin Mr. Barton's airline so that he would sell out. In Peril Over the Airport, Vicki Barr takes flight lessons from Bill Avery, who runs an airport. Bill is very disorganized. Just like in the Beverly Gray book, someone tries to force Bill Avery out of business.

—to be continued