Nancy Drew #56 The Thirteenth Pearl

In Nancy Drew #56, The Thirteenth Pearl, a valuable pearl necklace is stolen from Mr. Moto's shop.  Mr. Moto disappears, and the Drews must find him and the thieves.  This book bores me enough that I do not wish to put forth the effort to write any better of a synopsis than that.

This was the last Nancy Drew book that I attempted to read as a child.  I did not read the books in order and did read at least two or three of the books from #57-63 or so.  I do not know which ones, but they would have been read before #56.

I know that this was the last book, because after I began collecting Nancy Drew books in 1991, I found my original bookmark partway through the book.  I lost interest before I finished the book, and that was it.  I moved on to Sweet Valley High and other teen books.

I had trouble finishing this book in the middle 1980s the first time I tried to read it.  I read the book again sometime between 1991 and 2001, and I did not enjoy it that time.  I just finished reading it, and I was not very interested this time.  We have a bunch of different men and women involved in selling jewels, stealing jewels, and worshiping jewels.  It's hard to keep up with all the characters, and the plot is a bit weird.

I made note of a few oddities worth mentioning, at least when I was paying close enough attention to notice details.

Nancy calls on the Mises and brings Togo with her.  On page 24, Togo leaves the car and barks to get inside the home.  Nancy goes to the door, and Togo runs in, breaking a vase, which is most likely valuable.  Nancy wants to pay for the vase, but Mrs. Mise refuses, telling Nancy that she is not responsible.  I disagree.  Nancy's dog broke the vase, so Nancy is responsible. 

Nancy questions Mr. Kikichi about the mess in Mr. Moto's back room.  Nancy leaves with Bess and George, but then she walks back inside on page 34 to explain to Mr. Kikichi why they were asking questions.  I find it odd that Nancy feels the need to explain.  She usually asks questions and doesn't worry about what people think.  I also thought the intent of her questions was obvious and needed no explanation; she wanted to know about the back room.

On page 43, chrysanthemums are for sale in the marketplace.  The text makes a point of mentioning that the chrysanthemums are of every size and color and that they are not yet in season.  "Apparently they had been forced."  The comment seems strange to me, since we all know that people use greenhouses to grow flowers in order to sell them.

I was taken aback on page 57 when Nancy purchases cufflinks for Burt and Dave, in addition to purchasing presents for her other friends.  Wow, Nancy has started buying presents for her friends' boyfriends!  However, we learn on page 137 that Nancy purchased the cufflinks for Bess and George to give as presents.  I think that an explanation on page 57 would have helped since I almost thought that Nancy was making a play for Burt and Dave. 

Have you ever noticed that Burt and Dave are like the same person with two different names?  They are also pretty useless.

On page 95, a man named Mr. Natsuke introduces himself and immediately announces that "his name meant ornamental button."  Is that normal for someone to volunteer the meaning of his name as soon as he is introduced?  

As you can conclude from my comments, I have never enjoyed reading The Thirteenth Pearl.  Part of the problem is the travelogue aspect; I have never liked those books as much.  I also can never remember the plot of this book.  When I think of The Thirteenth Pearl, I always think of the story of The Mystery of the Fire Dragon, but I always quickly remember that story is The Mystery of the Fire Dragon.  I then wonder what the plot of The Thirteenth Pearl is and can never think of it.  I just need to remind myself:  crazy pearl worshippers.  That should do it.