Nancy Drew Diaries #21 Danger at the Iron Dragon

In Nancy Drew Diaries #21, Danger at the Iron Dragon, Nancy and her friends begin learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Iron Dragon MMA.  On the girls' first night at the school, a dead rat is left on the front desk.  Nancy wonders if a rival academy is trying to cause trouble.

This appears to be the typical sabotage book, but it actually isn't.  It's curious that the entire Nancy Drew Diaries series is either sabotage or appears to be sabotage.  

While not sabotage, the plot of Danger at the Iron Dragon is a familiar one that has been used in a number of series books.  More on that later.

When I first began reading the book, I didn't really notice anything other than that the book was written by a decent author, as in not written by the person who wrote Heliotrope Lane or by any of the authors who are obsessed with restrooms.  Thank goodness!

Anyway, I began to notice things as I read the book.  The book appears to have multiple obscure Easter eggs in it, unless I am drawing conclusions where there should be none.  As best I can recall, the mention of a business named Crazy Eights on page 125 was what first gave me pause.  The name may not actually be an Easter egg since it was on a matchbox that featured a picture of cards.  Crazy Eights is a card game.  However, it did get me to start paying closer attention to all names used from that point on.  "Crazy Eights" is a column written by Michael G. Cornelius for the Nancy Drew fanzine The Sleuth, so that's why it caught my attention.

Did the mention of "Crazy Eights" cause me to fall down a rabbit hole and read too much into a bunch of coincidences?  Or could the ghostwriter of this book be knowledgeable about series books and have placed clues all through the book?  

I'm not sure what I noticed next.  The name Penny drew my attention although I did not initially think it meant anything.  I also noticed how often "chuckled" appears in the book.  I ran a search on the text and found that "chuckled" is used 12 times.  "Chuckled" is used excessively in the Nancy Drew books of the 1960s and 1970s and is generally absent in the Nancy Drew books from other time periods.  How odd for it to show up so many times in this book...

I then started paying close attention to all names as I continued to read.  On page 136, the pieces fell into place, and I guessed the solution to the mystery.  Right after I guessed the solution, I made the connection to a certain book and quit reading to go pull that book off the shelf.  So...

If you plan to read this book and do not want to have the entire plot spoiled, you need to quit reading right now.  I will be mentioning the solution to the mystery as well as other series books that have the same plot.  Most of you who are diehard series book fans have probably read the other books, so I'm less concerned about spoiling them.  I feel that Easter eggs representing the other series books were placed in this book on purpose, so I do have to mention the other books.

You've been warned.  Stop reading now to avoid having the mystery completely spoiled.

Some of you might recall a question that I posed in the Collecting Vintage Children's Series Books group in January that was a bit random, and I gave no explanation for the query since I didn't want to spoil the plot of this book.  My question was, "Which series books feature bank robbers who either use a tunnel or dig a tunnel to get into a bank vault?  One title is Hardy Boys #80 The Roaring River Mystery.  I recall that there are other books, but I can't bring them to mind."

I thought of The Roaring River Mystery right after I guessed the solution to Danger at the Iron Dragon.  In Danger at the Iron Dragon, a past case of Carson's is mentioned.  It involves bank robbers, Max and Ollie Ladrao, who used a tunnel to get into a bank's vault.  The Roaring River Mystery not only has the same plot, but it also has a character named Ollie.  What a strange coincidence. 

These are the other series books which feature tunnels used to rob banks.

Ken Holt #8 The Clue of the Phantom Car
Three Investigators #5 The Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure
Three Investigators #14 The Mystery of the Coughing Dragon
Hardy Boys Casefiles #45 In Self-Defense

Hardy Boys Casefiles #45 In Self-Defense features a martial arts school, from which the robbers gain access to a bank via a tunnel.  This is another strange coincidence in that the setting of Iron Dragon actually matches In Self-Defense.

I thought more about the other books as I finished reading Iron Dragon.  Let's analyze the title, Danger at the Iron Dragon.  The title is styled like the Penny Parker book, Danger at the Drawbridge.  A character in Iron Dragon is named Penny.

The title contains "dragon," and so does one Three Investigators book with the same plot, The Mystery of the Coughing Dragon.  It is possible, of course, that "dragon" could instead refer to the Nancy Drew book, The Mystery of the Fire Dragon.  I can't rule that out.

Now, the word "iron" makes me think of the Ken Holt book, The Mystery of the Iron Box.  That isn't the book with the bank robbery plot, but another Ken Holt book, The Clue of the Phantom Car, does have the same plot.  "Iron" could be a nod to Ken Holt.

The Sherlock Holmes story, "The Red-Headed League," also features the same plot of a bank robber using a tunnel to get into a bank.  It's clear that authors who use this plot like to make a nod to Sherlock Holmes.  In the series books which feature tunnels used to get into banks, one of the robbers often has red hair.  Iron Dragon is no exception.  The bank robber in Iron Dragon has red hair, and he even fist bumps Nancy, as he says, "Redheads rule." 

In addition to the appearance of "chuckled" in this book, I also noticed an interesting passage about Nancy's concussions.

"Probably a concussion," I said, still slurring.  "I've had them before.  Liam hit me pretty hard."

Now Penny actually looked concerned.  "How many have you had before?"

I shrugged.  "I don't remember.  I might have gotten one a few days ago when I got mugged on the street."

Fans often point out how prevalent the concussions are in the older books and how odd it is that she is always okay.  It is curious that a passage mentioning concussions was placed in this book.  

Looking for Easter eggs added to my enjoyment in reading this story.  Without the Easter eggs, I would rate the book as good or between good and very good.  With the Easter eggs, the book is solidly very good.