Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Ivory Charm Review

Ft. Ivory Charm Shrimp Curry

In The Mystery of the Ivory Charm, 18-year old Nancy Drew stumbles into international intrigue when she visits a Wild-Animal show and meets a young Indian boy named Rishi. Rishi is in the US with his supposed father, Rai, but Nancy quickly earns the young boy’s confidence and learns that the abusive Rai may not be the boy’s real father after all.

Later that day, Nancy arrives home, only to find that Rishi has hidden himself in the trunk of her car and is bearing a mysterious, ivory charm he has stolen from Rai. When she tries to return the boy to Rai, she finds out that the man has disappeared. As Nancy seeks to help Rishi find his true father, she begins unveiling the secret of a maharaja in India, and the true purpose of the ivory charm.

Spoilers ahead!

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This was a fine, basic Nancy Drew story. The writing and story flow wasn’t the best. Considering that non-white individuals play a big role in this one, I think it’s reasonable to assume that this had some heavy rewrites from its 1930’s original. While they excised racist overtones, they might not have been so careful to preserve the original story flow, which may explain why the writing is a little weird.

On a different note, and this is noticeable in many books, Nancy has some privileges due to her wealth and her father’s position that she definitely doesn’t mind using to her advantage. It was a little funny in this book:

[Nancy and her friends have just been accused of frequently trespassing on private property (which is true) around a home that was recently burned down. Nancy has just defended herself with her side of the story]

The two insurance men had been impressed by Nancy’s straightforward manner.

“What is your name, miss?” one of the agents inquired.

“Nancy Drew. You may have heard of my father- Carson Drew.”

“We certainly have! If you’re his daughter, there’s no need for explanations.”

“Then we’ll return home.” Nancy smiled.

What! No investigation? No questioning? Keep in mind her father is a lawyer, not a governor, or senator, or anything like that. Lol.

This story has a few variations from the norm:

1. Bess and George (particularly Bess) are made out to be pretty cowardly in this book, as a contrast to Nancy, who will run headfirst into danger without really thinking about it. (In their defense, Nancy has very little regard for the safety of those around her. Not sure if I’d join her on her adventures at this point, either.)
2. Nancy goes to a dance with Ned, who spends the whole night anxiously trying to get her attention. She spends the whole time dancing with other guys, and then gets absorbed in conversation with an Indian boy who has some connection to the mystery.

As the conversation continued, Ned tried in vain to divert Nancy’s attention to himself. She listened with absorbed interest as Anil told her about Indian customs that were so different from those in the United States. The attractive student in turn gazed at Nancy as if he thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. It became increasingly clear to Ned that Anil was suffering from a severe attack of love at first sight.

At length Ned could endure it no longer. “Nancy and I have this dance,” he told the young man.

Lol! I have bad news for Ned. Nancy Drew’s first love will always be mystery.

3. The main villain of the novel, Rai, kills young Rishi at the end of the book. He ends up being revived by a potent medicine hidden inside the ivory charm, but still! This is definitely the most violent a Nancy Drew villain has gotten so far. Nancy Drew mysteries have a philosophy they follow, which is that no one can die. This includes both good guys and villains. The Nancy Drew video games, which are fantastic, only featured one murder, and this occurred in the very first game and then never again.

Overall, not bad. What did you guys think of The Mystery of the Ivory Charm?

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Ivory Charm Shrimp Curry

This recipe was a DREAM to make. It came from my handy Nancy Drew Cookbook:

The recipe is as follows:

• 2 cups Cooked Rice
• 1 10-oz package Frozen Cooked Shrimp
• 1 can Frozen Condensed Cream of Shrimp Soup
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 1 large Onion
• 1 tbsp Butter
• 1/2 tsp Curry Powder
• Paprika
• Parsley Flakes

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Thaw the Shrimp, and then spread Cooked Rice on the bottom of a baking dish.
3. Chop Onion into small pieces.
4. Melt Butter in a skillet. Cook the Onion over low heat, and then stir in the Frozen Condensed Cream of Shrimp Soup. Add Sour Cream and Curry Powder and mix. Put in the Shrimp.
5. Pour this mixture over the Rice. Sprinkle it with Paprika and Parsley Flakes. Bake for 20 minutes.

Serves 4.

This recipe cheats a little by starting off with Cooked Rice, without directing you to cook any. I, the dummy, cooked two cups of raw rice, and then used that to layer the bottom of my baking dish. Two cups uncooked rice equals something like five cups cooked rice, so I ended up having far more than I needed.

Also- Frozen Condensed Cream of Shrimp Soup does NOT exist anymore. It’s not a thing. I used regular, canned, Campbell’s Cream of Shrimp soup, and even that only exists online. It’s not in any stores that I know of; I had to order it from Amazon.

This was absolutely easy to make. The most prep work you do is chopping an onion, and it creates a really professional looking dish. My only complaint is I found it a bit too plain, but this could be due to me doubling the rice. I might also suggest adding extra curry powder.

Nancy has this suggestion:

I’ll try it next time. I will definitely be making this again!