In The Haunted Bridge, Nancy, Bess, and George are on vacation at Deer Mountain Hotel, a scenic resort hosting a golfing tournament. As our talented Nancy works on qualifying for the competition, the girls find themselves having to avoid the attentions of young Mortimer Bartescue, another guest at the hotel who has taken a liking to Nancy. As Nancy perfects her swing and dodges his unwanted advances, she’s also volunteered by her father to help him hunt down a ring of jewelry thieves that frequent the local area.
Spoilers ahead!
As you might notice, the ‘haunted bridge’ is not mentioned in my summary at all up above, and that is because this story is not by any rights about a haunted bridge. It is really misnamed, but this is the case with many Nancy Drew mysteries, like The Whispering Statue.
It is RIDICULOUS how much fun this one is. I enjoyed myself from start to finish, no notes. Is Mister Carson Drew, a normal lawyer, sending his teenaged daughter into random hotels to scout for 30 minutes each for jewel thieves? Yes, AND? No notes. Perfect book.
I will say, Mortimer Bartescue gave me a laugh every time he was on the page, and he brightened the whole book for me. But he also led to my only real disappointment: I can’t BELIEVE he didn’t end up being an undercover cop. I’m so disappointed! It would have been such a good reveal! I really thought I was so clever. Here were my “hints”:
- The police hunting down the jewel thieves are from New York; Mortimer Bartescue is from New York.
- He takes an intense interest in Nancy from the start and is never dissuaded, and she HATES him in this book.
- Throughout the story, he mysteriously distorts his handwriting at random; he never writes with the same penmanship.
- And then THIS PASSAGE:
[Carson Drew is talking to Nancy] “For many months the [New York] authorities have been trying to break up a daring gang of jewel thieves,” he explained. “It is believed that one of the members is a woman who frequents the summer resort hotels in this particular locality. Unfortunately, no description of her is available.”
After reading this passage, I was certain, CERTAIN, Mortimer Bartescue was an undercover cop who suspected Nancy of being one of the jewel thieves. Oh, it would’ve been SO GOOD! If this story is ever redone for TV or movies, which it should be because it is excellent, I hope they improve on the story and make my theory a reality. It would’ve been SO GOOD!
Dang. I’m glad at the very least that they didn’t make him a villain. He was just, as it turns out, a nuisance.
Some other notes:
- Nancy is an expert golfer, as to be expected.
- This quote that made me cackle:
“You play a fine game, Miss Drew,” he praised. “I’ve never seen a girl with such a pretty swing or for that matter-“
“Thank you,” Nancy said quickly, fearing a more personal comment.
- This example of 1937 mansplaining:
He took the club from the girl’s hand, and to the annoyance of the three chums insisted upon giving a demonstration of what he considered to be Nancy’s fault. She said nothing, but a moment later, completely disregarding Bartescue’s advice, walked to her ball and played a splendid shot.
“That’s the way,” Mortimer nodded.
LOL
- Nancy being a girlboss:
“What was that!” Bess cried in terror, springing up from her chair.
“I mean to find out,” Nancy said grimly, flinging open the cabin door.
“Don’t leave me here alone,” Bess pleaded, but her words fell upon deaf ears. Nancy darted out into the rain, determined to learn the cause of the weird scream.
And, shockingly, Nancy gets FLUSTERED in this book! Here’s a passage from when she calls Mortimer Bartescue while pretending to be Margaret Judson, in hopes of getting more information from him. She asks to meet him that night at a nearby hotel.
“What’s the matter with 2 B X Gardenia?” the man asked.
Nancy was nonplussed at such a reply, and for a moment could think of nothing to say. She had not the slightest idea as to the meaning of 2 B X Gardenia. In sheer desperation she mumbled into the telephone:
“Nothing but the weather,” and hung up the receiver before Mr. Bartescue could make any response.
I do believe that’s the first time in 15 books Nancy has ever lost her cool. In fact, Mortimer Bartescue gets under her skin unlike any other character introduced in the Nancy Drew universe. And he’s not even trying to kill her!
I didn’t realize until I finished this book that I actually own the original 1937 version of this one, rather than the 1972 rewrite. This has me all torn up- because I LOVED this one. Have I been missing out? Do I need to reread the past 15 books? Do I need to start reading both versions for the future?
I didn’t realize that I was reading the original, but I noticed quickly into my read that this one was plainly better written. Not even in terms of entertainment, but strictly in terms of skill. There were no clumsy descriptions and the story flowed pretty naturally. It was also distinctly and intentionally funny. The other books are funny…. but not always intentionally so. This one was trying to make you laugh, and it succeeded. If this is the difference between the originals and the rewrites, I might just have to start buying both.
What did you think of The Haunted Bridge? Have you read the original 1937 version, or the revised edition?
Haunted Bridge Log
This was nice, easy, simple one from my Nancy Drew Cookbook:
The ingredients are as follows:
- 1 package Chocolate Wafers (special round type for icebox cake)
- 1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream
- 2 tbsps Sugar
- 2 tsps Vanilla Flavoring
- Green Food Coloring
As usual, this cookbook is from the 70s and some of its ingredients are dated, so let’s discuss special round wafers for icebox cake.
I learned from this link- https://www.npr.org/2023/07/14/1187468958/famous-chocolate-wafers-are-no-more-but-the-icebox-cake-lives-on – that these wafers were Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers, which have, in just the past few years, gone out of production.
I followed the recipe on that website to make chocolate wafers of my own, but because I can’t bake, they turned out bad. So these are the wafers I used:
Ultimately, I think they worked well, but were just a little bit small.
Here is the recipe:
- Whip Cream until it forms peaks. Fold in Sugar, Vanilla, and a few drops of Green Food Coloring.
- Stack 3 or 4 Wafers together at a time, putting a teaspoonful of Green Whipped Cream between each one. Save one Wafer for later. Place the stack sideways on a dish to form a log. Cover the log with the rest of the Cream.
- Crumble the Wafer you have saved and sprinkle on top. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Cut diagonally at a 45 degree angle.
Nancy Tip: Add a tsp of Mint Extract to the cream while whipping.
This is an extremely simple recipe, which, if you buy your wafers, requires no baking at all. A few notes:
- The recipe calls for Vanilla Flavoring. I used Vanilla Extract, which might very well be different, because I ended up adding a little extra sugar to my whipped cream (it was a bit bland).
- The recipe says to REFRIGERATE for three hours. This has happened before, where this cookbook says ‘fridge’ and what it really means is freezer. Freeze this bad boy!
Ultimately, yummy, but I like a little more texture in my desserts (the crumbled wafer helps a lot). Have you made an icebox cake before? What do you think?
Philosodrama 
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