In The Quest of the Missing Map, Nancy assists her new friend Ellen Smith in finding a treasure that was hidden by her seafaring grandfather many years earlier. The man had supplied his sons with the map to the treasure, but with a catch- one half was given to Ellen’s father, and the other half was given to his twin brother. The twins lost each other and were separated that very day, when the ship sank and their father died. Equipped only with one half of the puzzle, the girls embark on finding the missing map piece and digging up the buried treasure.
Spoilers ahead!
This was fine, but not nearly as fun as a pirate adventure ought to be.
All but the LAST THREE chapters of this book are spent in River Heights. Compare this story with Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk, a banger: That entire book was spent in a ship set sail from Africa to the US, and it greatly benefited from it. This entire book, by contrast, is spent trying to find the missing map piece in River Heights. I think that should have been half the book, and then the other half spent navigating and sailing to the island. The pacing was off.
I also found some of the story a bit disappointing. Ellen’s father’s brother should not have been dead. Both Spike Doty and Fred and Irene Brown were extremely lame villains, but Nancy Drew villains usually are.
I’m a little tired of these villains. The bad guys of these novels are always random individuals from a nondescript crime ring. In this respect there is absolutely no mystery. It’s not like Agatha Christie, where you have to guess your suspect. The only time Nancy Drew has had a proper mystery was The Haunted Bridge, which left you guessing till the end whether or not Mortimer Bartescue was the villain. It’s still my favorite Nancy Drew novel to this day.
Differences between the Original and the Revised
There are no story differences whatsoever, which is unusual. There was not a single meaningful difference; the revised was simply a better read. They did a very good edit: they cut out some fluff, all the cringy dialogue from the villain POV scenes, and re-worded some of the clunkier sections. The revised is a much smoother, better read.
There is one funny scene where Nancy is chosen to preside over a pantomime performance at Ned’s college. The original falls over itself describing how Nancy is the prettiest, most charming girl at school, which is why she’s chosen- the revised makes this scene a lot less goofy:
ORIGINAL:
“Now, as you all know, it is our custom to select each year a beautiful young lady to preside over this event- one who will wear the Festival Robe and Crown. After careful consideration a choice has been made by a committee of faculty and students.”
“Gosh, I wonder who the lucky girl will be?” Bill Tomlin commented. “It always goes to the prettiest and most popular one in the audience.”
Young Garwin clapped his hands for attention once more, as the room had become noisy with excited conversation.
“Will Miss Nancy Drew please come to the stage?” he requested, smiling down at the girl.
Everyone began to clap and whistle, for beyond question the choice was a pleasing one.
Okay, a little excessive. Now compare how this same scene is described in the revised:
REVISED:
“As you all know, it is our custom each year to select an attractive young lady to preside over the event. She will wear the Festival Robe and Crown. After careful consideration by a committee of faculty and students, a choice has been made.”
A hush fell over the audience as the announcer paused a long moment.
“Will Miss Nancy Drew please come to the stage,” he said, smiling down at the girl.
The students clapped and whistled.
They took out all the clunky exposition meant to tell the reader how special Nancy is, and it’s much better for it. We already know Nancy is special! Unnecessary descriptors.
There is another scene where Nancy is intentionally made more polite and respectful in the revised in the way she speaks to Mrs. Chatham. She has just realized that Mrs. Chatham may have inadvertently sold crucial evidence regarding the location to the buried treasure:
ORIGINAL:
[Nancy is speaking] “Tell me, among the collection was there a replica of the Warwick?“
“Oh, dear, I can’t remember,” Mrs. Chatham said regretfully. “There were so many of the little boats. I sold a few of them.”
“Then you may have lost the map forever,” Nancy declared in consternation.
“I don’t understand.”
“It is my theory that your husband hid his half of the map in a model of his sailing vessel, the Warwick. Perhaps there is a secret compartment in it, like the one in the tiny desk Mr. Holgate has. Doesn’t that seem reasonable?”
“Oh, it does!” the widow cried.
REVISED:
[Nancy is speaking] “Among the collection was there a replica of the Warwick?”
“Oh dear! I can’t remember,” Mrs. Chatham said. “There were so many of the little boats. I sold a few of them.”
Nancy was worried. Mrs. Chatham might have sold the Warwick!
“You think my husband hid his half of the map in a model of the Warwick?” the widow asked.
“Doesn’t that seem reasonable?” Nancy replied.
“Oh, it does!” the woman cried in despair.
They silence Nancy for the sake of politeness, and let Mrs. Chatham come to the conclusion on her own.
At one point in the story, Nancy is being blackmailed to pay money for a small boat replica that was stolen from her. The blackmailer appears to be a young boy, and Nancy goes to meet him at his address. She wants to do the transaction outside, but the boy persuades her to come into the house to retrieve the replica. This is a DUMB move on Nancy’s part, but the revised makes her action more reasonable:
ORIGINAL:
“Grandma won’t let it go without the money,” the boy said stubbornly. “She’s sick a-bed and we need the cash. If you want to see the ship, you gotta come upstairs.”
Nancy felt that it might be unwise to enter the house, yet the boy seemed straightforward and curiosity overcame her better judgment. Somewhat reluctantly she followed Ted up a flight of worn stairs through a dark hall to a bedroom.
REVISED:
“Grandma won’t let it go without the money,” the boy said stubbornly. “She’s sick in bed and we need the cash. If you want to see the ship, you gotta come upstairs.”
Nancy was in a quandary. A chance to obtain the needed information on the exact location of the treasure might be lost! Reluctantly she climbed up a flight of worn stairs through a dark hall to a wood-paneled bedroom.
This is why the revised is so much better. Nancy makes the same move, and it’s a bad move, but at least now she’s aware of it. Also, in the original, Nancy really does not need to retrieve this ship model; she has all the information she needs. In the revised, Nancy notes that the model may have crucial information regarding the location of the island. It makes her action here make more sense.
In another scene, while they are en route to the island with the treasure, they realize that a sabteour is driving the boat. In the original, the boys immediately tackle the man down and take his place driving the ship, whereas in the revised, Nancy first begs the boys not to fight the man, and they go to speak to the captain first, who gives them permission. And then they tackle sabateour down and take his place! I’m sure some values were at play here for making these changes, perhaps respect for authority, or personal self-control? There was something the author wanted to instill that they felt lacking in the original, I suppose.
Additional Notes
Some random things I noticed while reading:
- Nancy, a multi-talented girl, picks up a new skill this book: drawing. The story begins with her arriving home after an art class, and she uses her new skill a few ways this novel, drawing the footprint of a prowler before rain washes away the evidence, and tracing several copies of the precious treasure map.
The way Nancy picks up (or displays) a new skill in each book feels intentional, and reminds me a lot of the video games. In each game, you have to learn quite a bit about random topics to complete puzzles and proceed through gameplay. I remember one game where I had to take copious notes on various kinds of gemstones in order to complete the game.
- There’s this very rich quote from the original book:
Always of an inquiring turn of mind, Nancy nevertheless understood the wisdom of using caution in any investigation she might attempt.
Immediately after reading this, I had flashbacks to Moss-Covered Mansion where Nancy doubles back to investigate a mansion immediately after she was chased off by a loose, prowling lion.
- After Nancy goes to retrieve the model and gets jumped by the villains, she is coerced into writing a letter to Hannah Gruen with her signature to get Hannah to give the map piece to the bad guys. After writing out the letter, Nancy thinks this in both the original and revised:
“Perhaps if I concentrate very hard, I can get a thought wave to Hannah, so she’ll make a copy and not exactly a correct one,” the girl told herself. “It’s my only hope.”
Girl, you’re better off praying.
- Speaking of praying, there’s another mention of the Drews attending church on Sunday in the revised. And around the end of the book, Nancy gets wrapped in a tarp and tossed overboard to drown. She says this to herself as she sinks:
“Poor Dad!” Nancy thought. “And I promised him I’d be careful.” Then, after praying a little, she added, “I don’t want to leave Ned and Bess and George and Hannah, too– all the people I love!”
It’s very sweet, and touching, and immediately after, she feels Ned pulling her up, as he had already dived into the water to save her. This is a revised event only, and it’s a good one.
Those are all my thoughts. What did you think of The Quest of the Missing Map?
Missing Map Cheese Wafers
These interesting wafers are from the Nancy Drew Cookbook:
The recipe is as follows:
- 1 lb Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 7 tbsps Butter
- 1 cup Flour
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Red Pepper
- 1 cup Pecans or other nuts
- Grate the Cheese and put it into a mixing bowl. Add Butter, Flour, Salt, and Pepper. Mix together and work into a well-blended dough.
- Chop Pecans into small pieces. Add them into the cheese dough. Mix well. Lift the dough onto a sheet of wax paper or dish. Shape the dough into a roll.
- Keep in the refrigerator overnight. When you are ready to bake, slice the dough into thin circles. Place the circles on a greased cookie sheet. Heat the oven to 325 degrees and bake for 10 minutes.
For a change, try Currants or small Raisins in place of the nuts.
Nancy Tip: Cut off the front panel of a Christmas or other holiday card with an attractive scene and glue it to the cover of a plain box. Fill the box with the golden crisp cheese wagers. To prevent breakage, put a little round sheet of wax paper between every two wafers.
These were pretty delicious hot- but heavy on the stomach (I might have baked them with too much oil on the tray). And then I refrigerated them, and maybe that was a mistake. But they were very cheddar, and very oily, and even though I liked them they didn’t sit very well with me. I wouldn’t choose to make them again.
Honestly, my cookbook adventures have taught me so far that I am just not a very good cook. I should definitely have thrown in the towel when I couldn’t make Jello for Moss-Covered Mansion. (I won’t though.) In addition to my Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie shenanigans, I am also going through the Sonic the Hedgehog cookbook, and that’s been full of its own disasters. I own so many themed cookbooks at this point that I think I actually have a good perspective on what makes a good themed cookbook, and what makes a bad one, but I can’t cook, so I’m not sure my perspective matters much.
Philosodrama 
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