The Clue in the Jewel Box begins with Nancy meeting an older woman named Ms. Alexandra. She was queen in her country until revolutionary forces came, executing her entire family, save for a grandson who was taken to America by the royal nanny to spare him. All she has left of her grandchild is some scattered information and a picture of the toddler in a sailor uniform (Saiiiiilloooorsss!)
Later that day, because it makes sense that an Eastern European queen AND her long-lost grandson would somehow end up in River Heights, Nancy helps a man whose pocket has been picked. As it turns out--HE HAS THE SAME PICTURE OF THE SAILOR BABY!
Wow. It's a good thing I'm not bothered too much by ludicrous coincidences, Stratemeyer Syndicate. Because if that were a crime, you guys would be guilty on ALL counts.
So Nancy introduces the young man to Ms. Alexandra. While he has the picture and some credentials, however, Nancy isn't quite sure that he's really the long lost prince. Why, you ask? Because he slurps his food and asks invasive questions. Surely this uncivilized man can't be a prince. Uh, maybe a prince who was brought to AMERICA as a toddler, Nancy! Remember America? The land of rude slobs?
Of course, Nancy is right. The young man, who is now proudly going by Prince Michael and squandering Ms. Alexandra's dwindling fortune, is this book's requisite total a-hole. Not only does he slurp his food, but he has a large ill-tempered dog that he keeps trying to leave at people's houses (despite the fact that the dog HAS tasted the blood of a mailman and is clearly thirsty for more), he's cheating his alleged grandmother out of her riches, imposing himself at every opportunity, and he keeps hitting on Nancy in front of Ned. Um, NOT COOL, Fake Prince Michael.
Ned ends up orchestrating an elaborate ditching of the prince on an island in the middle of the Muskoka river, which is a little bit harsh, but...like I said, the guy is a TOTAL A-HOLE. Nancy also is forced to call the dog warden (which I didn't know was a thing, and made me imagine dogs in prison carving shanks out of old bones and giving each other tattoos) and have the dog hauled off. After the "ditching a prince and getting rid of his dog" incidents, Nancy goes out of her way to avoid him, trying to come up with some evidence that the "prince" isn't who he says he is.
Oyyyyy. Do all of us ladies have to go full spy and discredit a dude just to get him to stop sexually harassing us? It would be really nice if the answer wasn’t still yes 50 years later…
This might be a good time to tell you about the side-mystery. Remember when I said Nancy met Fake Prince Michael because a pickpocket targeted him? Well, the pickpocketer is the other villain of the story. However, there's a slight problem. When the pickpocketer targeted FPM (Fake Prince Michael), another man is accused. But Nancy saw a man that looked just like the alleged criminal running away. It would seem that the pickpocketer has a double! For the rest of the book, Nancy continues to spot the pickpocketer, only to realize that it was the other man, David Dorrance. Nancy and Dorrance even work out a signal--he will wave a white handkerchief to show Nancy he is not the criminal.
But did you ever stop to consider, Nancy, that THE DOUBLE IS ALWAYS IN THE SAME PLACE AS THE PICKPOCKETER? Isn't that a little strange? I mean, River Heights may be filled with sailors and impossibly connected relatives and treasure seekers, but...it's a small town, yo.
What ensues is a Moliere-esque farce of Nancy running after the pickpocketer, in scene after scene, only to have a white handkerchief waved in her face. Just when you think Nancy's about to totally Hulk out, it finally comes to her: they are identical thieves working a scheme.
Yes, they're burglars! Identical burglars and you'll find...
They steal alike, they nab alike, sometimes they even stab alike!
You could lose a dime!
'Cos these burglars are two of a kiiiiiiinnnndd!
That's for those of you Patty Duke Show fans. Of course, my mother is the only one I'm sure would get the reference. Ah, well.
Once she figures out the pickpocketing scheme, the rest sort of falls into place. In her mystery solving, Nancy meets a young artist named Richard Ellington. He speaks with the same accent as Ms. Alexandra, so it's pretty obvious that he's Ms. Alexandra's real grandson. And they even explain the ludicrous coincidence by saying that Richard (/Real Prince Michael) was traveling around the states looking for his grandmother when his Sailorbaby picture and letters were stolen from the train.
Now time to catch the nefarious Fake Prince Michael! Instead of risking FPM getting away, Nancy decided the only logical course of action is to kidnap the man and tie him up. Ned, predictably, has NO problem with this.
In the end, the prince is reunited with his grandmother, and engaged to marry a friend of Helen Corning Archer (who I didn't feel the need to mention because she's basically just blabbering on about clothes the whole time). Everyone is happy, except the guys who are now in jail. And probably that German shepherd that got dragged off by the dog warden. Awwwwwww.
Like I said, this was a really good one. There were a few points where it got a bit slow I found it a bit difficult to swallow that Helen Corning Archer's friend was somehow also from the same small overthrown Eastern European country, but the characters were strong. FPM was an almost Mortimer Bartescue-level annoyance and actually turned out to be part of the pickpocketing scheme. It was quite satisfying to see this obsequious ass-hat hauled down to the station.
Oh, and there was a jewel box. Yikes. Totally forgot about that. It's just a treasure of Ms. Alexandra's that gives Nancy the proof she needs to discredit FPM. So, not important to the whole story, but to the reveal.
Oh, and there was a jewel box. Yikes. Totally forgot about that. It's just a treasure of Ms. Alexandra's that gives Nancy the proof she needs to discredit FPM. So, not important to the whole story, but to the reveal.
I give this one a 4 1/2 out of 5 mags
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