Customer Reviews

The Spider Sapphire Mystery (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, No 45)

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

"The Spider Sapphire Mystery" is one of the best Nancy Drews I've ever read. It was a little more exciting than the other books. It's about Nancy trying to find a genuine spider sapphire and she's also trying to find the brother of a famous singer. This brother, named Tizam, then turns out to be part of the spider sapphire theft---but without his knowledge. Confused? Hurry and read the book!

I have read alot of Nancy Drew books in my life.But the Spider Sapphire Mystery was my favorite of all the NANCY Drew books.I highly recommond this book.If you want a good mystery and you really like Nancy Drew books or any other mystery books like Hardy Boys READ Nancy Drew and the Spider Sapphire Mystery.JESSICA AGE 10

Title: The Spider Sapphire Mystery
By: Carolyn Keene
Reviewed by: B.Beard
Period 1
In this book Nancy goes on another wild journey. This book was really fun and it keeps you on the end of your chair. In the book Nancy tries to find out a mystery about a spider sapphire , and at the same time she is taking a trip to Africa and trying to find a firend's brother. The reason that I liked this book was because it has many descriptive words, and it gave lots of detail about how each person felt about a topic. Some reasons that I dislike this book was because in the story there were some misspelled words and the student on the trip that caused a lot of interruptions. While Nancy, her friends and students from her school were on the plane a girl name Gwen was told to sit down. She said "If I'm going to get killed I want to be standing up, not sitting down." Then the captain of the plane asked her to take her seat and she said "I'm going to have my father sue this airline!" Again and again she was told to take her seat, but she never did, until the airplane almost crashed!
My two favorite parts of the book was when Nancy found out wher Ned was and saved him, and when Nancy got to me a girl named Lilia Bulawaya. She was a great singer and friend. Lilia had asked Nancy to find her brother in Africa. Nancy agreed that she would try. Nancy gave another great mystery away. Well who knows maybe one day I might just turn out to be another Nancy Drew!

"The Spider Sapphire Mystery" is one of the early Nancy Drew mysteries, unique because it is just as much an adventure as it is a mystery, what with Nancy and her "chums" traveling around Africa on a holiday. Along with Ned and his friends, Nancy, Bess and George are looking forward to their trip, but after several strange accidents involving two Indian men, Nancy begins to suspect that someone doesn't want her to go.

It seems to be connected to a famous sapphire that has recently been stolen from its wealthy Indian owner. It's known as the spider sapphire on account of the petrified spider encased within and on visiting Riverside Museum to view a synthetic copy, Nancy is surprised to find that a small notice has been fixed to its glass case: "this gem was stolen." The curator is furious at the slander, but soon Nancy has bigger things to worry about when she realizes that Ned has gone missing. With only a cryptic phone call to guide them, Nancy and her friends try to track down Ned and figure out what his disappearance has to do with the sapphire.

Although Ned's kidnapping takes up the first segment of the book, the action only really gets started once the setting moves to Africa. Some amount of research seems to have taken place in order to accurately portray the country, its culture and its wildlife, and there are a few little tidbits of information strewn throughout. Though it is not the most imaginative mystery (the culprits are telegraphed from the get-go, and all they ever do is follow Nancy around and try to sabotage her holiday), the story hangs together well and there are several plot elements that are introduced (such as an African lullaby and a death mask) and brought back later in satisfying ways.

Some aspects of the novel have dated, such as some mildly racist remarks and the fact that the group finds nothing wrong with buying elephant and rhino tusks, as well as a needless subplot concerning a girl called Gwen who proves herself to be quite an annoyance to the gang, but all things considered "The Spider Sapphire Mystery" is a solid mystery that makes more use of Nancy's circle of friends than many other books in the series. This time around, it's a team effort to discover the sapphire and catch the criminals.

Bought as a gift for a friend who was trying to complete her set from yeasr ago. Great seller and fast sale. Thanks you!

Nancy, Bess and George go on an African safari with a group of Emerson University students. Before leaving, Nancy is asked by a singer to locate her missing brother who was a safari guide. Also, a synthetic spider sapphire is on display in River Heights (apparently it must rival New York or Los Angeles for these types of shows), but the exhibition is troubled by reports the that owner of the synthetic sapphire has stolen the real spider sapphire on which the synthetic one was modelled. In typical fashion, both mysteries which originate on another continent are tied to the exact place in Africa where Nancy is going. If someone can find even the smallest shred of something to enjoy in this book, I wish they would let me know because I couldn't find anything in it that I thought was good. The plot was boring, the writing was bad, the action was...there was no action, even the artwork was terrible. I didn't enjoy this book at all and I can't recommend it to anyone.