Nancy Drew Mystery Stories 31: the Ringmaster's Secret

Great birthday gift for my granddaughter. She enjoys reading Nancy Drew. Spending time reading will always be valuable.

Thank you!

Daughter has most of the books from this series and has enjoyed reading them over and over -

My daughter is making her way through the original Nancy Drew series. This volume was in great shape.

Pretty good addition to the series, but this Nancy Drew mystery is quite redundant after ''The Mystery of the Ivory Charm'' number 13. The illustrations are nice compared to others.

Our children really enjoyed the story.. Nice well made book...

I am attempting to fill in missing volumes of the Nancy Drew Seroes that are not available locally Many Thanks

I am filling in missing volumes of the Nancy Drew Mystery Series, some of volumes are not available locally Many Thanks

Nancy Drew books are great reading for young readers.

Great item

Great birthday gift for my granddaughter. She enjoys reading Nancy Drew. Spending time reading will always be valuable.

Thank you!

Daughter has most of the books from this series and has enjoyed reading them over and over -

My daughter is making her way through the original Nancy Drew series. This volume was in great shape.

Pretty good addition to the series, but this Nancy Drew mystery is quite redundant after ''The Mystery of the Ivory Charm'' number 13. The illustrations are nice compared to others.

Our children really enjoyed the story.. Nice well made book...

I am attempting to fill in missing volumes of the Nancy Drew Seroes that are not available locally Many Thanks

I am filling in missing volumes of the Nancy Drew Mystery Series, some of volumes are not available locally Many Thanks

Nancy Drew books are great reading for young readers.

Great item

Great book!

Not the best of these mysteries, but not bad.

add Nancy Drew to my Collection

So far good.

This was my favorite Nancy Drew book as a young girl and still is as an adult as it touches the heart strings of love.

My niece loves this book. She has most of the Nancy Drew books so I wanted to help her with her collection.

Just as I had hoped! My order arrived on time and in the promised condition. I have been searching for this book, with the original text for years.

I ENJOYED THIS PRODUCT VERY MUCH. IT WAS WHAT I EXPECTED AND AM GLAD THAT WE PURCHASED THE PRODUCT THANKS

Oh my goodness I loved this book. I loved how Nancy solved it and it ended in a wedding. How romantic.

1st of all the title fits PERFECTLY!! 2nd of all Nancy Drew is SOO COOL!!!!! For people who haven't read the book: Nancy Drew falls headlong into her 31st Mystery. Nancy recieves a charm bracelet in the mail, and she is curious about who sent it to her, and why there is a charm missing. Later on, she meets an unhappy trapeze artist named Lolita. Turns out, Lolita has the missing charm!! However, Nancy lets Lolita keep the charm when she finds out it's the only thing she has from her mother. Now, Lolitas guardians are very cruel to her and Lolita wishes to find her real mother if she is till alive and well. Find out if Lolitas wish comes true by reading this amazing adventure. For the people who have read it: I love how the story ended! Also, all the characters ACTUALLY HAVE CHARACTER!!!!! It's one of my all-time nancy drew faves. Rating: No Doubt 5/5 STARS. Worth the $$$!!!!!! ENJOY!!!!!!!!!

This review concerns the original 1953 edition as well as the revised 1974 edition. Both books tell a similar story. Nancy is given a horse charm bracelet as a gift; however, one of the charms is missing. There is also a story connected with the bracelet that says that it was presented to a circus performer by a queen who loved horses. The circus performer later had to reluctantly sell the bracelet, but refused to give her true identity and she is in desperate need of help. Later, Nancy goes to the circus and meets a young girl, Lolita, who has a horse charm similar to the ones on Nancy's bracelet. The girl's parents were trapeze artists, but died many years before and she is now being raised by the cruel ringmaster of the circus and his wife. Many people in the circus believe that Lolita's mother may actually still be alive. Nancy is determined to find the truth and hopefully free Lolita from her cruel guardians. Most of this book is pretty good, the mystery is rather interesting and there is quite a bit of action. However, the ending of the book is not good. Everything happens much to quickly, there is little action and it takes all of one sentence for the criminals to be captured. For the most part this is a good book, it just has a bad ending.

My mom introduced me to the Nancy Drew Mysteries. You know, those yellow hardcover books? They were first released in the 1930s and to date, there are about 175 volumes. My collection spanned only the first 56 volumes. Certainly, I haven’t read all of them but I’ve read a whole lot. In fact, collecting this 56 volumes is part of my bucket list. My first Nancy Drew book is The Sign of the Twisted Candles and it remains as my absolute favorite from the bunch. Then the book that I dreamt about, The Secret of Mirror Bay. During a bookstore stop, my mom said that The Ringmaster’s Secret was one of her favorites. She bought it for me and I was not disappointed. Nancy Drew Mysteries are… not complicated. But a surprising number of them are not predictable either. I bet today’s readers will be somewhat amused with the language used in these books. “Good-by, Nancy. Talk to Father about it. It should be swell, without mumbo-jumbo, for you.” Can you imagine talking like that today? The first 56 were published between 1930 and 1980. And with that, I’m sure some people will raise an eyebrow at the ideas that are in these books. Their views towards gender roles are way different than today so keep in mind the time period these were written before making judgments. The blurb for The Ringmaster’s Secret, as with a lot of Nancy Drew books, is pretty straightforward. It doesn’t really give away anything: Nancy Drew is given a beautiful gold bracelet and finds that one of the horse charms is missing. When she learns the unusual story behind the jewelry, she sets out to solve the fascinating mystery. And what does Nancy do to solve this fascinating mystery? She joins the circus. Yes. Just nod and move on, okay? The story starts out with Nancy getting horse-riding lessons. And not just your simple gallops, mind you. Actual show riding. Yep. And she becomes good enough to substitute for an injured circus performer… up to the point of touring with the company. That right there is Mary Sue even before the term was coined in pop culture. (By the end of the series, Nancy has accumulated quite a skill set that is totally irrelevant to sleuthing. But that’s what makes her the best, right? LOL.) She enlists the help of her best friends Bess and George, her boyfriend Ned, and her Father, even taking her outside of the US. Aside from sleuthing, she manages to reunite a mother and daughter as well as two lovebirds. The vibe of the story reminds me of Water for Elephants. There’s a tyrannical ringleader and the star of the show is kept under very strict rules. The mystery here is not a death or espionage as with Agatha Christie works or what we know now as mystery/thrillers. Nancy Drew is a amateur teen sleuth and these books are geared towards a younger audience. What I love about this and other Nancy Drew books is just when you thought it’s over, a last-minute twist will blindside you. In the last two chapters of the book, the author – whoever it might be writing under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene – throws in a little curveball. A complication will arise that will make you think that they’re a new threat but when you look at how many pages are left, there’s no way. But there’s always a happy ending with these books. Not to mention a bit of shameless plug for the next installment. It doesn’t matter how absurd these Nancy Drew stories sound like sometimes. I love them and will always love them. Rating: 5/5. Always.