Alice et la Rivière Souterraine

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #52

by Carolyn Keene, Anne Joba, Daniel Billon (illustrator)

Gold! There are rumors that long ago a treasure was hidden in a city now buried under the Nevada desert. Nancy and her friends plan to join a dig sponsored by two colleges to hunt for the gold. Before she starts, the young sleuth receives an ancient stone table with petroglyphs on it. With this amazing clue, however, come a threat and danger from a thief who also wants the treasure.One harrowing adventure after another besets Nancy, Bess, George, Ned, Burt, and Dave in 102-degree temperatures as they pursue Nancy’s hunches above and below ground. They are assisted by a fine woman and a young geology student, but both are unwilling participants in a strange plot. In the end Nancy and Ned nearly lose their lives, just after she has discovered the priceless hidden treasure of gold.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Middle Grade, Classics, Adventure

182 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Carolyn Keene is a writer pen name that was used by many different people- both men and women- over the years. The company that was the creator of the Nancy Drew series, the Stratemeyer Syndicate, hired a variety of writers. For Nancy Drew, the writers used the pseudonym Carolyn Keene to assure anonymity of the creator.

Edna and Harriet Stratemeyer inherited the company from their father Edward Stratemeyer. Edna contributed 10 plot outlines before passing the reins to her sister Harriet. It was Mildred Benson (aka: Mildred A. Wirt), who breathed such a feisty spirit into Nancy's character. Mildred wrote 23 of the original 30 Nancy Drew Mystery Stories®, including the first three. It was her characterization that helped make Nancy an instant hit. The Stratemeyer Syndicate's devotion to the series over the years under the reins of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams helped to keep the series alive and on store shelves for each succeeding generation of girls and boys. In 1959, Harriet, along with several writers, began a 25-year project to revise the earlier Carolyn Keene novels. The Nancy Drew books were condensed, racial stereotypes were removed, and the language was updated. In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.

Other writers of Nancy Drew volumes include Harriet herself, she wrote most of the series after Mildred quit writing for the Syndicate and in 1959 began a revision of the first 34 texts. The role of the writer of "Carolyn Keene" passed temporarily to Walter Karig who wrote three novels during the Great Depression. Also contributing to Nancy Drew's prolific existence were Leslie McFarlane, James Duncan Lawrence, Nancy Axelrod, Priscilla Doll, Charles Strong, Alma Sasse, Wilhelmina Rankin, George Waller Jr., and Margaret Scherf.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me start this review by saying that this was my first Nancy Drew book...ever. And it will also be my last. I realize that these books were written in a very different time but sheesh. Besides the vast amount of politically incorrect wordage and slang throughout the book to describe the First Nations community (and basically anyone who wasn't blue-eyed and blonde), there was also a very skewed representation of...well people in general. All of Nancy's friends are preppy or football players, they're all good-looking, except for poor Bess who gets made fun of because she's a little chubby, and they all talk like like they are stuck in a Stepford Wives story. I realize this was the language of the era, but COME ON! Also, Nancy is not likable at all. Most of the time she by chance falls into clues and right answers, and the other times she is taking all the credit for things that her AND her friends helped her out with. None of the characters are fully developed either, and maybe because it's number 52 in the series, but I didn't feel like I really got to know anyone at all...except for generic things. Who is Nancy Drew? A young girl? A sleuth? A robot? I have no idea!

This tale told the story of Mrs. Wabash who has tablets that are stolen from her that tell of a city of Gold hidden in the Nevada desert. Of course for some reason, she thinks Nancy Drew can help her recover her tablets and find the city!

I was told that the Nancy Drew Case Files was worth reading- written in '86-'97- but I won't be recommending the older ones for anyone. This gets a 2 for the simple fact that it's Nancy Drew and I realize its a dated story.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I probably read this too adventure as a kid, as my local library had a good selection of the series. But relistening to it now, decades later... the magic has disappeared from this one really badly.
There are a lot of things written in the books in the 1970s that would quite raise the eyebrows now, and this has quite a few. “Juana” - “what a pretty name!” calm down, Bess. Mexicans wearing sombreros... but of course (insert a silent eye rolls), how else would you know they are Mexicans? Indians, where there wasn’t much any research done by the writers before writing this story. Oh, and in Nevada they can’t find anybody except Nancy who can help interpret what the Mexicans say. Ja ja ja ja (laughing out loud in Spanish here). and of course a random Indian person (as in, native American) can easily translate some ancient plates full of images, hieroglyphs and pictograms to modern English because they have a dictionary and that’ll totally help with the grammar and everything.
I need a drink...

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

SUMMARY: Gold! There are rumors that long ago a treasure was hidden in a city now buried under the Nevada desert.
Nancy and her friends plan to join a dig sponsored by two colleges to hunt for the gold. Before she starts, the young sleuth receives an ancient stone tablet with petroglyphs on it. With this amazing clue, however, come a threat and danger from a thief who also wants the treasure.

REVIEW: I have not read a Nancy Drew mystery since childhood but still found they are fun to read. The characters are now in college in this particular mystery and the relationships between the 3 girls and their boyfriends are still much the same. Not complex as mysteries go but perfect for children who are just finding their way to this genre. I particularly enjoyed the setting in this one and the archealogical and Indian themes.

[dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

frick this book. there is not one redeemable quality. regardless of the boring mystery (which dave described as “transparent as a piece of plexiglass”), the whole thing was riddled with anti-indigenous rhetoric featuring white savior nancy. whatever you’re thinking, i promise it’s worse. there was also a swastika guest appearance in chapter 19, and a slur in chapter 20. garbage from start to finish.

[Katja Labonté · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars & 4/10 hearts. So I enjoyed this story. The mystery was good, and the villains well done. I wish they’d dealt with the superstition though. But I really enjoyed Nancy deciphering the rocks, and creating fake ones, and then hunting them out among the rocks! The ending was really good too.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another wonderful adventure in the Nancy Drew book series.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Nancy's 52nd she finds gold in the Nevada desert! She gets kissed by Ned - often, even, and she meets with the indigenous people in the hot Western deserts. It's all about geology, flying and archaeological tablets with mysterious messages. There are some tight places, and close to the end it looks like this might be the last book of the series!

But. . .it's not. . . on to #53.

[Danny Reid · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, at one point in this book, Nancy and her friends unearth a skeleton of a Native American man. They then put wires through his bones (this is a skill they naturally have) and then, I shit you not, make him dance. And they laugh and laugh and I'm reading this aloud to my daughter like what the shit and then they decide they're going to use these ancient Native American remains to play a funny joke on the rest of their archaeological expedition by making it pop out from behind the bushes during a campfire and spook everyone. Like, in all honesty, what the holy fuck is that. Nancy gets kidnapped like five seconds after this happens, and, I'm gonna be honest, I was rooting for it to be the skeleton.

Usually the 'travelogue' entries of Nancy Drew are the more interesting ones, but this is a rather pathetic exception. Here, Nancy is recruited by a Native American woman to piece together some tablets to uncover lost golden sheets and a 'forgotten city'. What really happens is another Drew outing where there are two locations, and much of the book is Nancy going "Well, we've been at Location B for five minutes, guess it's time to go back to Location A and try looking for something again" and this happens at least three times. So it's a lot of coming and going and coming and going and you're just like, hold the fuck on, just sit there for five more minutes, but they can't, because coming and going and listing "Nancy, Ned, Bess, George, Burt and Dave" gets the book that much closer to the required word count.

One other odd aspect to the book is that I'm not sure that the two mysteries actually intersect in any way that makes sense. The tablets that are stolen at the beginning of the book in no way lead to the golden sheets that they find through Wanna's hunches. (Not Nancy's, despite Nancy getting all the fanfare at the end.) Along with a lot of other weird little plot cul de sacs-- the caravan of Mexicans searching for gold, the rich couple in the car who throw a tablet at Nancy, Fleetfoot's accomplices never being named nor caught-- make the book very unsatisfying overall.

[Jessica Petrovich · Rating 1 out of 5]

BOOOOOOO 🗣️🗣️🗣️

FIRST, there were SO many weird lines in this one!! ☠️ Harriet Stratemeyer Adams was absolutely sampling 1975’s finest substances while writing this story.

My disbelief was un-suspended. Several cringe moments with the Native American population, including Nancy and the gang taking the SKELETAL REMAINS from a dig site in order to pull a prank on their fellow students?!

Super racist characterizations, messy plot lines, and the code-speaking throughout the book really got on my nerves.

One of the worst books in the series so far, but not THE worst, probably like 1.5 stars if I’m feeling generous.

[Amanda Kunz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I used to love Nancy Drew as a kid but I couldn't finish this book. I understand it was written in the 40's and edited in the 70's but I just couldn't get past the racism, sexism, and fat phobia. The plot just wasn't grabbing enough for me to finish the story trying to ignore those things.

[LobsterQuadrille · Rating 2 out of 5]

About 2.5 stars

The best aspects of this Nancy Drew mystery were definitely the plot, which was pretty decent light reading, and the inclusion of not one, but two positive Native American characters. The depiction of Southwestern Native American culture is probably not very accurate, but it is nice to see a bit more cultural diversity among the good guys. But there are a few things that definitely should have been edited out before publication. First, Nancy is reading aloud about scorpions to George and Bess because they for some reason don't know that there are venomous scorpions and that they sting using their tails. I know this is a fairly old book and written for children, but wouldn't most people still know that scorpions are venomous and have tail stingers, even if they only knew it from watching westerns on TV?
Next, and far worse, is when Nancy and her friends are on an archaeological dig and find an ancient human skeleton. This seems fairly innocuous at first, but then after the skeleton is wired together Burt uses it as a puppet to speak in silly voices and entertain everyone around the campfire. To make this even more horribly disrespectful, it is mentioned that the skeleton had a skull wound most likely from a spear. Therefore Burt uses a probable ancient murder victim's remains as a comedic prop! I know the 70s were a less culturally sensitive time, but I don't believe for a second that no one would have found this questionable 40 years ago.

Two stars for an enjoyable story, nostalia, and a couple of interesting new characters, but brought down by two main characters not knowing extremely basic scorpion facts and the cringe-inducing skeleton scene.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember really loving Nancy Drew as a kid. I picked this one, because I loved Anthropology and Archaeology in college and thought it would be a fun read.

Perhaps entertaining for children, but definitely not my cup of tea as an adult.

First, the writing style really threw me. It was clearly written for young girls, but none of the characters felt developed to me. Not even Nancy herself.

Also, the anthropologist in me has issues with how poorly the sites were maintained in this book, and how mistreated the artifacts were. Again, I know it’s written for children and was written in a time when anthropological sites were treated differently, but some of the lack of respect from the characters regarding their finds made me really sad.

Overall, probably not a book I will read with my future children unless it comes with a lesson on how not to disrespect other cultures and the ancient dead.

[Wenqian-1e3 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nancy and her friends plan to join a dig sponsored by two colleges to hunt for the gold . Before she starts , the young sleuth receives an ancient stone tablet with petroglyphs on it . With this amazing clue , however , come a threat and danger from a thief who also wants the treasure .
One harrowing adventure after another besets Nancy , Bess , George , Ned , Burt , and Dave in 102 degree temperatures as they pursue Nancy's hunches above and below ground . They are assisted by a fine Indian woman and a young geology student , but both are unwilling participants in a strange plot .
In the end Nancy and Ned nearly lost their lives , just after she has discovered the priceless hidden treasure of gold .

[Darinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy Drew and friends go on an archaeology dig to solve a case. Another fun Nancy Drew mystery!

[Partridge Public]

Keene, Carolyn

[Suzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy’s friends have a surprise for her. They are all going to the Nevada desert to take part in an archaeological dig. The area is also believed to have hidden gold nearby and Nancy endeavors to find it.

This wouldn’t be a Nancy Drew story if another mystery didn’t fall into Nancy’s lap. A Native American woman has 6 ancient tablets that wind up being stolen. She was initially hoping Nancy would help her decipher the petroglyphs. Now, Nancy has to find the thief first.

A few books back, I made the observation that Nancy messed up a dig. Which is true. She dug up old tribal grounds to solve a mystery. And she went about it completely wrong. But this book addressed the issues I had then. This dig is sponsored by a university, so all of the students are taught the proper way to proceed. Hallelujah! Way to right a wrong. 

Speaking of wrongs, there were a number in this story. The biggest one being when at one point Nancy finds a human bone. The crew takes turns unearthing it, string the uncovered skeleton and then proceed to play and joke around with it. Sigh. Do you know how disrespectful that is? What they did is despicable and shows a lack of consideration towards the tribe. No respectable archeaologist would ever allow this to happen. Because it’s wrong on so many levels. 

Anyway, the story is fairly entertaining. Nancy and Ned kiss. A lot. Well, a lot for one of these stories. Nancy and crew find gold and an underwater river in the desert. Oh, and all of a sudden Nancy knows spanish? And, can differentiate between various dialects. Yeah, okay Jan.
 
Look, I know these are kids books so I shouldn’t take them too seriously. But honestly, I wouldn’t feel comfortable giving this specific book to my 8 year old niece. We’re teaching her to be respectful. And this book doesn’t send that message. Blegh. 

There were parts I really did like about this book. But I simply couldn’t get past all of the problematic aspects. Which is just too bad. It had the markings of a favorite. 

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was actually a typical old school Nancy Drew adventure. So it would normally get a three. But this one. Well, it has problems. Lots and lots of problems.

By this point in the series the ghostwriters (which were still Harriet Adams for the most part) had come up with a new gimmick for the series. There can only be so many crimes that a kid could solve in River Heights so every once in awhile they would do these 'Nancy gets a case that takes her to fill in the blank'.

Now, most of these adventures have good intentions. It is clear they do want to teach children about other cultures, in this case Native Americans. But at the same time they are chock full of good old fashioned unintentional racism. (IE: Nancy can read ancient pictoglyphs better than a professor has been studying the culture for at least a decade.) Really, the only thing that makes Nancy Drew an unusual white savior hero of western 20th century literature is that she's female.

Another problem is also some unusual use of the word faggot. Now, I know what the author meant. The meant it in the sense 'a a bundle of sticks or twigs bound together as fuel' and NOT as a homophobic slur. This is NOT consider this wasn't early in the series. This was 1975. This was after Hariet Adams went through the old books and made Hannah no longer explicitly black with a 'Mammy Twoshoes' accent. I guess in 1975 it was still considered an okay word as long as it wasn't used 'in that context'. But here's the thing. This is a 1999 reprint of a book from 1975. Certainly it's a word the reprint editor should have wanted to avoid using in any context by then.

The final problem I have with this one is huge. This book, and almost every other Nancy Drew book of the period, describes Nancy as blonde haired, blue eyed and perfect. What kind of perfect person laughs, thus gives at least a tacit endorsement, to fat shaming? Especially when the person being bullied is someone we're told REPEATEDLY is one of her best friends?

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start by pointing out the final chapter is called "A Fagot of Treasure". Yes, it is referring to a bundle of sticks, but if that kind of dated language bothers you, this is not going to be a good read.

There are a few exciting scenes, but not enough to compensate for the poor representation of ... pretty much everything. For one, Nancy and her friends seem to think the desert is awful and one of their goals is to find a river with the hopes that the desert will become a lush place.

The Native American representation is bad, but it's not the worst. At least two of the protagonists are Native Americans, though the culprit is mixed race. What bothered me more was Nancy (a white teenager) coming along and posting theories on what happened to the tribes that used to live there and then having experts thinking her theories were amazing and probably true.

The worst scene in the book does not have to do with the Native Americans or archeology at all. Nancy's caravan runs into a group of Mexican treasure hunters. The scene is both racist (for the Mexican men's attitudes and descriptions and they way they are treated by the characters in the book), and unbelievable, (For Nancy's ability to identify and speak Spanish in the same vernacular as the Mexican men). I believe Nancy can speak Spanish. But I don't believe an 18 year midwestern white girl who did not grow up in a multilingual household could speak various dialects of spanish.

[Lizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always loved Nancy Drew, but it's 100% a product of it's time. I decided to reread one of mine that I hadn't read since JR High...

I had a harder time reading this one than I have others...it was so far fetched, and while not inherently racist...it was annoying.

I know back when this was written Native American's or Indigenous people were called Indians, but in this book they took it to the extreme. Even after someones name was known they were often referred to as, "The Indian" "The Indian Woman" etc. Completely unnecessary. They could of and should have been called by name, or even " the woman" or " the girl" etc would have been better than "The Indian".

And as someone who has always enjoyed archeology, the way the artifacts were handled and played with in this book, ugh.

I love Nancy, I always will, but I think this may be one of my least favorites. Also, the way they talk about Bess, and tease her about her weight, I know they do this in all the books...but it gets old.

The writing style is seriously annoying and just not as enjoyable as it was when I was a kid. Again, a product of it's time...but...I need to read another one I think. Clean my pallet of this one.

[ItsNeha]

This is a novel about Nancy Drew’s adventures about re-discovering and locating a lost Indian city, as well as the gold treasure hidden therein. The treasure hunt is joined by her two best friends Bess and George, their respective boyfriends and some students from the University of Nevada. The gold digging is carried out with the help of clues and symbols depicted on seven petroglyphs, each featuring a moon phase symbol, and a shiny golden chuckwalla symbol.

While the thief named Fleetfoot Joe tries to stop them, to warn them and to create obstacles repeatedly in their way, so much so that the young people almost get poisoned, almost get burned with acid and almost lose their way; howsoever, he, in the end, is caught and arrested by the police.

In the end, Nancy almost loses her life to the waters of underground river, but comes out saving her life, as well as discovering the package with the ancient gold plates.

This is one of my favourite novels from the entire Nancy Drew-Carolyn Keene series. Part because it features India, my hometown, and part because of its plot which features the gold-digging theme which matches many of the Indian mythological texts.

I immensely enjoyed reading it!

[Ana(stasia) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would normally put this at 3.5, but I thought I had to give it a little more than that. It is my favorite so far (out of three books). It being written in a different time, this book is very problematic. Everything is very traditional, and I guess I found that boring, but I will give them some credit for it being a woman detective, which was very uncommon in the early-mid 1900's. I just have trouble getting through these books because they are saying things that were "OK" at the time, but now are unacceptable and racist. And I know it was written in a time where this was normal, but still. I don't like it. I am a little perplexed though. Why did Nancy want to find the gold anyway? It's not hers to take. And I find it annoying that Mrs. Wabash and Wanna are just dealing with it. Looking past the problems with this book, the plot was good, and I enjoyed it. Nancy Drew mysteries might just not be my cup of tea.

[gowri · Rating 1 out of 5]

There was an attempt to create better Native American characters than in previous books but then those Emerson beasts basically desecrated the remains of ancient Native Americans so yeah not good enough...plus Nancy somehow being the only person in the entire expedition knowing how to speak the specific dialect of Spanish wherever the hell they were and then the last chapter having the f slur multiple times (in the literal sense of the word but still)....yeah no I don't think so. Also white savior Nancy making an appearance as always.... I find it so so so hard to believe that Nancy is the first person to figure out that the tablets were ordered by the phases of the moon and not the Native American descendants who literally spent their whole lives learning about their culture and history...

[Whitney · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s rather a baddie. Cute concept, with an archaeological expedition, and Nancy and her gal pals and their favorite dates spend a wholesome weekend together, lowering one another into the pit. Yes literally. No, not a kinky euphemism.

Among their group are some other students. Two of them assume the responsibility of harassing a group of Spanish speaking men who are passing by the camp site. Said students also think it a good idea to help the men hurry along into the desert, without adequate supplies. Students helpfully drive behind the men, in a large truck, to verify the men are safely far away, possibly close to dying out there but who cares right? Maybe I wasn’t reading this part correctly, but it seems like some archaeology students may have done a mass murder here.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

*deep inhale*

UGGGGHHHHH

These ghostwriters are bound and determined to make me loathe every single one of Nancy's adventures that involve archeology and Native Americans... At least this dig, they actually had a Native woman with them. But, come on, did they seriously have to dig up a skeleton? And where was the real adult supervision? I have questions, concerns, and constructive criticism. Which is passive aggressive for 'a whole lotta criticism.'

Only really good part that will stick with me is the professor leading the dig basically saying to the gang, "I get called professor all year round. Please, please call me Don so I can hear my own name every now and again and remember that's my name."

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will preface this by saying that as a 8-10 year-old, I was one of the biggest Nancy Drew fans. I'd request the books for birthdays, holidays, or any other gift receiving occasion - I must have collected at least 30 of the original yellow-spine edition hard-backs in my adolescence. I picked up this one from my local library out of sheer nostalgia and I must say... these books did not age well. The gender stereotypes in the book were glaring and the lack of plot development was almost laughable.

I still love Nancy Drew, the character, but I don't think I'll be reading another of these out desire to preserve my fond childhood memories of this series.

[Lisa]

Read as a paired book
Why isn’t Nancy Drew in college?
Mystery of the Glowing Eye has Nancy trying to find Ned, who’s been kidnapped from Emerson. Spoiler alert: of course she solves it. The police are pretty much at her beck and call in this one.
Secret of the Forgotten City has Nancy going on an archaeological dig with students from two universities and a professor, and they all think it’s perfectly normal for her to not only tag along but also for her friends to touch artifacts and glue them back together when they dig them up. Another time, I guess. Nancy’s also solving a mystery of some missing tablets that have been stolen from a woman she just met.

[Ashley K. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was going to give this one points for representation (I think this book introduces the first female graduate student in the Nancy Drew universe, and she's indigenous) but I'm also docking it points for having an indigenous villain named "Fleetfoot Joe", so it evens out. Also, there is a super weird scene where our heroes take the human skeleton they've just unearthed of an indigenous man and use it for a stupid prank-- they make it look like it's dancing at the campfire-- and it was just a whole lotta yikes. George is the real MVP of this story in my opinion (she grabs a snake that's "lunging" for Nancy in the car and casually holds it for the rest of their drive).

[Parag Rajendra Rokade]

This is the story of a young detective named Nancy drew. Nancy and her friends,Bess, George,Ned,Burt and Dave, plan to join two colleges which go for an excavation in the Nevada desert to find the treasure which was hidden in a city now buried in the Nevada desert. She receives tablets, from an Indian woman, with petroglyphs on it before she starts her find. Nancy has to find six more petroglyphs which are stolen by a thief named, Fleetfoot Joe,who is also behind the treasure. The petroglyphs represent a map which lead to the desert. At last, Nancy and her friends find all the petroglyphs and the treasure.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as Nancy Drew books typically go, this one was exciting and action-packed to the last page. Ned is his usual dorky drip self, so his friends Burt and Dave are along to help Nancy, "stupid" "fat" Bess, and George do their adventuring in "Indian" country. Sigh. Just the typical inappropriate cultural references and unbelievable sleuthing that always puts Nancy alternately in grave danger or fortuitously positioned for a crazy discovery. A couple odd things I liked about this one is the annoying Archie character that pestered the group for no reason, and the coded warning sentences. Cute.

[Christian Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

They did what with the skeleton???!

I started reading again after years of being on a break. To ease my way back, I decided to read one of the book series I read when I was 10 - Nancy Drew. This particular volume was just okay - nothing outstanding or special about it. The pace of the story felt like a drag and only at the last third of the book did something exciting actually happens. Nonetheless, this isn't bad in any way. Unless I want to revisit the whole desert scenery, I would not give this book another read.