The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #41

by Carolyn Keene

Warnings not to go to Scotland can’t stop Nancy Drew from setting out on a thrill-packed mystery adventure. Undaunted by the vicious threats, the young detective – with her father and her two close friends – goes to visit her great-grandmother at an imposing estate in the Scottish Highlands, and to solve the mystery of a missing family heirloom.

And there is another mystery to be solved: the fate of flocks of stolen sheep.
Baffling clues challenge Nancy’s powers of deduction: a note written in the ancient Gaelic language, a deserted houseboat on Loch Lomond, a sinister red-bearded stranger in Edinburgh, eerie whistling noises in the Highlands. Startling discoveries in an old castle and in the ruins of a prehistoric fortress, lead Nancy closer to finding the solution to both mysteries.

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

177 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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

[Laura Bang · Rating 3 out of 5]

My plan is basically to read mostly comfort books this year, so I thought I’d start with the sleuth of my childhood heart, Nancy Drew (who will be 90 in April!). These books are so hilarious to reread as an adult. My favorite part from this one is when Ned reports on his own sleuthing to find out the identity of someone who warned Nancy about a bomb that was planted in her mailbox and figured out (based on handwriting!) that it’s a middle-income elderly woman so he takes a young cousin to go case local stores:

“We stayed near the check-out counter,” Ned went on. “Whenever an elderly woman came up to the cashier, we’d start talking about bombs and watch her reaction. Finally, in one supermarket, we saw a woman tremble violently, and asked her point-blank about the note. She admitted putting it in your mailbox.”

I know Nancy Drew is from a simpler time, but I still find it hard to believe that 1964 was that much simpler.

Nancy also visits Scotland in this one and there are some nice notes on her whirlwind tour of some of the sites in between sleuthing. She’s also visiting her maternal great-grandmother so apparently her mom was Scottish!

[Srividya Vijapure · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent trip down memory lane with Nancy, Bess and George. Fun times!

[Siobhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of the first Nancy Drew books that I read and at a tender age, I was thoroughly disillusioned. In one sitting, Nancy learns to play the bagpipes. Imagine that! I asked my father, a bagpiper, how long it took to learn and guess what? Pipers learn to play on a chanter and have to get the fingering down pat before they even attempt to play a bagpipe itself. Betrayed by Nancy Drew! It was an awful moment for me.

I recovered enough to read other Nancy Drew mysteries, of course, but I was never the huge fan that I could have been if I hadn't started with this one early on.

[Xyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, love, love the classic Nancy Drew mysteries! While a lot of the activity couldn't and wouldn't happen today [teens renting a car, attending church (two times), staying overnight in a complete stranger's house, etc.] it really is a nice lesson in how being polite can be helpful and positive. Plus the classics do so much more in widening vocabulary than the newer incarnations. Although, I did get a good chuckle out of the use of "quicksilver." There are very good reasons we don't have such ready access to mercury anymore.

This Nancy Drew installment is very intriguing beyond the normal mystery. In it we learn more about Nancy's heritage and her ancestral homeland - Scotland. There are bits of history, local sites, geography and language lessons to be found as well. [If you're an adult reader and fan of Diana Gabalon's Outlander series I bet you could picture Jamie Fraser walking through the same areas Nancy trod. I know I did.]

The story is well written with an ebb and flow of action interlaced with clues and deductive reasoning. Ned tackled some sleuthing back in River Heights, while Bess and George were able to accompany Nancy and her father to Scotland. There they added a fourth member to the team, Fiona. In the end Nancy proved to be worthy of the same motto as the Canadian Mounties...she always gets her man.

I highly recommend this book and this series to any mystery fan; especially those honing their reading skills. These are wonderfully written chapter books.

[Alisha]

It's sometimes difficult to rate Nancy Drew books as an adult 😋 so maybe I won't for this one. I'd never read it before so I didn't have a fond childhood connection to it, and I found things funny that weren't supposed to be funny...

[Moonkiszt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy Drew’s 41st case confirms once again that Nancy is tough on convertibles. Every few books one of her vehicles is crunched, but is either resurrected by kind mechanics on a side road, or replaced by her model Dad, Mr. Drew. This adventure takes her to Scotland, to visit her great-grandmother – Lady Douglas. She lives Inverness, in a famous part of the country (well. . .all of Scotland is famous, right?). I was tickled to hear about this genealogical tidbit – from Mama Drew’s side of the DNA strand!

There is a brooch missing, sheep are disappearing, mysterious bagpipers are playing partial melodies and Campbell tartans are longing to be worn. Nancy, who has proved she can do anything, sits down with a bagpipe and is able to play an old tune well enough to later save the day. This book has lots of real history, real locations and Nancy interacting with actual cultural touchstones. Those sorts of details always lift the ND formula up and out of the usual.

A fun sidebar is this is the book that mentions that famous picture of Nancy where she is bent over looking through a magnifying glass at footprints, that becomes a icon of all things Nancy Drew – the way Bess breaks it to her is that the photograph Bess took of Nancy toiling away on a case was one she submitted to a photo contest, and it won first prize! Rather than being pleased, Nancy was rather irritated because it outed her. As the tale goes on, that is true, Nancy is bothered for her autograph at inconvenient times. Oh well – at one point she is saved by someone recognizing her. . .so who knew? Bess took the pic!

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very exciting and suspenseful story. It is full of accurate historical information about Scotland. The story is very fun to read and I enjoyed every minute of it.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-reading Nancy Drew mysteries comforts me when I'm going through a rough time. And even when I'm not.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nancy Drew travels to Scotland to solve this family mystery that introduces us to Nancy's great-grandmother.

[Jessica Petrovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

FIVE STAR NANCY IS BACK BABY 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Oh my lord this one had SO much memorable, especially the core mystery of the sheep 😢🐑 Actually really sad!

Everything was related successfully, no tripping over plots here! Super satisfying to read.

Bombs, car accidents, wildcats, Nancy was up against it ALL in this mystery. And the Scottish setting was perfect.

ALSO would love to announce that in addition to Pedro Pascal being my fan-cast for Nancy’s Dad, I’m submitting Florence Pugh as my Bess.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nancy learns how to play the bagpipes during her layover to Scotland!!

[Dean Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the north,
The birthplace of Valour, the country of Worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.”

- Robert Burns

At the very outset of the story we learn that Nancy’s great-grandmother, Lady Douglas, lives on a large estate named Douglas House on Inverness-shire, Scotland.

She’s written a letter to Nancy’s father, Carson, a well-respected lawyer in the town of River Heights. The matriarch intends to bequeath her estate to the National Trust of Scotland and requested that the lawyer make the trip there to confer with her attorneys in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The letter also contained a vague reference to a missing heirloom, one of great value that Lady Douglas intended to pass on to Nancy.

Mr. Drew, knowing how busy he will be with the estate business, decides to invite his daughter to come along with him. She could focus on the mystery of the missing heirloom for her great-grandmother.

Nancy readily agrees with her dad’s plan, and in her excitement tell her friend Ned Nickerson about the trip. Ned listens, then goes on to tell her about yet another Scottish mystery involving the theft of sheep and lambs in the Highlands of Scotland.

That’s two mysteries, at the same time and in the same place. A dream scenario for Nancy Drew.

That same afternoon, Nancy receives a call from her friend Bess Marvin who breathlessly informs her friend that she just won a trip to the European country of her choice. Apparently, Bess had entered a photo of a “Sleuthing Nancy” to a magazine named Photographie Internationale. Bess’s was the winning photo that the magazine promised would be widely seen in their publications. Bess tells Nancy that she would like to invite her along for the vacation, especially since it was, she who modeled for the winning photo.

Nancy tells Bess that her father has also invited her to travel with him to Scotland but mentions that she’ll check with her father about the prospect of a future European trip with Bess.

Nancy discusses the contest win with her father, she also mentions the other “sheep theft” mysteries in Scotland. Mr. Drew comes up with the idea that since he and Nancy were already planning to take the trip, Bess could join them, asking Nancy’s friend George Fayne to also come along. It would be advisable to have some help, Carson Drew suggested, especially now that there was yet another mystery to solve.

Nancy agrees, calling Bess back to suggest the revised plan. Beth loves the idea and George is contacted. She happily agrees to come along as well.

The four were to depart in three days’ time, Mr. Drew announces. And in the next 72 hours, Nancy encounters three separate threatening situations: First, a truck slams into her car. A truck with no driver, no license plates and no engine serial number. Second was a note that arrives for Nancy that threatens that an accident will befall her if she gets into any kind of vehicle. The note was tacked to a tiny square of plaid cloth. The third and most disturbing situation came when a bomb was discovered in the Drew Family mailbox by Nancy and the Drew housekeeper Hannah Gruen.

Nancy draws a package from the mailbox. She hears a strange ticking sound, so she throws it onto the front lawn. Seconds later the bomb explodes!

Moments later, Nancy examines the area where the bomb exploded, there she finds several paper fragments which she collects an takes into the house. She spreads them out on the kitchen table and begins the task of reassembling them. It turns out to be a note of warning that Hannah Gruen guessed was placed in the mailbox sometime before the bomb. Hours earlier, the doorbell had rung, the housekeeper recollects, but when she opened the door, nobody was there. That may well have been when the note was left to warn her, Nancy decides. Just then Carson Drew walks into the room and Nancy tells him what the note said,

“Even if I have a mysterious person for an enemy, I think I have another as a friend.”

About this time, River Heights Chief of Police McGinnis knocks on the door. Mr. Drew invites him in. He asks Nancy about what happened, and she explained all the day’s strange events. She then shows the chief the assembled paper fragment note. The chief asks her if she could glue together the paper pieces while he and the other officers inspect the remains of the exploded bomb.

The next day, Nancy is walking down the street when suddenly she sees her contest winning photo posted in a druggist’s storefront window. Several kids gather around to ask for her autograph. Nancy sees that they are all children, and based on that fact, agrees to sign the papers they thrust out in front of her. Amidst the flurry of activity, she notices that one of the boys has sold her signature to a man. As the man hands the boy the money, she calls out to him, telling him that she wishes to speak to him. The man turns to her, then seeing she’s spotted him, turns and flees.
Nancy breaks away from the group and begins to chase the man, but he is too fast and soon loses her. She’s now faced with the fact that someone is threatening her and now someone else has a copy of her signature.

To what devious purpose this man would use a copy of her signature she doesn’t know, but it concerned about it all the same.

She recalls that he is a thin man with black hair and red cheeks. She’s determined to find him.
She returns to the drug store, asking the druggist, Mr. Gregg if he recognized the man who fit the description of the man who fled with her signature. The druggist thought it over, then recalled a man who came into the store fitting that description. He remembered that the man wanted to use the store phone, and that he had done this same thing a few times before. He also suddenly remembered that someone passing the man called him. Pete.

Nancy thanked him and left the drug store. She made her way to the police station where she told Chief McGinnis about the stolen autograph and that the man may be named Pete. The chief promised to investigate, and Nancy gave him the name of the hotels she would be staying at in Glasgow and Edinburgh. She also provided the address of her great-grandmother’s Scottish estate.

She leaves for home, arriving to meet Hannah Gruen and Ned Nickerson. Ned has some disturbing news that earlier that day he received an anonymous phone call in which the person on the other end of the line said:

“If you expect to keep your girlfriend alive, don’t let her go to Scotland!”

The next day, Mr. Drew, Nancy, Bess and George fly out to New York, then after a brief layover, onto Prestwick International Airport near Glasgow. Hours later, they arrive in the land of their new adventures.

The plane ride had not been without its turbulence, so much so that the pilot had to switch from autopilot to manual control. And the flight was not the only bumpy aspect of their Scottish excursion, one that included: A shadowy Stirling Castle dungeon, confusing coded messages written in Gaelic, the practice of “sheep shedding,” an elusive phantom piper and a wildcat encounter are but a few of the happenings in the Highlands adventure of Nancy and her friends.

I moved through page after page, devouring chapter after chapter, till suddenly, I was finished.

Always a sure sign of great storytelling.

[LobsterQuadrille · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was, as most of the original Nancy Drew books are, a light but entertaining read. It wasn't the best book in the series, in my opinion, because there were some things that were used a lot in the other books too, like the villain trying to run Nancy's car off the road. Also, some of the things the characters did were a bit illogical. For example, when Nancy found the mysterious coded note in the hotel room, why didn't she just take it or copy down the writing instead of going to the trouble of memorizing it? Also, Ned used handwriting analysis to try to find out who might have written a warning note to Nancy, and concluded that it was written by a "shy, motherly person, probably elderly". And this turned out to be a completely correct description of the note-writer. I don't know much about handwriting analysis, but it doesn't seem like it would be a very exact science, so such a precise description and perfect match seem kind of farfetched.

But I did like the interesting facts about Scotland's history and landscape that were sprinkled throughout the story, and I liked the plot overall, as it had some good twists and complications. Perhaps not the best Nancy Drew story, but definitely worth reading.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In another of the "Nancy travels the world" series, she goes to Scotland, and for the first time I can remember, looks for something that belongs to HER! A brooch that belongs to her great-grandmother (who lives in a castle in Scotland) is missing. Somehow also related to a wool-smuggling ring. (Seriously, is wool something people would smuggle?)

A continuity error is that the bad guys try to dissuade Nancy from going to Scotland before even Nancy knows she's going there or that there is any other mystery, though it seems like River Heights is the center of the crime universe.

No one loses consciousness or even gets kidnapped but there are a lot of car crashes and a houseboat flips over once. Also Bess entered Nancy into a photo contest and won so apparently everyone recognizes her from the cover of Photographie Internationale.

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Scots, Wha Hae," composed supposedly in remembrance of William Wallace and Robert Bruce ⁠— it's a song around which the plot of Nancy's mystery revolves in this particular story.

I always thought the name was Robert the Bruce, and have always been fascinated because if someone is called Anything the Bruce, that's serious business, now isn't it.

But anyway, Nancy and her friends omit the the, but I'm not changing my stance. These gals aren't always correct.

Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled,
Scots, wham Bruce has aften led.

I assume we're totally clear on the plot now, yes? Good.

Book also features:
-Exploding mailbox
-Wrecked cars
-Bagpipe learning
-How to coordinate clan tartans with your complexion.

I honestly have no idea what the mystery was here. Sheep stealing??

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember the first time I read Nancy Drew. It blew my mind that there were girls presented with a brain. Most of the stuff I'd read up to that time, was that girls were sugar and spice - fluffy. No brains. To also learn about George who is a tomboy was a nice validation. Carolyn Keene wrote just for me! That is how I felt. When I did more research, I was shocked to find out, Ms. Keene was actually a man ... writing under Frank Dixon. I also loved the Hardy Boys. No wonder I loved these series.

[ReadingScotland · Rating 4 out of 5]

So happy to find Nancy visited Scotland! She checks off so many "must-see tourist places" and eats all the right foods too! Full review here: http://www.readingscotland.com/2017/0...

[Lady Aquitaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, kids, it's official--I'm too old for Nancy Drew. Believe me, I'm sad, too.

I picked this one up because I realized it's one of relatively few books I have that are set in Scotland (a weird weak point, honestly), and my gosh, I was honestly amazed by just how bad the prose is. I'm also kind of amazed that I never noticed this before. It must be a long time since I read a Nancy Drew.

I did, however, enjoy at least some of the Scottish flavor--I had entirely forgotten how many of the sites I got to visit in Edinburgh were ones I had already read about years before!

P.S. Points for the police officer named MacNab, no doubt a cousin of Buzz McNab, everyone's favorite member of the SBPD.

[Shauna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This plot is incredible and not in a good way! Nancy starts off investigating some criminal behaviour in her home town of River Heights and then is whisked off to Scotland to visit her great grandmother and find a lost family heirloom. Amazingly the same suspects appear in various parts of Scotland and Nancy manages to solve upteen mysteries of sheep rustling, theft, personal attacks and learns to play a tune on the bagpipes in the blink of an eye. Not even my more gullible younger self would have swallowed that!

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

5+ stars & 7/10 hearts. You know me and my obsession with/love for Scotland. And my love of mysteries and Nancy Drew. So, yeah, I was pretty thrilled when I saw there was a Nancy Drew SET in Scotland. It did not disappoint. 1-2 kisses mentioned--that's it. Other than that, it was perfect! I loved the mysteries, and the storyline, and I loved the characters too. It was just really funny and intriguing and gripping and... yeah. My fav for sure. ;)

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disappearing sheep, a missing heirloom, and international stardom come together in this mystery that sends Nancy to Scotland to visit her great-grandmother!

A good mystery with a lot of focus on Scottish culture and history. Particularly loved their new friend, Fiona, describing the Scots as being "lusty" for battle...

Also loved that there was a police officer named MacNab. Nab those criminals, MacNab... Bet he heard that a lot.

[Libby Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy, Bess, and George (and new friend, Fiona) should get an award for accomplishing the most cliched journey in Scotland imaginable.

Glasgow, Edinburgh, Loch Lomond, Ben Nevis - all while at times wearing tartan and playing the bagpipes? Using the word “sleuthing” more times than you ever felt possible? Check and Check.

A lovely, silly, nostalgic read.

[Anushka R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

As much as I liked this book, the main reason behind me rating this four stars would be simply due to this plot not being as interesting as others within the series. However, that was expected since this series is a very long one.

[Hannah H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Nancy Drew classic. Nancy, in true fashion, goes to Scotland to the estate of her wealthy grandmother. Bess and George, who conveniently wins a vacation to anywhere in the world, that along. I really enjoyed the Scottish history that was shared in this book. It was more educational than I remember these books being! Such a fun read.

[Izzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

like every Nancy Drew book, this was a really good time <3

[Riikka · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 ⭐️

[Kinsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

10% plot and 90% scottish tourism

no but that was another fun girls trip! i love reading about girlies having a fun vacation with a little bit of danger thrown in the mix.

I have to say though the police in these books are far too efficient at their jobs and unrealisticly accomodating to Nancy. They apprehended a guy and held him just because Nancy had a convincing story but 0 physical evidence. Sorry but I don't believe that the police would ever be so helpful, especially to a woman in 1964.

I've only read two of these books now but I can tell they are so formulaic. Which isn't a bad thing because the formula is fun but now I feel like I know what to expect. I like these books because they're easy to read and I get instant gratification because I can finish them quickly :D

[Annie Thurman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not Nancy’s strongest mystery

[Merin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun romp with Nancy and friends! The setup for this one is a bit silly - Nancy somehow has a great-grandmother who's part of Scotland aristocracy - but I still had a good time.

[Kira Brunker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to travel back in time to a cozy childhood mystery!