The Mystery of the Ivory Charm

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #13

by Carolyn Keene

What secret life-giving power does the exquisite ivory elephant charm contain? Can the trinket really protect its wearer from all harm?

Nancy Drew finds out when the owner of the Bengleton Wild-Animal Show asks her to investigate one of the performers who may be involved in some mysterious illegal scheme.

The girl detective's assignment becomes complicated when the elephant trainer's young assistant, Rishi, seeks refuge at the Drew home from his cruel foster father, Rai.

While following clues to help the boy find his real father, Nancy learns about an eerie abandoned house. She is harassed by its strange owner, Anita Allison, and the fiendish Rai.

How Nancy uses the ivory charm, reunites a maharaja with his son, and brings the evildoers to justice will mystify readers from beginning to end.

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

179 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1936

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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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

[Sheri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Still feels just as exotic as when I read this as a kid. The foreign elements include India, mysticism, trances, turbans, charms, and the circus. Some of these bits were exciting and unusual, but soon the mystery was all over the place. It got convoluted and hard to keep straight and seemed to have strayed from the original intent. I doubt I followed and understood the whole storyline as a kid, but I would have enjoyed the strange and unfamiliar elements, and believe it or not, it's still the most enjoyable part of this particular Nancy Drew mystery yet today.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Standard fare for this series...which wasn't a bad thing.

[♑︎♑︎♑︎ ♑︎♑︎♑︎]

I can now state with confidence that books for children have, on the whole, improved since the 1930’s

[Alissa J. Zavalianos · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

This was probably one of the weirder Nancy Drew books I’ve read since book 1. This is in part because of the Indian traditions and mystical customs, ones I’m not familiar with, and all the “trances” Ms. Allison entered into. Things like this make me uncomfortable, but thankfully it wasn’t too crazy.

I will say, this plot was very intricate. It kept weaving this way and that, a kidnapping here, a stolen item there, and all the host of bad guys behind it all.

It was well done, and it held my interest the whole way through!

[Moonkiszt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy recovers a Raj for the Indian throne. . . .who knew that happened? A number of bad guys and a bad lady, a drifty professor, and Hannah is called Mrs. Gruen through the first part of the book, and towards the end is called Hannah again. . . as in all the first 12.

She does get an ivory charm, and the liquid stored in it is sucked down, saving lives. Now - if someone gave you an ivory charm that was 100's of years old and you could screw off the elephant tusk point on said charm, and you found yourself dying from an unknown reason, would you twist that point, eye the liquid and toss it back?

I'm afraid I wouldn't have made that choice. But Nancy did, and that's why she is famous and we are reading and writing about her.

On to #14!

[Kavita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the only Nancy Drew book which had Indians. Most foreigners (which are in itself rare) are Europeans or Mexicans and I distinctly remember two of my favourite books had Chinese. I was intrigued and prepared for loads of racism. But really, as far as racism is concerned, this was actually quite okay. Though I am perplexed why Americans wrote a book supporting royalty in India! Their own raison d'être appears to be that they don't approve of such things! ;)

Nancy and her father are engaged by the Bengleton Wild-Animal Show to investigate a mystery. It appears as if some performers may be involved in some illegal activity. But when Nancy actually attends the show, she comes across Rai, an Indian man and a performer in the circus. With him is Rishi, his so-called son, and an elephant, Arun. An extra star for the gorgeous elephant! Rai is abusive towards Rishi and Nancy tries to protect the youngster. Rai suddenly disappears and Rishi is taken home by the Drews. As it turns out, Rai is not the father. But who is the father?

The ivory charm in the title refers to a charm that is supposed to have the power of life and death. There is some American meddling in Indian politics and Nancy meddles a bit more. There are odd things happening, including a woman who may or may not be hypnotised, an antidote to poison that's hundreds of years old, a dethroned maharaja doing import-export business in the US (by all accounts, they were a bunch of wastrels), and random stuff happening in an animal show. I mean, if you're looking for a believable story, this isn't it. But if you take it in the spirit it's meant and go with the flow of fantasy, it's rather good.

[Jaksen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yikes! The difference between night and day with the original story, 1932, and any updated versions which appear later.

I definitely try to read a book from the POV of the time it was written, if it is indeed set in that time. Hard to do with questions of racism, colonialism, etc. But this one, written and published in the 1930's, takes the racism-cake, and I don't mean that flippantly. I could only read so far.

Nancy and friends, while waiting for a late train to take them home, witness the abuse of a young Indian boy who works for a circus. He's actually beaten! (Later he's hiding on the train and Nancy pays his train ticket.) No contacting the authorities or social services here; in fact after seeing the abuse, Nancy actually has a rather pleasant conversation with the boy's abuser and accepts an ivory charm of an elephant from him!

Back to the boy. Once home, Nancy's housekeeper announces she won't take a 'brown-skinned boy' into the house. But they do decide to keep him, and the fact Nancy may have 'kidnapped' the child IS mentioned. It's not enough for me. The boy volunteers to do some work around the house; they accept and let him sleep over the garage. OMG.

Imagine the generations of young girls who read this? No mention of social services. No what about school? No, hey, can we legally do this? No problem with allowing a child to work to earn his keep. WTH is this?

Now Nancy's father is a 'prominent lawyer' but he lets this all go until they can figure things out. (Meanwhile a mysterious woman visits Nancy, faints and is carried off by some shady guy. That part of the story would be appalling enough, but never mind...)

The copy of the book I own has a publication date of 1932. It has a '60's style' cover, and was given to me the Christmas of 1963. I turned eleven that December and I remember it very well. (Only a short time after the Kennedy assassination.) At any rate, the story, in its original 1932 form is pretty bad in just about every way one can imagine. Hard for me to think that in the 1930's this was considered quite all right.

So I re-read about a quarter-way in and said, nah, not gonna do it. Did it once when I was eleven, don't need to do it again. However, I will try to find a more updated version...maybe.

One star.

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This installment is one of the few that REALLY dates the series. It is blatantly racist and discusses the country of India and its leaders as if one was talking about something as inconsequential as an ant farm. There are some interesting scenes that take place at a circus and the girls are put in more perilous situations than normal but overall if I re-read again at some point in my life this one will certainly be skipped over.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, this one is batshit insane.
Nancy, Bess, and George are on the way back from a month at a mountain camp full of camp activities when they see a circus train and meet a little Indian boy named Coya, who is being mistreated by Rai, who is also a dick to elephants. Nancy is startled when a snake escapes and tries to squeeze her, but once she's saved, Rai, who is also apparently a bit of an idiot, bestows upon her the titular ivory charm of an elephant, because she has/is good luck? It's unclear, but again, Rai sucks on several levels. Nancy thinks it's neat, but when Coya stows away on the train and wants to follow her home, she decides to do him a solid and let him hang with her for a while. Hannah, of course, says she ain't gonna raise some brown foundling, because Hannah can be kind of racist/classist.
Anyway, as anyone would know almost immediately, Coya is a long-lost rajah whose death was faked, and Rai is trying to keep him hidden and ignorant, and basically as slave labor. Rai's accomplice is Miss Allison, who is ridiculous. She owns a big ol' piece of land that a golf course wants, and a house stands on the land - which is fucking HOLLOW ON THE INSIDE and set up so ACROBATS CAN PRACTICE IN IT, COMPLETE WITH MIRRORS. Please note that this is NEVER FUCKING EXPLAINED. Nor does anyone explain why a labyrinth of tunnels has been dug under the house, or why the exit is a huge disguised boulder. Or why there are fucking LOCKERS in the tunnel. So many questions. So many fucking questions. Allison also has a boyfriend, Steve Roach (or is that even his name?), who is a dick to Nancy and who smashed the fender on Ned's car, so he's clearly the worst. After the ridiculous, practically useless house burns down, Miss Allison is like "my treasures!" and Carson, Nancy, and eventually Ned do the work to retrieve her treasure of priceless jewels and assorted shit, but then Miss Allison goes into a stupid trance state and Ned and Carson take the treasures to the bank. Where Miss Allison JUST FUCKING ABANDONS THEM. I mean, they're Coya's, so they go with him, but... so weird.
Also, Nancy takes a trip to Emerson with Ned! They go to a dance together (OF COURSE) and Ned's irritated that other guys keep cutting in. Ned just wants to spend time with his best girl. Before the dance, Nancy's like "I don't feel like going, take someone else," and Ned is like "FUCK THAT NOISE, it's you or no one, you know that boo."
Ned also plays "look who just showed up to save your ass" several times in this book. Which I love.
Nancy's badassery:
-Manages to stay calm while a snake might be planning on killing her. She goes weak in the knees after, but WHO WOULDN'T.
-Finds the tunnel(s) under the house and boldly explores them.
-Steals some important papers (which, she finds, prove Coya's lineage) from a weird gruff farmer.
-Jumps in and saves Miss Allison after the dingbat tries to commit suicide by throwing herself off a bridge.
-HAS LUNCH WITH THE EFFING FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES. As you do. Carson isn't even fucking invited. This book was published in 1936, so that means she would have met Eleanor effing Roosevelt. And she's like "Yeah, that was pretty awesome."
-Saves Coya when the dingbat somehow manages to strangle himself in the acrobat practice ropes. Seriously. Dingbat.
-Goes back after said stolen papers even once the girls have been chased away from their picnic spot by some pissed cows. (They decided to have a picnic with no utensils, by looting the groceries Bess had brought with her. They're gleeful about eating chocolate cake with their hands.)

So yes, I am all about Nancy going to Emerson. Her souvenir is the ivory elephant charm, of course. Coya invites Nancy to India, in front of Ned, and Ned's like "PLEASE DON'T LET HER LEAVE THE COUNTRY I'LL NEVER SEE HER AGAIN," just not quite in those words.

[MK ( MaKayla) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"...they caught enough to comprehend that Mrs Allison was speaking of reincarnation .
"She's spooky ,"Bess commented "
"Reincarnation means after you die you'll be reborn as another person or animal doesn't it ?"
"I'll probably be a goat ."George laughed .

Typical George 😂😂💕

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only think I read this once as a kid, and I know why now. Simply put, the white colonialism that seeps into the pages is very much out of place with what we know about India now. This is one you can skip.

[Laura (Reading is a Doing Word) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the Revised Text.
Nancy goes to an animal show and ends up taking in a young Indian boy escaping from his cruel circus employer. This was definitely one of the more far fetched tales! There's a house with no insides, hiding secret passageways filled with treasure, a women who goes into meditative trances, a life giving ivory charm and a disinherited Maharaja! There's quite a lot going on and a lot of in rather unbelievable -
still it's quite fun!

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Stanley Strong, owner of the Bengleton Wild Animal Show asks Carson Drew to investigate some trouble, perhaps illegal activities at his show. But Mr. Drew can't make the appointment and asks Nancy to go in his stead. Nancy, Bess, and George attend the show and meet a young Indian boy who works with the elephants. Rishi is an orphan and his guardian, the elephant trainer Rai, is a cruel man who may be behind the suspicious activities. Rishi stows away in Nancy's car and pleads for her help in getting away from the cruel trainer. As she dives deeper into the mystery, she discovers proof that the young boy may not be an orphan after all and that his father, possibly living in River Heights, may have been a very important man in India.

This is a standard Nancy mystery--lots of bad guys, mysterious tunnels, a kidnapping or two, a weird lady who goes into trances at the drop of a hat, an ivory charm complete with luck and potions, and a missing treasure. There is a cave-in in the tunnels and Nancy & her father must escape. There is an attack on a professor who had agreed to tutor Rishi in English. The ivory charm is stolen and reclaimed. And...of course there is a happy ending for Rishi and his father and a jail cell waiting for the bad guys.

Not one of my all time favorites when I read these while growing up. I did like the animal connection and the background from India. Even though we find out exactly what Rai has been up to, I found it odd that Mr. Strong called in the Drews. He doesn't really have any actual incidents of "suspicious activities" that he can tell Nancy about. All he can say is that Rai is "secretive" and thinks it's okay to disobey US laws--but he doesn't give any examples of what laws have been broken. There is an incident where Nancy tells Rai that he can't whip Rishi in America--but corporal punishment by parents (or guardians) was not illegal in the 1930s (when this was written). I didn't think about it this thoroughly when I was nine or ten, but reading it now I think it would have been nice if there were a better hook to get Nancy into the mystery. Still--a decent adventure and a fairly good story.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nancy Drew returns for another mystery that even borders on the supernatural.

[C. (Don't blank click my reviews, comment please! · Rating 2 out of 5]

Children’s literature is no excuse for poor plotting or implausible circumstances. Numbering 60, naturally many other stories are better. Written by Mildred A. Wirt in 1936, revamped in 1974, “The Mystery Of The Ivory Charm” involves a child whose parents thought he was dead. How drastic! There are many ways to switch governors than to cause extreme grief. Mourners would not necessarily leave their country, nor need to leave the region in question.

Rishi garnered concern believably by evading an abuser to stay with the Drews. However, if you stole a politician’s child, you would not follow him to the USA, nor feature him in a circus. The story does not explain what an American woman had to do with a coup far away in India.

Here is the kicker that was insultingly narrow minded, in my view. I do not know if the fictional River Heights was a small town or city and it does not matter how small the Indian province of origin was. In what universe does anyone solve a mystery by asking one person: “Does anyone know a man in River Heights who is from this province of India” and instantly identify the lost child’s Father? Are there so few immigrants in the USA, that the one Indian someone knows in a vast neighbourhood could possibly hit the bull’s-eye? Credit children with intelligence and introduce them to research, by showing detectives consulting immigration records!

Life or death fuss was predictably constructed around the titular necklace. Teaching kids advocacy against the cruel ivory trade would be another superior lesson. Even more stupidly believe it or not, Rishi supposedly aced professional English tutoring but his speech remained stereotypically strained throughout the novel. He would be as eloquent as his Father, after years of living in the USA. Busted!

[Bon · Rating 1 out of 5]

My re-read through resumes, but unhappily in this book's case. Like many reviewers, this'll go down as an absolute least favorite. I was already side-eyeing the volumes in my collection with, shall we say exotic titles, and this one took the racism cake. From Nancy the white savior to Dr. Stackpole's condemnations of hygiene in India to well, all of it, oh boy. Mrs. Allison was the cringiest depiction of a colonizer "mystic" I've ever read. The irreverent jokes about reincarnation were awful.

Skipping this one in any future re-reads.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

Thank goodness HerInteractive did not use this novel for a game concept. What a wild story.

[Vicki Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

The original Nancy Drew books are great to read. In the 1960’s +, the original books were rewritten without many parts and pages of the basic books.
The first 26 books, except #8,9,&10, were written by Mildred A, Wirt. She is an awesome writer!!!! Carolyn Keene is not a real person, just the name in all the Nancy Drew books.
I’ve read most of the original Nancy Drew books by Mildred A. Wirt. Her books are so powerful and quick. The books have 25 chapters as apposed to the rewritten books which have 20 chapters, and less pages. The picture of The Mystery of the Ivory Charm in this place is different than the one I read. It also had less pages that I was reading.
I’m now reading another original Nancy Drew book, #18.
Soooo happy to have these originals.

[David Areyzaga · Rating 2 out of 5]

By today's standards on political correctness, this is by far the worst Nancy Drew story I've read so far. Sure, the pacing is fine, and there isn't any problem with the style since it's the same as in previous novels. The problem lies in the depiction of Indian characters. It is so racist that the argument "oh, but times were different back them" really doesn't suffice. There are many things I overlook when reading Nancy Drew because I enjoy the main character and seeing her solve mysteries is a nice way to shut off my brain for a while. However, this time I couldn't help but say "stupid white people" more than once.

[C.G.Koens · Rating 1 out of 5]

I remember reading the revised reprint of this book as a kid, but I just finished the original, 1936 version, and it's nothing like what I remember. As far as the original versions of the Nancy Drew books go, this has to be one of the worst... and most painful. As much as I love the originals of this series, I would recommend skipping "The Mystery of the Ivory Charm."

[Ruthie Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read all the Nancy Drew books (and the Hardy Boys) when I was a child, but I will admit that I have read them all again as an adult (a few years ago). The stories are old fashioned, but that's why I like them so much.

[Mckenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

wow!! very racist!! would be one star but ned is in here, love that guy

[Hillary · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reread continues! The mystery here was pretty good, but racism wasn't great. There were also some unnecessarily sexist descriptions in the beginning. They also sort of awkwardly handwaved over the fact that Nancy and her friends did technically kidnap Rishi, even if he went with them willingly. Nancy also definitely got out of some trouble with the police purely on the weight of her father's name, which doesn't bode well for the justice system here.

Wow, that was more issues than I realized. But the mystery was pretty good?

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another classic Nancy Drew, which my daughter loves hearing (I read these aloud to her) and which I read because my daughter loves hearing them. Follows the basic plot of almost all Nancy Drew stories, with the usual kidnappings and rescues (why do people always get kidnapped in these stories!), with the main plot circling around a mysterious boy from India and a "magical" ivory charm.

[Aubrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I thought this was a pretty average Nancy Drew mystery. It didn’t really go anywhere, so I found myself to be kind of bored throughout it...
Read more here!
https://pointextaken.wordpress.com/20...
Aubrey Joy

[Emily V · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great. It was a little confusing and all together just not the best book. I love Nancy Drew and I think I would recommend this book but there are better Nancy Drew’s to start with.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This mystery gave an interesting but brief introduction to India life and religion. A fast paced, light read breather book, I can't help but be excited in the conclusion.. the same way I felt when I first picked the book up in the 4th grade.

[Jessica Petrovich · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. Worst one yet!!!

Besides the horrible, poorly aged content, there were one too many deus ex machinas.

Weird story, weird mystery, racist caricatures. Big yikes on this one as a whole.

[Alyssa DeLeon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot more coincidental than most Nancy Drew books. Interesting twist with India and mysticism.

[Izzy]

You’ll be shocked to learn this hasn’t aged very well