I’ve been working a lot and listening to audiobooks, but my actual reading has tapered off somewhat. However, I’m still plugging along on the Nancy Drew Mysteries and Diaries series’. Since I’ve been suffering a bit from Nancy Drew fatigue, I’ve decided to only read the Original Text (OT) of the series since I haven’t read them before. This week I’m up to volume 29, The Mystery at the Ski Jump, which was originally published in 1952.

From the publisher: “When Nancy learns the Drews’ housekeeper has been duped by an elegantly dressed woman into buying a stolen fur piece, the young detective starts a search for the clever swindler. To Nancy’s astonishment, she discovers the woman is using the name Nancy Drew! The dishonest acts of the impostor point the finger of suspicion at Nancy herself! Following the trail of the clever fur thieves and stock swindlers to New York and into Canada, Nancy is tireless in her quest for justice, determined to clear her good name!”

I read the Original Text of The Mystery at the Ski Jump (AbeBooks) and just skimmed the Revised Text (Amazon) (AbeBooks). Once in a while there are typos in a Nancy Drew book, but this book had quite a few. And the ghostwriter doesn’t get it quite right when talking about the death of Nancy’s mother, which she said was “several” years before. The OTs rarely give an age for Nancy when this happened, but I thought one book mentioned she was ten. In the RTs, Nancy is three when her mother died.

Nancy is a decent ice skater and just okay on skis, although she improves greatly when she gets some tips from a handsome young ski guide named Chuck. I really enjoyed the fact that this mystery happened in the winter, although I am definitely not a winter sports enthusiast (except for watching the Winter Olympics).

This book has a phony stock scheme, which is a trope used in volume 23, The Mystery of the Tolling Bell (read my review here) and volume 25, The Ghost of Blackwood Hall (review here). So I suppose I shouldn’t get too upset that the Diaries’ series seems to use sabotage for most of their plot devices. Oh, and Nancy’s identity is stolen like in volume 4, The Mystery of Lilac Inn (review can be found here).

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Nancy Drew book unless she’s kidnapped or knocks her head and loses consciousness, which both happen in this book. The kidnapping happens when her chums turn their backs for a few minutes, and she’s left in an unheated cabin in the woods. When she’s found, she’s bound and gagged and semi-conscious but it’s commented that she was smart enough to move her limbs the best she could to avoid hypothermia. Nancy also gets stunned falling on a ski slope.

Nancy travels far and wide in this volume. She visits Aunt Eloise in New York, and heads to Canada to meet up with her father, and eventually ends up at her aunt’s cottage in the Adirondacks. The boys are on a short winter break from Emerson so they can tag along with Nancy, Bess and George.

Sadly, as much as I actually liked the mystery overall, the fact that she’s investigating stolen mink furs and gets a few pelts as a thank you means that this story hasn’t aged well at all. PETA would be all over her case today.

For my Nancy Drew book reviews, click here.

For more information about my favorite sleuth, check out Jenn Fisher’s Unofficial Nancy Drew website, which has a wealth of information.

For more information on series books, Jennifer White has a fabulous website that you can visit by clicking here.

For more of my book reviews, visit www.bargain-sleuth.com

Or subscribe below and never miss a review.

Join our Facebook page Bargain Sleuth Book Reviews or join our book group here.

This post contains affiliate links.