The Clue of the Velvet Mask

 The Clue of the Velvet Mask (1953) by Carolyn Keene

Nancy Drew finds herself in the middle of another mystery when she and Ned Nickerson attend a masquerade party at the Hendricks mansion. Her father, half-joking, tells her not to let any thieves spoil the party, but there have been a string of recent thefts at house parties. Nancy and Ned spot a mysterious man in a black cloak and velvet mask scoping out the trellis beneath a second-story window. Nancy later finds a similar velvet mask which will eventually give her a clue to the thieves' plans. But despite the sleuth's watchful eye, valuable miniatures and jewels are stolen. 

There seems to be a link between the thefts and the Lightner Entertainment Company--a company that helps manage parties as well as providing costumes when needed. One of Nancy's school friends, Linda Seeley, works for the company and comes under suspicion of, at the very least, disclosing party details to the wrong people if not being in league with the thieves. Nancy is certain Linda is innocent and redoubles her efforts to find clues that will lead her to real culprit/s. Along the way, she and George devise a daring plan to try and capture the crooks--George will dress up as Nancy! This doesn't go well and George winds up brain-washed (or something) and suddenly afraid of Nancy's mystery-solving ways. But--even though Nancy can't depend on George for back-up, she and Bess...and Ned manage to track down the crooks and serve them all up to Chief McGuinness on a silver platter.

This was another of the Nancy Drew mysteries that I didn't reread much. It definitely has an intriguing theft plot with the use of the parties as cover for stealing. But it just didn't click the way some of the titles do. For one thing, the main culprit is ultra-obvious. For another, there really isn't a reason why George needs to pretend to be Nancy. Nancy could just be herself and George and Bess could have stood by to try and catch the crooks (not that it would have turned out much better--since the bad guys had them all covered from the get-go). But still--disguise wasn't necessary unless we were just going along with the whole masquerade theme. And, finally, it's never really explained how the nasty woman managed to get gutsy George to suddenly turn into a fraidy cat. There's been danger before. George didn't back down. There have been threats to Nancy and her father and Hannah Gruen before. George was still gung-ho for solving mysteries. 

Overall, another good entry in the series. I enjoyed the descriptions of the parties and behind-the-scenes look at the company which managed them. Nancy is on the ball as usual and it was nice to have Ned taking an active part in apprehending the crooks at the end. ★★★ and 1/2.

~One surprising note on the original text version (I read both side-by-side just to see the differences): While Nancy and Mrs. Gruen wait downstairs while Carson Drew helps Ned get into his 18th Century costume, we get this little tidbit: During the next ten minutes weird sounds filtered down to Nancy and Mrs. Gruen. They were certain that the costume would be ripped to shreds before Ned's muscular body could be encased in it. (?!)

First line: "You look lovely, Nancy, and very mysterious," said Hannah Gruen, housekeeper for the Drew family, as she smiled fondly at the slender. blue-eyed girl.

Last line: "I tried it once and found it too dangerous!"