The Clue in the Crumbling Wall
The Clue in the Crumbling Wall is the twenty-second volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series. It was first published in 1945 under Carolyn Keene, a pseudonym of the ghostwriter Mildred Wirt Benson.
 First edition cover | |
| Author | Carolyn Keene |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Russell H. Tandy |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Nancy Drew Mystery Stories |
| Genre | Juvenile literature |
| Publisher | Grosset & Dunlap |
Publication date | 1945, 1973 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | c. 181 |
| ISBN | 0-448-09522-X |
| Preceded by | The Secret in the Old Attic |
| Followed by | The Mystery of the Tolling Bell |
Plot 1945
Nancy's flowers are stolen by a poor girl who has never really had anything nice. The girl's mother has disappeared. Nancy must find her in order for her to regain her inheritance which includes Heath Castle. If she isn't found within 3 weeks the castle will be turned into a park. Nancy, along with her best friends, Bess and George, investigate Heath Castle. The castle is a beautiful place with jungle-like grounds though the lawyer who is supposed to be taking care of it has let it fall into ruin. During their exploration of the castle, the three chums find a box in one of the crumbling walls which hold clues to the mystery. they find out from a nurse that worked at the Hospital we're Miss flossy was injured they find her on a farm name Clover Farm but when they get there they realize that she had been taken away by a government agent who was phony and was Hector keep in Disguise the lawyer he is arrested and so is his henchmen and they have so many debts at Heath Castle that she can't have it but Nancy finds that there are whelks that produce beautiful dye purple dye and a spring with amazing beneficent like it helps with bone deficiency and they at the end she is Miss flossie is happy and that's it
Covers
The original art, by R. H. Tandy shows Nancy (in a shirtwaist dress), Bess and George removing a box that they have found while hiding from two men were "hacking" away at the stone walls of a garden walkway. Bess is depicted with very dark blonde-light brown hair, and all three girls are in feminine clothing, contrary to what the text of the book describes (riding pants/slacks and casual blouses with sturdy boots/shoes). Nancy is depicted in the same dress in the frontispiece.
The cover was updated with revised art in 1962 to show the same scene, with all three girls again in dresses or skirts, and Nancy's hair changed to Titian red. In this cover, the men are on the other side of the wall. The frontispiece was not updated in this edition.
The story was revised for a 1973 edition with new art showing a montage of Heath Castle, the male vandals, and a perplexed and puzzled Nancy. The art work of the 1973 edition included a frontispiece and the internal illustrations that were described as crude and lacking in detail, according to adult critics and collectors.