It was my first introduction to the investigative work of history in its most literal sense, and it made a powerful impression on this aspiring girl detective (I must have been about 10 when I read the book). 2 I remember Nancy training her magnifying glass on a fashion clue in a portrait hanging in a museum, and her dramatic discovery of the lost cuffs, hidden within a wooden beam in a dusty attic. 1 Long after I forgot the details of the implausible storyline, I remembered the book’s tantalizing descriptions of point de gaze, and the painstakingly explained technical differences between bobbin lace and needle lace. Yet, despite its flaws, The Secret in the Old Lace isn’t just my favorite Nancy Drew book it’s a formative text in my career as a fashion historian. Cue a lot of stilted exposition, seemingly composed by the Bruges Tourism Board. No sooner has Nancy completed her entry when she and her faithful gal pals, Bess and George, are invited to visit a family friend in- quelle surprise!- Belgium, where they get the chance to solve the mystery for real.
The contest’s prompt: propose a solution to a historical whodunit involving a secret message in French, stitched into a dashing Belgian aristocrat’s lace cuffs. The convoluted plot relies heavily on coincidences and lucky guesses, and it’s hampered by an awkwardly meta framing device: the fictional “girl detective” enters a magazine’s writing contest. The Secret in the Old Lace (1980) is not particularly beloved by Nancy Drew fans, and there’s no mystery why.
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