The Mystery of the Ivory Charm

infobox Book |
name = The Mystery of the Ivory Charm
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Carolyn Keene
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series = Nancy Drew Mystery Stories
genre = Mystery novel
publisher = Grosset & Dunlap
release_date = 1936
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages =
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
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"The Mystery of the Ivory Charm" is the thirteenth volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series. It was first published in 1936 under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. The actual author of the 1936 edition was ghostwriter Mildred Wirt Benson.

Plot summary

The 1936 edition of the novel finds Nancy, Bess, and George investigating a mysterious boy from India. The lad, Coya, works for a traveling circus, and is treated poorly by his guardian, Rai, a mystic and elephant trainer, also a native of India. Rai gives Nancy an unusual hand-carved ivory elephant charm after she is nearly suffocated by an escaped snake.

Coya runs away from his abusive guardian and seeks shelter at the Drew home in River Heights. Soon after his arrival, the girls begin investigating property owned by the unusual Miss Allison. They encounter a house "with no insides," and a hidden tunnel. The property mysteriously catches fire, revealing a hidden cache of jewels. Nancy traces Coya's parentage and uncovers a sinister kidnapping plot involving both the American Miss Allison and Rai. The climax also reveals a secret about the Ivory Charm, and its mysterious powers.

The 1936 text originally featured cover art by R.H. Tandy, and for a few printings, four glossy illustrations by Tandy. Tandy updated his frontispiece to a plain pen and ink drawing for printings after 1943. Rudy Nappi illustrated new cover art for the volume's picture cover binding in 1962.

The 1974 version of the novel is very similar to the original text. Some character names are updated or altered, but the plot is largely a condensed modernized version of the previous edition. Rudy Nappi designed new cover art for the text, and an uncredited illustrator completed very dated text illustrations for the re-issue of the volume. Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and her employees, all of the Stratemeyer Syndicate completed the revisions.