The Jewels of Sofia Tate -- Doris Etienne
Fifteen-year-old Garnet Walcott has just moved to Kitchener, Ontario, and she's not happy about it. She hasn't made any friends; she thinks the people at her new high school are a bunch of jerks; and when her mother isn't working, she's too busy trying to track down her long-lost father to pay much attention to Garnet. (Garnet's mother's long-lost father, not Garnet's.)
But then, a chance meeting with an elderly widow results in Garnet's involvement in an irresistible mystery: Years and years ago, Elizabeth Tate's father-in-law hid his grandmother's jewelry somewhere in the house. Since she's looked for it for decades with no success, she invites Garnet—and Garnet's new crush—to try finding the treasure: a priceless sapphire and diamond set that once belonged to a Russian countess.
Think this sounds a whole lot like the opening of a Nancy Drew book? You're not wrong. The heroine is a few years younger, a whole lot more cranky, doesn't have the blue convertible or the confidence—really, Garnet actually doesn't really resemble Nancy at all—but the storyline is very Nancy Drew.
The Jewels of Sofia Tate opens with the classic Chance Encounter That Results In A Mystery device to a plotline that includes Many Amazing Coincidences and features a villain who is Easily Identifiable By His Unpleasant Habit. Garnet even (SPOILER) Gets Loot at the end.
Also, just as in the Nancy Drew books, the dialogue is quite stuff, and tends towards the infodumpy:
Garnet's mother shrugged. "Still, you'd think she could have told me, her own daughter, especially once I was old enough to understand. Of course, with her illness, she probably waited too long and couldn't tell me later. I suppose I'll never really know what she was thinking. Your suggestion of hiring a private detective is a good one, though. I might look into it."
So, if you've got a young patron who's blazed through all of the Nancy books and is looking for more, this one might be a good pick, as long as it isn't Nancy herself who is the primary draw.
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Book source: ILLed through my library.