This was a tedious story. The mystery(s) were choppy and pretty far fetched. Kadle was crazy obsessed with finding the treasure, yet he didn't find these two massive oaks with big lumps on them? He instead chops a newer oak into a mess? He decides to hire two thugs to harass Nancy and the archaeology crew? Please. The constant barraging of thieves at the dig site was not interesting, even with the walking skeleton. All that driving back and forth from the farmhouse to the town to make phone calls. And don't even get me started on the 'love triangle'! Ridiculous and unnecessary. Oh, here Art. Stand next to Julie Anne a couple of times so that you will like her more than Nancy. Then Bess and Nancy give each other a wink and a smile. Gah!

Additionally, as a fan of archaeology, I was sickened to see how anyone could just pick up a shovel and dig. Yes, I understand that this was a fiction novel. But the lack of order and methodical work on the site with the tiresome mystery storyline just killed the book for me.

The ONLY reason I finished the book was because I was reading it to my 5-year old and I didn't want her to give up easily. I would have tossed the book 3 chapters in.

I love Nancy Drew. They are pretty easy to read now, and don't take me long, but they are still really good.

This is a problematic title, because at least three separate stories (two similar, one very different) have been issued under this title--and that's just the ones I've read, maybe there are more! With most of the Nancy Drew books they've been updated numerous times and somewhat altered, and in one or two other cases there are two very different stories under one title, but this is the only one that I know has three.

These books are so easy and quick to read even if they are rather predictable. They are nice little mysteries for when you don’t want to have nightmares.

This was perhaps the silliest plot line so far in this series. Nancy is tasked with finding a hollow oak tree with supposed treasure buried in it, and she's forced to fly to NYC to hear about it from a friend of her aunt's, who then sends her back to Illinois for the mystery. Along the way, she joins an archaeological dig hosted by a local university, which seems to not have trained their students terribly well, because anyone and everyone joins the digging throughout the book. There's also some distasteful things done with the items they discover, lots of use of the word "Indian", and a total lack of care when it comes to potentially destroying Indigenous burial grounds. (I know, I know, this is unsurprising given when the book was written, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.) Also, two random people are kidnapped in this book for no apparent reason, there's more shaming of Bess regarding her size and her love of food, and a truly eye-roll worthy ending. Not my favorite of the series by any means.

Nancy jets off to New York and then Illinois to uncover a lost treasure near an excavation site. She is randomly trapped in an elevator upon her arrival in NY (which is never explained) but I guess we are meant to assume that this was the work of Kit. Aunt Eloise turns Nancy on to this mystery, and Ned’s female cousin just so happens to be on the dig site in Illinois where she needs to go. Serendipitous! Anyway, true to Nancy Drew fashion, there’s a couple of kidnappings, George takes a spill, and Nancy solves the intrigue that the adults just can’t seem to figure out.

A fun Nancy Drew, but nothing really special. They are all unrealistic anyways, haha!
Certain outdated terms were used when talked about Native Americans which is slightly expected, but doesn't mean it's ever OK.
The archeology aspect was really interesting, just a shame it had to be so casual about actual humanbeings and their graves. A little bit more respect would've at least been nice, but again, it's a chidlren's book and an old one at that, so I'm not surprised, if you know what I mean.