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Nancy Drew Diaries #16
The Haunting on Heliotrope Lane
Nancy and her friends must try to figure out why a girl is acting strangely after visiting a haunted house in this sixteenth book of the Nancy Drew Diaries, a fresh approach to the classic mystery series.
Nancy’s classmate, Willa, needs her help. Willa is convinced something is terribly wrong with her friend Izzy, but everyone has dismissed Willa’s concerns, saying it’s just teen angst. But Willa thinks it’s more than that; she thinks Izzy is possessed.
It all started when Willa and Izzy snuck into an abandoned house with some of their friends. After running around and exploring, Willa went in to the basement and found Izzy staring into space. Izzy was conscious, but she was acting weird—she wouldn’t speak and she didn’t seem to recognize Willa. And when Izzy finally woke up from her trance, she had no memory of the previous few hours. Since then, Izzy’s continued to act strangely. She’s usually funny and easygoing, but now she’s high strung and has intense fits. Once she even threatened to hurt Willa.
Nancy is sure there’s a rational explanation for all of this and has a feeling she’ll find it at the “haunted” house. But what she finds has her questioning her resolve. Could Willa be right? Is Izzy possessed by the ghost of Heliotrope Lane?
Nancy’s classmate, Willa, needs her help. Willa is convinced something is terribly wrong with her friend Izzy, but everyone has dismissed Willa’s concerns, saying it’s just teen angst. But Willa thinks it’s more than that; she thinks Izzy is possessed.
It all started when Willa and Izzy snuck into an abandoned house with some of their friends. After running around and exploring, Willa went in to the basement and found Izzy staring into space. Izzy was conscious, but she was acting weird—she wouldn’t speak and she didn’t seem to recognize Willa. And when Izzy finally woke up from her trance, she had no memory of the previous few hours. Since then, Izzy’s continued to act strangely. She’s usually funny and easygoing, but now she’s high strung and has intense fits. Once she even threatened to hurt Willa.
Nancy is sure there’s a rational explanation for all of this and has a feeling she’ll find it at the “haunted” house. But what she finds has her questioning her resolve. Could Willa be right? Is Izzy possessed by the ghost of Heliotrope Lane?
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 2, 2018
92 people are currently reading
537 people want to read
About the author
Carolyn Keene
1,076 books3,897 followersCarolyn Keene is a writer pen name that was used by many different people- both men and women- over the years. The company that was the creator of the Nancy Drew series, the Stratemeyer Syndicate, hired a variety of writers. For Nancy Drew, the writers used the pseudonym Carolyn Keene to assure anonymity of the creator.
Edna and Harriet Stratemeyer inherited the company from their father Edward Stratemeyer. Edna contributed 10 plot outlines before passing the reins to her sister Harriet. It was Mildred Benson (aka: Mildred A. Wirt), who breathed such a feisty spirit into Nancy's character. Mildred wrote 23 of the original 30 Nancy Drew Mystery Stories®, including the first three. It was her characterization that helped make Nancy an instant hit. The Stratemeyer Syndicate's devotion to the series over the years under the reins of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams helped to keep the series alive and on store shelves for each succeeding generation of girls and boys. In 1959, Harriet, along with several writers, began a 25-year project to revise the earlier Carolyn Keene novels. The Nancy Drew books were condensed, racial stereotypes were removed, and the language was updated. In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.
Other writers of Nancy Drew volumes include Harriet herself, she wrote most of the series after Mildred quit writing for the Syndicate and in 1959 began a revision of the first 34 texts. The role of the writer of "Carolyn Keene" passed temporarily to Walter Karig who wrote three novels during the Great Depression. Also contributing to Nancy Drew's prolific existence were Leslie McFarlane, James Duncan Lawrence, Nancy Axelrod, Priscilla Doll, Charles Strong, Alma Sasse, Wilhelmina Rankin, George Waller Jr., and Margaret Scherf.
Edna and Harriet Stratemeyer inherited the company from their father Edward Stratemeyer. Edna contributed 10 plot outlines before passing the reins to her sister Harriet. It was Mildred Benson (aka: Mildred A. Wirt), who breathed such a feisty spirit into Nancy's character. Mildred wrote 23 of the original 30 Nancy Drew Mystery Stories®, including the first three. It was her characterization that helped make Nancy an instant hit. The Stratemeyer Syndicate's devotion to the series over the years under the reins of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams helped to keep the series alive and on store shelves for each succeeding generation of girls and boys. In 1959, Harriet, along with several writers, began a 25-year project to revise the earlier Carolyn Keene novels. The Nancy Drew books were condensed, racial stereotypes were removed, and the language was updated. In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.
Other writers of Nancy Drew volumes include Harriet herself, she wrote most of the series after Mildred quit writing for the Syndicate and in 1959 began a revision of the first 34 texts. The role of the writer of "Carolyn Keene" passed temporarily to Walter Karig who wrote three novels during the Great Depression. Also contributing to Nancy Drew's prolific existence were Leslie McFarlane, James Duncan Lawrence, Nancy Axelrod, Priscilla Doll, Charles Strong, Alma Sasse, Wilhelmina Rankin, George Waller Jr., and Margaret Scherf.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews
February 7, 2025
One of the best so far. The added horror element of a possible haunted house and demon possession really evokes the old school Scooby Doo gang vibe. I would have succeeded if it weren’t for that meddling Nancy Drew!
March 11, 2020
Nancy Drew is the BEST!!! I am so glad that my 9 yo daughter is finally into it. Now I can break out my old series from when I was a kid. Great story, kids were totally engaged as was I. Looking forward to sharing more with my daughter.
December 13, 2019
Solid mystery, but the profanity was disturbing.
Content: profanity, talk of demon possession
Content: profanity, talk of demon possession
July 22, 2020
It was fun reading this one..
It's pretty small you will finish it in an hour..
And I half guessed the suspense 😋..
Of course it's children's book so I can guess 😂😜...
I would love to read these more for some light mysteries 😋..
It's pretty small you will finish it in an hour..
And I half guessed the suspense 😋..
Of course it's children's book so I can guess 😂😜...
I would love to read these more for some light mysteries 😋..
April 29, 2024
Nostalgia is a mind’s trick. I used to read ND all the time as a kid. It’s not half as good as an adult :p but enjoyable nevertheless.
June 4, 2024
I must have had a brain rot problem in May because I didn't retain anything from this book. It was a really messy case and I don't remember anything about it. It was either a complicated narrative or I was too focused on driving to divert my attention. This had a cool title and pretty cover, but that's all I can tell you. I'm sorry, Nancy. I let you down. I'll try to do better next time. They can't all be winners.
April 20, 2025
The Diary series reads younger to me, I think because it’s in the first person, and I have yet to see Nancy‘s age explicitly stated – and Nancy (and Bess and George) read much more like high school students in this series than in the original stories. The ones I have read so far have her operate quite independently of her father and Hannah, whereas she often weighed in with them in the originals.
While I don’t think any of the paperback series hold up to the hardcover originals, they are an enjoyable bedtime read.
While I don’t think any of the paperback series hold up to the hardcover originals, they are an enjoyable bedtime read.
January 5, 2018
Oh boy, did this book tick me off! This book has to be the most biggest slap in the face to ND fans and a big insult to fans and Nancy Drew herself! Nancy is so wimpy, immature, and lame in this book. Every few pages, she gets easily scared or shakes from fear or screams in fear. She screams in fear more times than anyone else in the book! Bess and George also have to comfort Nancy sometimes because of her lame behavior! Nancy even has George lead the way in the haunted house when they go there to investigate because she is too scared to! In one scene, she says she is glad she hasn't peed herself from being scared! Um, really? How is this girl supposedly Nancy Drew, and even a detective at that too?? This is not Nancy Drew at all! She even says she investigated haunted houses before, but how can that be if she's scared all the time?? Her timid behavior was a bit annoying in previous books(#12, #13, and #15), but her behavior is worse in this book, way worse! Nancy is not strong, brave, and confident. Also, Bess scares Nancy and laughs. That is so unlike Bess! But Bess was pretty entertaining in this book, she carries around pepper spray and threatens to use it. She also seems to be back to her old self from the old series, she is scared and hungry like she used to be. But back to Nancy. Nancy is sort of determined in this book, but she has to keep telling herself why she is solving the mystery in order to stay determined. I guess she also kinda uses her head in this book, but her behavior overshadows her detective skills and really, the mystery solves itself here. In one scene, where Nancy and Hannah are at the door, getting ready to see who is outside, Hannah has a rolling pin for a weapon and Nancy thinks she should be bringing Hannah out sleuthing instead of Bess and George, basically saying Bess and George are not good sidekicks! Wow Nancy, poor Bess and George. But then Nancy changes her mind at the end, saying there wouldn't be any other two people to face an "angry ghost" with. Um ok then. There is also in one scene that had taken me back a bit. When Willa talks about the house on Heliotrope Lane, Bess says that it sounds like one of those old mystery stories, with the yellow covers. Um, was this a "cute" reference to the older Nancy Drew books??? Huh?? It's like this author is getting a kick out of writing a Nancy Drew book and had to make a lame reference. It also makes the entire book seem a parody of Nancy Drew. This book is actually almost a parody of Nancy Drew, due to Nancy's scaredy cat behavior. However, I did enjoy the scenes at the haunted house, those were actually pretty spooky and the end was pretty suspenseful and a bit exciting. The mystery was interesting and different, but I would have enjoyed it so much more if Nancy wasn't so lame! Overall, the premise of this book is so promising, but the book is pretty disappointing, due to Nancy being a mess in this book and I was so annoyed the whole time, reading about her. This book is a disgrace to Nancy Drew. The old Nancy Drew is rolling in her grave! I really hope for the next book, one of the authors that wrote #14, #11, #7, and #5 return for it and Nancy is confident, strong, and brave again. I really do not want to read yet another book with a weak Nancy again. Why can't Simon and Schuster keep one of those authors for the whole series?? Sigh. 2 stars.
January 29, 2018
It was really good at first, but a little disappointing in the end.. also Nancy is not her usual brave self... overall it is good, nice and creepy but just a little bit of a let down.. it is also really predictable, but do still suggest it!
February 22, 2021
This book is great. I love the way it is written, and of course the characters. It's a great modern day version of the old Nancy Drew Diaries!!
October 28, 2021
Well written, but a lot scarier/darker than most of the Nancy Drew Diaries. A little disturbing.
October 1, 2025
This story in the Nancy Drew Diaries series, a modernized version of The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, is significantly darker and scarier than stories in the older series, which started in the 1930s.
I was a bit confused in the book because it switched between mentions of a middle school and a high school, and just when I concluded the modernized Nancy Drew character had to be in middle school, she drove a car around. I’m doubtful many high schoolers would read this series, and it felt too scary for elementary school readers, the primary audience for the old series. It might be too scary for some middle schoolers also, especially since Nancy walks into dangerous situations alone with minimal parental oversight. She was always a free agent in the older books also, but the villains she encountered never seemed so mentally unstable and evil.
The mystery itself was good and not totally predictable. The book was well written with appropriate cliffhangers. I could see young mystery lovers enjoying it, but if like me, they may still prefer the older series.
I was a bit confused in the book because it switched between mentions of a middle school and a high school, and just when I concluded the modernized Nancy Drew character had to be in middle school, she drove a car around. I’m doubtful many high schoolers would read this series, and it felt too scary for elementary school readers, the primary audience for the old series. It might be too scary for some middle schoolers also, especially since Nancy walks into dangerous situations alone with minimal parental oversight. She was always a free agent in the older books also, but the villains she encountered never seemed so mentally unstable and evil.
The mystery itself was good and not totally predictable. The book was well written with appropriate cliffhangers. I could see young mystery lovers enjoying it, but if like me, they may still prefer the older series.
March 11, 2023
3.5 stars
As many other reviewers/readers have mentioned on Goodreads already, this was a weird book. I guess the word to describe it is dark. Some parts really spooked me out. The Haunting on Heliotrope Lane just set off a bad vibe. I don't know. You'll agree if you read it. Hope the next is better!
As many other reviewers/readers have mentioned on Goodreads already, this was a weird book. I guess the word to describe it is dark. Some parts really spooked me out. The Haunting on Heliotrope Lane just set off a bad vibe. I don't know. You'll agree if you read it. Hope the next is better!
April 8, 2023
★★★☆
[3.5 stars]
[3.5 stars]
July 24, 2020
This was surprisingly scary! Very different from the rest of the series. Young kids may be scared.
May 14, 2023
A bit too scary for children in my opinion.
October 26, 2024
definitely a comfort book that still has been laughing out loud
along with the sign in the smoke, this is also one of my favourites in the series!! it was just so beautifully written which you can see from all of the other books in the series, which must be one of the many reasons i fell in love with reading in the first place. reading this simply brings back nostalgic memories, LMAO, my head was buried in the book at 8 years old with my nose practically taking a huge whiff of the pages (yo, it smelled nice)
ANYWAYS, I LOVE THIS BOOK AND ITS KEEPING ME SANE DURING OLEVELS SO WHAT CAN I SAYYYYY
along with the sign in the smoke, this is also one of my favourites in the series!! it was just so beautifully written which you can see from all of the other books in the series, which must be one of the many reasons i fell in love with reading in the first place. reading this simply brings back nostalgic memories, LMAO, my head was buried in the book at 8 years old with my nose practically taking a huge whiff of the pages (yo, it smelled nice)
ANYWAYS, I LOVE THIS BOOK AND ITS KEEPING ME SANE DURING OLEVELS SO WHAT CAN I SAYYYYY
April 3, 2021
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I’ve been reading the Nancy Drew Diaries to see how my favorite teen sleuth is being portrayed in the modern world, and my feelings on the subject are mixed. Most of the Diaries series consists of Nancy trying to figure out who is sabotaging something or someone, which is kind of a drag because in the original Nancy Drew Mysteries, she solved many different kinds of cases. Could The Haunting of Heliotrope Lane break the sabotage trope?
Great! A haunted house for Nancy and the gang to explore. No sabotage in sight. Points for that. But even the cover art is wrong. Mrs. Furstenberg’s house is very clearly described as a “small ranch-style home” with light blue singles that “had probably been a cute little house.” So that was disappointing. One of the things the original Nancy Drew Mysteries had going for it was a cover scene that was described in the book in some way. And there’s really no “haunting” per se, more of a supposed demon possession, done very badly at that, too.
But the Nancy Drew in The Haunting of Heliotrope Lane is markedly different than the Nancy I grew up with. Indeed, she’s always been portrayed in the Diaries differently, but even more so in The Haunting of Heliotrope Lane. She’s constantly frightened by sights and sounds and she sounds positively more like Bess than Nancy. She knows there’s no such thing as ghosts, yet she’s frightened anyway. As I’ve mentioned before, maybe it’s because the Diaries are written in the first person, but having Nancy do all this hemming and hawing and being full of self-doubt does not endear me to the 21st century Nancy. The fact that she’s frightened over this obviously fake demon possession makes her lose points with me.
I also had a few issues with the way Nancy “spoke” while narrating. She “almost peed myself” and then she mentions the death of Mrs. Furstenberg as something like “the body still cooling” which sounded rather callous and immature. One reviewer even mentioned profanity, which I totally missed both times I listened to the audiobook, so obviously what’s profanity to some is not profanity to all. The point being that these books are written in a way that do not endear themselves to older readers, they are definitely geared towards children and not the adult who grew up on Nancy Drew Mysteries.
There are some signs of the old Nancy, though. Investigating an abandoned house, for one. But as she finds out, a lot of teens have been exploring and trashing the house over the past few months. Mrs. Furstenberg died of a heart attack nine months before, or was it a heart attack? Her son, Henry, disappeared after her death even though he was set to inherit the house. Could he have had something to do with his mother’s death? Nancy and the gang visit the house even though it’s breaking and entering and end up getting caught and taken to the police station. Luckily all their parents are pretty chill with having to pick up their daughters from the station. And kudos to Bess to take her personal safety serious enough to carry pepper spray, although she’s given grief about it by her friends.
The climax was just WHOA! I don’t want to give too much away, but Nancy is in real peril from the bad guy, who explains, in Scooby Doo fashion, how the crimes were committed and what he was going to do next. Clearly not playing with a full deck. And his accomplices seemingly have no problems with the plans even though they involve murder and arson. Pretty heavy stuff for a children’s mystery. I’m used to Nancy being in peril: the amount of times she’s been kidnapped or locked up by the baddies is countless, but she always either a) had the means to escape or b) had Bess, George, her dad or Ned looking for her. But this ending seemed especially sinister.
I’m not sure what the moral of the story is. Stay away from “demon possession,” protect yourself at all costs? Don’t go to horror movies if you have an active imagination? I’m not sure. It’s not like the original mysteries had a lesson for each book, they were just great adventures. But the Diaries series always seem to want to add some sort of lesson, like not excluding those who are different than you, or not trusting someone completely that you just met, just because you have a lot in common. I have no idea where this series is going. Maybe it will be back to sabotage for the next volume. Who knows? I’ll find out in two weeks when I read the next volume.
I’ve been reading the Nancy Drew Diaries to see how my favorite teen sleuth is being portrayed in the modern world, and my feelings on the subject are mixed. Most of the Diaries series consists of Nancy trying to figure out who is sabotaging something or someone, which is kind of a drag because in the original Nancy Drew Mysteries, she solved many different kinds of cases. Could The Haunting of Heliotrope Lane break the sabotage trope?
Great! A haunted house for Nancy and the gang to explore. No sabotage in sight. Points for that. But even the cover art is wrong. Mrs. Furstenberg’s house is very clearly described as a “small ranch-style home” with light blue singles that “had probably been a cute little house.” So that was disappointing. One of the things the original Nancy Drew Mysteries had going for it was a cover scene that was described in the book in some way. And there’s really no “haunting” per se, more of a supposed demon possession, done very badly at that, too.
But the Nancy Drew in The Haunting of Heliotrope Lane is markedly different than the Nancy I grew up with. Indeed, she’s always been portrayed in the Diaries differently, but even more so in The Haunting of Heliotrope Lane. She’s constantly frightened by sights and sounds and she sounds positively more like Bess than Nancy. She knows there’s no such thing as ghosts, yet she’s frightened anyway. As I’ve mentioned before, maybe it’s because the Diaries are written in the first person, but having Nancy do all this hemming and hawing and being full of self-doubt does not endear me to the 21st century Nancy. The fact that she’s frightened over this obviously fake demon possession makes her lose points with me.
I also had a few issues with the way Nancy “spoke” while narrating. She “almost peed myself” and then she mentions the death of Mrs. Furstenberg as something like “the body still cooling” which sounded rather callous and immature. One reviewer even mentioned profanity, which I totally missed both times I listened to the audiobook, so obviously what’s profanity to some is not profanity to all. The point being that these books are written in a way that do not endear themselves to older readers, they are definitely geared towards children and not the adult who grew up on Nancy Drew Mysteries.
There are some signs of the old Nancy, though. Investigating an abandoned house, for one. But as she finds out, a lot of teens have been exploring and trashing the house over the past few months. Mrs. Furstenberg died of a heart attack nine months before, or was it a heart attack? Her son, Henry, disappeared after her death even though he was set to inherit the house. Could he have had something to do with his mother’s death? Nancy and the gang visit the house even though it’s breaking and entering and end up getting caught and taken to the police station. Luckily all their parents are pretty chill with having to pick up their daughters from the station. And kudos to Bess to take her personal safety serious enough to carry pepper spray, although she’s given grief about it by her friends.
The climax was just WHOA! I don’t want to give too much away, but Nancy is in real peril from the bad guy, who explains, in Scooby Doo fashion, how the crimes were committed and what he was going to do next. Clearly not playing with a full deck. And his accomplices seemingly have no problems with the plans even though they involve murder and arson. Pretty heavy stuff for a children’s mystery. I’m used to Nancy being in peril: the amount of times she’s been kidnapped or locked up by the baddies is countless, but she always either a) had the means to escape or b) had Bess, George, her dad or Ned looking for her. But this ending seemed especially sinister.
I’m not sure what the moral of the story is. Stay away from “demon possession,” protect yourself at all costs? Don’t go to horror movies if you have an active imagination? I’m not sure. It’s not like the original mysteries had a lesson for each book, they were just great adventures. But the Diaries series always seem to want to add some sort of lesson, like not excluding those who are different than you, or not trusting someone completely that you just met, just because you have a lot in common. I have no idea where this series is going. Maybe it will be back to sabotage for the next volume. Who knows? I’ll find out in two weeks when I read the next volume.
September 29, 2024
The last Nancy Drew case that I read a few days ago left a bad taste in my mouth so I decided to jump right back into another. I am picky about my mysteries. Yes, I read them in between denser reads as palette cleansers, but during my entire adult life, I have only read three series to completion. I still read at least one Agatha Christie case a month, but with a contemporary series, the characters need to call to me, and so far I have not found a new series yet. In the meantime, I have Nancy Drew, the timeless detective who has been around for almost one hundred years. While not a fan of the original series, I have come to enjoy the modern iteration of Nancy Drew as a high school student at River Heights High School. Here, she is a local sleuth and also someone in the community that younger kids look up to, and the series has also gotten a face lift with the usage of modern technology and gadgets that kids can relate to. With October right around the corner, I decided to challenge myself to a spooky Nancy Drew case featuring ghosts and a haunted house. I could think of no better way to kick off my chilling October reading with a mystery aimed for kids that shouldn’t be all that scary or is it.
My family knows that I have an overactive imagination. I can’t watch anything remotely scary past about noon or I will have nightmares for weeks. Stranger Things? Nope. Horror movie marathons? Nope, again. The old school Buffy episode featuring Dracula? No way. This year I wanted to break out of my comfort zone. I know that there are no such things as ghosts or zombies or vampires, but the mere mention of them give me the creeps. I am not alone in my thinking because Nancy Drew the detective is also a realist, and ghosts scare her. George invites Nancy to a horror movie night at a local theater. George goes for that stuff and so does Ned, but Nancy and Bess, to a certain extent, freak out. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they went home afterward and got spoiled by Hannah’s home cooking, but in the parking lot, they are confronted by a girl named Willa who is getting scared by her friend Izzy’s recent behavior. The two are junior high best friends, but Izzy started acting strange after the two girls went inside an abandoned house that is said to be haunted by the ghost of a lady who died there. Willa knows about Nancy because every teen in River Heights does and asks her to take the case. Even though Nancy does not want to be anywhere near a haunted house, she reluctantly agrees.
The last Nancy Drew case I just read featured Nancy going solo on most of her detecting. Nancy sleuthing alone while Bess and George relax in the background has been my one major complaint about the original series and why I never got into those books growing up. The diary series shows all three girls and usually Ned working together to solve every case. They know their strengths and utilize them to work to their advantage when tackling all ranges of cases. On many occasions, Bess and George change their own plans to help Nancy because that is what good friends are apt to do. Nancy doesn’t believe in ghosts and Bess is terrified of the thought of a haunted house, so in this case George takes the lead. Yes, George is a techno geek and has assisted Nancy with many cases, but this case does not involve technology. It does involve the ability to get spooked, and thankfully George does not scare too easily. Bess asks to keep watch in the car; she is better than me, who would have just as soon stayed home. Of course, the girls are spooked at the house because they hear noises coming from the basement. There is grime and graffiti everywhere. Is the house haunted or just a teenage prank? Nancy will have to find out before it’s too late.
As with most of the diary cases, I find a lot of the methods to sleuthing cliched but fun. The books are aimed at middle grade readers and have to be geared toward their level. The times when Nancy Drew appears as a university student or older does not work with her character, which was created as a teenage detective all those years ago. Two kids act strange after going into the haunted house. Why? Nancy investigates and does not uncover anything too suspicious until an encounter with Izzy in her room. This is Nancy’s aha moment but she still has to figure out who committed the crimes and why. At home the plot becomes spookier because someone out there does not want Nancy Drew to discover who is behind the eerie happenings going on at the house on heliotrope lane. Nancy knows that she will have to make one last trip to the house, but Bess and George will come with her as support. That is what friends do and there is no animosity. The series shows the girls as long time friends who might not share similar interests, but they have been friends for so long that these are overlooked. Whether it is investigating a ghost on a lake, biking, camping, or working as camp counselors, the girls are there for each other, even if it involves a haunted house meant to scare people.
The Haunting on Heliotrope Lane is just a tad scarier than the other books in this series. Kids who get easily scared the way I do might want to skip this one. While Nancy does solve the case based on her adept deductive reasoning, there are some scarier moments that might even occur in an adult detective series. There are risks involved in every case, and this haunted house contains more than others. There are themes that might be too advanced for a middle grade reader, but, then again, I am coming from a generation that was not plugged in 24/7 as a kid. I also come as a person who has been scared of everything from walking outside at night to the mention of scary movies for her entire life. That is my impetus for attempting to read some scarier books in October, even an early Stephen King. If I get too scared, I’ll stop although my kids say that the books I selected are tame, whatever that is supposed to mean. I started easy with a “scary” Nancy Drew case. If you are afraid of ghosts and haunted houses, proceed with caution.
4 stars
My family knows that I have an overactive imagination. I can’t watch anything remotely scary past about noon or I will have nightmares for weeks. Stranger Things? Nope. Horror movie marathons? Nope, again. The old school Buffy episode featuring Dracula? No way. This year I wanted to break out of my comfort zone. I know that there are no such things as ghosts or zombies or vampires, but the mere mention of them give me the creeps. I am not alone in my thinking because Nancy Drew the detective is also a realist, and ghosts scare her. George invites Nancy to a horror movie night at a local theater. George goes for that stuff and so does Ned, but Nancy and Bess, to a certain extent, freak out. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they went home afterward and got spoiled by Hannah’s home cooking, but in the parking lot, they are confronted by a girl named Willa who is getting scared by her friend Izzy’s recent behavior. The two are junior high best friends, but Izzy started acting strange after the two girls went inside an abandoned house that is said to be haunted by the ghost of a lady who died there. Willa knows about Nancy because every teen in River Heights does and asks her to take the case. Even though Nancy does not want to be anywhere near a haunted house, she reluctantly agrees.
The last Nancy Drew case I just read featured Nancy going solo on most of her detecting. Nancy sleuthing alone while Bess and George relax in the background has been my one major complaint about the original series and why I never got into those books growing up. The diary series shows all three girls and usually Ned working together to solve every case. They know their strengths and utilize them to work to their advantage when tackling all ranges of cases. On many occasions, Bess and George change their own plans to help Nancy because that is what good friends are apt to do. Nancy doesn’t believe in ghosts and Bess is terrified of the thought of a haunted house, so in this case George takes the lead. Yes, George is a techno geek and has assisted Nancy with many cases, but this case does not involve technology. It does involve the ability to get spooked, and thankfully George does not scare too easily. Bess asks to keep watch in the car; she is better than me, who would have just as soon stayed home. Of course, the girls are spooked at the house because they hear noises coming from the basement. There is grime and graffiti everywhere. Is the house haunted or just a teenage prank? Nancy will have to find out before it’s too late.
As with most of the diary cases, I find a lot of the methods to sleuthing cliched but fun. The books are aimed at middle grade readers and have to be geared toward their level. The times when Nancy Drew appears as a university student or older does not work with her character, which was created as a teenage detective all those years ago. Two kids act strange after going into the haunted house. Why? Nancy investigates and does not uncover anything too suspicious until an encounter with Izzy in her room. This is Nancy’s aha moment but she still has to figure out who committed the crimes and why. At home the plot becomes spookier because someone out there does not want Nancy Drew to discover who is behind the eerie happenings going on at the house on heliotrope lane. Nancy knows that she will have to make one last trip to the house, but Bess and George will come with her as support. That is what friends do and there is no animosity. The series shows the girls as long time friends who might not share similar interests, but they have been friends for so long that these are overlooked. Whether it is investigating a ghost on a lake, biking, camping, or working as camp counselors, the girls are there for each other, even if it involves a haunted house meant to scare people.
The Haunting on Heliotrope Lane is just a tad scarier than the other books in this series. Kids who get easily scared the way I do might want to skip this one. While Nancy does solve the case based on her adept deductive reasoning, there are some scarier moments that might even occur in an adult detective series. There are risks involved in every case, and this haunted house contains more than others. There are themes that might be too advanced for a middle grade reader, but, then again, I am coming from a generation that was not plugged in 24/7 as a kid. I also come as a person who has been scared of everything from walking outside at night to the mention of scary movies for her entire life. That is my impetus for attempting to read some scarier books in October, even an early Stephen King. If I get too scared, I’ll stop although my kids say that the books I selected are tame, whatever that is supposed to mean. I started easy with a “scary” Nancy Drew case. If you are afraid of ghosts and haunted houses, proceed with caution.
4 stars
February 22, 2018
I'm being generous giving THE HAUNTING ON HELIOTROPE LANE 4 stars; it's actually worth closer to 3.5.
Once again, the premise has enormous potential. Lengthening the story and providing more information would have been a great start. Having Nancy act like Nancy Drew would have been nice too. She came across as someone who's afraid of her own shadow several times.
There was one line from Bess that brought a big smile to my face: "'The house on Heliotrope Lane?' Bess asked, then giggled. 'That sounds funny. It's like one of those old mystery stories---do you remember that series with the yellow covers, Geo---'" Maybe a bit too metatextual for a Nancy Drew book, but still funny.
Once again, the premise has enormous potential. Lengthening the story and providing more information would have been a great start. Having Nancy act like Nancy Drew would have been nice too. She came across as someone who's afraid of her own shadow several times.
There was one line from Bess that brought a big smile to my face: "'The house on Heliotrope Lane?' Bess asked, then giggled. 'That sounds funny. It's like one of those old mystery stories---do you remember that series with the yellow covers, Geo---'" Maybe a bit too metatextual for a Nancy Drew book, but still funny.
January 6, 2019
This one is bad. If you're for some reason using my reviews as a gauge as to whether or not to read these, don't read this one. The "haunting" is misleading as no one in the book aside from the girl who suspects the ghost actually believes in ghosts. This is a poorly patched together Nancy Drew. At one point, the brother of the girl Nancy takes the case from meets them in the haunted house and them claims he "forgot he met" them. It's also brought out way to early that the girl (whose name I don't care to look up) could be being tricked by everyone - which is exactly what happens. I know its Junior Fiction but does that mean it has to be so poorly constructed?
May 12, 2020
Well, this was... pretty terrible. I really like this new ND series, but this was a complete miss for me. I don't know who write this title, but I don't think they've ever read a Nancy Drew book before. I was SO irritated by how simpering, silly, and cowardly Nancy was portrayed in this book. At least once per page she was scared by, screaming at, or running away from something. It was pretty disgraceful.
April 2, 2020
The Haunting on Heliotrope Lane by Carolyn Keene is the sixteenth of the Nancy Drew Diaries. Nancy is hired by a classmate because a mutual friend has been acting weird after exploring an abandoned and rumored-to-be-haunted house at the end of Heliotrope Lane.
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2020/comm...
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2020/comm...
April 22, 2020
I think this mystery disappointed me because there was never an opportunity for me to solve it myself. Only Nancy had any of the pieces and even so it still ended with a villain monologue and was unsatisfying. I read mysteries to solve the mystery first, and this was not a ND where I could do that.
April 19, 2024
Nancy doesn’t solve this mystery and neither could the reader, culprit out of no where and honestly Nancy finds no clues - all she does is googles the history of the house then a million jump scares and dumb “scary” stuff that add nothing to the mystery
December 31, 2024
I mean, sure? It was creepy? But… the plot didn’t really add up, the story was all over the place, & the characters felt like they could not decide who to be. One moment it was a mystery story, the next it was a possible haunted tale, & then back to being a mystery.
April 1, 2024
This feels a little darker than the normal Nancy Drew title, probably because it's written for a more contemporary reader than the original ND books. I had always liked (if not loved) Nancy Drew titles from the fact the mysteries always made somewhat logical sense in the end, more than the average Scooby-Doo mystery (which... has a talking dog, for one thing) even though both cover similar ground: teens solving mysteries that often have a paranormal element that tends to be explained by an adult in a mask or whatever.
I admit, this reads nothing like that.
To be fair, . It just feels like pushing the Nancy Drew-ness of the series the way the story goes.
Not the worst ND story I've read/played. (THAT honour belongs to one where ... like, really?? Okay...
Recommended for Nancy Drew fans, of course, or fans of mysteries with a spooky theme!
I admit, this reads nothing like that.
To be fair, . It just feels like pushing the Nancy Drew-ness of the series the way the story goes.
Not the worst ND story I've read/played. (THAT honour belongs to one where ... like, really?? Okay...
Recommended for Nancy Drew fans, of course, or fans of mysteries with a spooky theme!
February 3, 2019
An extra star for the purpose of this story. They are WARNING children about demonic possession and evil people who do it. This story's moral is to tell everyone not to be trusting and ALWAYS ALWAYS protect yourself. Read b\t the lines of the story. Esp when she meets the "cloaked figure with a mask of a demon-type creature with red eyes , graying skimming skin, and curving horns. Then the demon (it is written this way. A demon.) With a possessed voice pats her down (TSA style. Again I am quoting the book. NOT paraphrasing. So, in other words a grown man is sexually assaulting Nancy.). ends up saying, "So, you think this is a hoax? You think you know the truth."" In the end, Willa ( who hired Nancy) is supposed to learn a lesson and"not be so trusting from this point forward. " A quote from Nancy. Nancy goes on to say, "In a perfect world everyone would be trusting all the time. But this isn't a perfect world. Look what happened to Izzy, Owen, and Gavin. They trusted Henry.". Henry was going to burn Nancy alive in that house. Those three people were holding Nancy and going to let him kill her. Then he gets a baseball bat and prepares to bludgeon the ND gang to death. Luckily the most timid of the gang saves the day by spraying Henry with pepper spray and she called the police. She days, "" A gurl can't be too careful these days".
November 17, 2019
I love this updated Nancy Drew series. It's the same characters from the original books, but it's set in modern times. Much more readable and relatable. It's a great series to introduce kids to the mystery genre. These books can be read out of order which is super convenient. Boys will like the updated Hardy Boys Adventures series.
This is a haunted house story, so not my favorite. Too typical. There's lots of more unique mysteries to be found in this series. Nancy is leaving the movie theatre with her friends when Willa stops her and asks her to check out the old abandoned house on Heliotrope Lane. She claims that her friend has been acting weird ever since they went inside. In fact, she's acting like she's possessed by a spirit. Nancy and her best friend, George, investigate, but find nothing unusual. Then, a boy she knows to be rather shy, acts possessed also. Something is going on. Nancy doesn't believe in ghosts and she's determined to get to the bottom of this mystery.
My original Nancy Drew books do not circulate, but I think this series will have some takers.
This is a haunted house story, so not my favorite. Too typical. There's lots of more unique mysteries to be found in this series. Nancy is leaving the movie theatre with her friends when Willa stops her and asks her to check out the old abandoned house on Heliotrope Lane. She claims that her friend has been acting weird ever since they went inside. In fact, she's acting like she's possessed by a spirit. Nancy and her best friend, George, investigate, but find nothing unusual. Then, a boy she knows to be rather shy, acts possessed also. Something is going on. Nancy doesn't believe in ghosts and she's determined to get to the bottom of this mystery.
My original Nancy Drew books do not circulate, but I think this series will have some takers.
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