Nancy Drew 08: Nancy's Mysterious Letter

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #8

by Carolyn Keene

Nancy receives a letter informing her that she is heir to a fortune. This story tells of her search for another Nancy Drew.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Classics, Middle Grade, Mystery Thriller

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

Carolyn 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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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.

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 2 out of 5]

One thing you can always count on when reading a Nancy Drew mystery is an original story line. I think that may be part of what made them so exciting when I was younger. Besides learning about the various crimes and scams, I got to learn about things that weren’t part of my world. Things like sailor lingo, or the fact that there are postal inspectors, and even a bit of Shakespeare.

This particular mystery was a bit weak. It started out alright but sort of dissolved into a chase to track down the culprit and the elusive other Nancy Drew. The culprit is known from the beginning, so there is no suspense there. Additionally, so much of the story is contrived; it really is just filler and adds nothing to the story. The author tried to work in suspenseful and seemingly related happenings but wasn’t quite successful in creating scenes that fit naturally within the story.

There were a few scenes that weren’t realistic at all such as one where the girls are in the convertible and it is noted that Nancy had put the top up earlier as the day appeared cloudy and raw. It is November, it starts to snow in the same scene, yet Nancy had been riding around with the top down the day before? I live in Wisconsin, and no one is driving their convertible with the top down in November, ever. It’s much too cold, and usually windy, for that. River Heights is supposedly in Illinois and it’s not that much warmer there.

We do learn more about Ned in this book, and we see how he is the embodiment of the all-American football star. There’s even a chapter or two detailing his winning kick in the big game. Also notable is that Ned and Nancy’s relationship has certainly taken off since Nancy only started dating him in the last book. We’re introduced to Burt and Dave, George and Bess’s respective dates, and we will see them again in future mysteries.

This was an original idea that wasn’t quite enough for a full plot. It needed more elements to really flesh it out into a mystery; more suspects, less filler, more exciting clues. Overall, as part of the series it’s an okay read with a weak mystery.

[Suhailah · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Hello again, Nancy Drew! It’s been awhile! It was great to be back in the Nancy Drew world even though this mystery was mediocre. It started out exciting, making you believe you were getting a two-for-one mystery special, but it ended up lacking suspense and deprived you of the fun ability to feel like you are doing your own “sleuthing” as it essentially just turned into this huge chase to find the guilty person.

I also didn’t really care for a lot of the themes presented:
X – The various mentions of wealthy (“well to do”) people vs. poor people
X – The scene that lasted 2-3 pages describing the football game Ned played in (I’m not a fan of football!)
X – The unusually simple coincidences (eye roll)

Apart from all that, I keep coming back to continue this series because it is my childhood and the stories are usually light, fun, and easy to read. I also have this unstoppable goal of collecting and reading the entire original series I’ve been working on very slowly for a few years. Book #8 complete ✓

Back to the story:
This one did bounce around a lot of things I feel has already become a part of the past and/or become a luxury for so many of us struggling today – such as steaks and retirement but still gotta love the old-fashioned vibes that are forever alive in these books. For example, the lack of internet!! Poor Nancy spent a lot of time making phone calls just to get simple information that would have taken seconds to get with internet access! I think we definitely take the existence of internet for granted sometimes!

LOL, my last question is why are all “Edgars” portrayed as villains?! 😂

My overall thoughts on this one are definitely skip it because there are far better Nancy Drew mysteries to read UNLESS you are totally a completionist (like me) and dedicated to fulfilling this goal regardless! Either way, happy reading everyone!

[Moonkiszt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Since so many of the ND books are written by committee, I'm betting this one was a man. . . .there's a male perspective I haven't sensed til this one, #8. And there was a lot of Ned, dances and "getting ready" for dances and dates. I kinda like it better when she is just doing that because it is part of Nancy being Nancy. And. . . still concerned at how absent Dad Drew is . . . .he's there but whenever they are together for a minute, he gets called away.

Anyway! Off to #9, twisted candles are involved, and it's October, so Halloween will be in the wings, maybe?

[Lindsey (Books for Christian Girls) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars ⭐️ Children’s Classic [Yellow Flashlight revised 1963 edition - Listened to Penelope Heaven’s audiobook of this on YouTube]


I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I remembered, but that’s probably just grief talking. Tommy is the real MVP of this book.



Main Content notes for parents-
Mentions of church, church going, & Sunday school; A mention of bad luck; A mention of fate.



Dangerous situation counter: A woman tries to hit Nancy; Almost falling down the stairs; Being locked in a room; A rock is thrown at Nancy; A car nearly runs over Nancy and Ned; A curtain nearly falls on Nancy; Being Chloroform’ed & Passing out.

George teases Bess about shooting a squirrel.

All about & mentions of a thief, stealing, stolen items, and scams/cons; Mentions of a wrecked car; Mentions of a swindler; A few mentions of threats; A couple mentions of a robbery.

A woman lectures Nancy, about driving as she doesn’t approve of young girls having cars and how girls today don’t mind what their elders think; Nancy exclaims about herself doing something stupid.



Bess is described as slightly overweight.



George fusses at Bess for always thinking of romance.

Mentions of dates; A wondering if a man is a bigamist (he is not, but could appear that way).



Some things that worked for the time period this book was written/revised in, but might raise eyebrows now: “gaily” (happy) is used once.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

More fun and excitement from this series.

[Mark Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy Drew has received a letter from a law firm in London. They are trying to track down a Nancy Drew who has become an heiress in England. Obviously, she isn’t the intended recipient, but she sets out to find the woman with the same name. Meanwhile, she’s also trying to track down a mail thief who hit very close to home. Can she solve both cases?

With some of the other Nancy Drew books I’ve reread as an adult, I’ve complained about too many coincidences in the plot. That’s not the case here. Nancy may jump to a few wild but correct conclusions, but by the time we reach the end, everything has come together logically. Along the way, we get some great twists and turns that are tons of fun. The characters remain thin and there are a few dated references, but overall, this is a book that will keep the intended audience, middle graders, turning pages as quickly as they can to figure out exactly what is going on.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[C. (Comment, never msg). · Rating 2 out of 5]

After having a few "Nancy Drew" novels as a youngster, it is fun to read all of them in order. I discovered a great essay about the Stratemeyer family and know writers were employed to expand story ideas. The original author, Mildred A. Wirt, had more leeway when Edward was alive than when his brave daughter, Harriet took over. In the 1950s, Harriet received enough complaints about impropriety to undertake rewriting the suite; sometimes in imbalanced chunks. My yellow hardcovers are the rewrites, whereas my Mom's generation would know Nancy's spunkier portrayals.

Melanie Rehak's essay is worth reading to understand the marvel Mildred was. A remuneration conflict resulted in a Walter Karig penning this novel! I hope the subsequent two he did are better than this. No wonder "Nancy's Mysterious Letter" is one of the weakest. However one fault is a spoiler synopsis at the Goodreads website! It told how the novel would go! My careful summary is that this mystery derives from a stolen mailbag. The approach was silly right away.

No one would take a mailbag from a house, instead of in public. Worse, Nancy knew there was an international letter for her but dillydallied to read it. Her Dad places European phone calls to learn the contents of the letter, from the sender that they were able to ascertain. The mystery would have been just fine, had Nancy read the letter and pursued its puzzle directly. Superfluous drama was a turnoff. This only needed to be a mission to locate someone. However I admired that Nancy, Bess, George, and Carson did do a lot of real legwork. I look forward to quests and outcomes that are far more atmospheric than this one was. Old houses and treasure chests make more exciting subjects than a greedy bloke.

[Nathan Brodsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. I learnt a lot from this book.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A missing mailbag and a young woman with the same name as our main sleuth make for a very interesting mystery. Nancy Drew is on the case, once again, with her friends Bess and George, her housekeeper Hannah, her lawyer father, and even Ned Nickerson.


Even though I am nostalgically revisiting books of my youth, the eighth book in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories was unfamiliar to me. A steady sign that as a child not having every book in the series was crucial to my 8-11-year-old brain. Nancy Drew as usual is a helpful and earnest young woman. I enjoyed this mystery very much as a first-time visitor to this volume.

Goodreads review published 06/04/23

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teen sleuth Nancy Drew confronts two mysteries, both related to the mail, in this eighth entry in the series devoted to her ongoing adventures. Her regular mailman, Mr. Ira Dixon, was due to retire from the Postal Service with a thirty-five year, unblemished record. Coming into a modest inheritance, the kindly old man who had been Nancy's friend since she was a little girl, planned to retire. Then, on one of his last days of work, his mailbag was stolen, bringing him into disgrace. Feeling responsible, as the bag was stolen when Nancy invited Mr. Dixon inside for a cup of cocoa, Nancy decided to investigate. Her suspicions were aroused when she learned that the mailman's younger half-brother, a "wild boy," had been demanding half of Mr. Dixon's inheritance, even though he was not entitled to it. As she got involved in this situation, Nancy also found herself searching for another Nancy Drew, an English Nancy Drew living in America, whose letter had been mistakenly delivered to her - Nancy Drew, the sleuth. While investigating the mystery of the stolen mail pouch and attempting to track down the other Nancy Drew, our heroine also traveled to nearby Emerson College, where her friend Ned Nickerson was to play in the big annual football game against the state college...

Published in 1932, Nancy's Mysterious Letter was the first of the Nancy Drew books not ghost-written by Mildred Wirt Benson, who authored books 1-7, 11-25 and 30 in the series, and who is considered the true creator of the character. Books 8-10 of the series were written by a man named Walter Karig, and although it is not glaringly obvious that a new author is at the helm, there are some clues to that effect. Chief amongst them is the prominent role played by the football game, in the story. Karig's detailed description of the game reminded me of boys' sports-fiction authors of the 1920s and 30s, including such writers as Earl Reed Silvers (of whose books, I have read a number). While Nancy is described in previous entries in the series as an accomplished sportswoman, particularly in those episodes occurring at camp, or requiring physical nerve, here the details of football are a bit beyond her feminine mind, and the author depicts all of the women heading back to the comfortable hotel after the game, rather than staying for the rowdy post-game celebrations. This is perhaps true to the time, in terms of gendered social conventions, but it struck me as out of keeping with the tone of earlier volumes, in which Nancy is game for anything. Leaving that aside, traveling to Emerson itself is central to the plot, as Nancy solves both of her mysteries in that locale.

I did enjoy this entry in the series, despite the consciousness of there being a new author, and a slightly different tone - Nancy is more reliant on Ned Nickerson and his father, in this volume, than she seems to have been on other figures, in previous books - and I appreciated the fact that we meet Helen Corning again, however briefly. I read the Applewood Books reprint of the original version - the Nancy Drew books were revised and condensed in the 1950s and 60s - and, as always, I appreciated the many period details. There were one or two unpleasant moments where black porters spoke in the broken dialect assigned to such characters in so many vintage children's books of the era, but these were thankfully very brief. In thinking about why I prefer these original versions to the updated, sanitized ones from a few decades later, despite the far more objectionable social content, I always come back to their more accomplished writing, and to the "period details." Of course, the 1950s are now quite removed from us today, historically speaking, but somehow they don't seem as historical as the 1920s and 30s. I was reminded of this feeling, reading Jane Smiley's introduction to this edition, in which she writes:

"Reading Nancy Drew, as many grown women can attest, can lead in strange ways to adult careers. For me, I think it was those strange words like "roadster" and "sleuth" that made me want to make words and stories my life. These Nancy Drew reprints from the thirties aren't as familiar or easy for girls today as later rewrites and 'The Nancy Drew Files,' but their very strangeness gives girls something that I don't think they should miss."

Exactly! What a lovely way of encapsulating the appeal and importance of these original Nancy Drew books, and of vintage children's books in general! Recommended to anyone who has read and enjoyed previous entries in the series.

[Jessaka · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been a fun read, even exciting except that the person doing the outline of the book didn’t give one that was adventurous enough, and hey, there were no haunted bridges, no haunted houses, and no scary places; in fact, there was no action.

It started out being a good book with the mailman stopping by Nancy Drew’s house, and after telling her that he was retiring, she invited him in for hot chocolate. When he got up to leave, he found that the mailbag that he had left on the front porch had been stolen, letters and all. Now he is worried about losing his pension, but he does lose his job. But Nancy will find it and the letters, this we know because she is a great detective. In finding them, nothing happens. I remember her and Ned going to a football game, and I think he was playing. I know she had good money coming in from her dad to buy her either a fur coat for the year or clothing, and she chose clothing. My grandmother had a fur coat, and my mother said that they kept you cool in the summer. I doubt that seriously. I once had a rabbit fur jacket and wore it on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley in the 70s, and a woman walked up to me, stopped and said, “Your coat offends me!!!!” She was a rabid person after my rabbit jacket. I had to ditch her by running into a store. And now fur offends me, but not because of her. And that was more adventureous than the story in this book.

So in this do nothing book, I stopped short of finding out if the mailman gets his job back, but we know he does or at least gets his pension, and he did have an estate given to him, so he was going to spend his twilight years raising guinea pigs or hamsters, one of those.

Notes:

1932 edition

Who wrote this book? It wasn’t Mildred Wirt Benson, my favorite writer of this series because she refused to write it and the next two in the series, Twisted Candles and Larkspur Lane. I remember Larkspur Lane being good. But who wrote the outline? Walter Karig wrote the book, and Edna Squier wrote the outline for this book, after that the next two were outlined by Harriet S. Adams but Walter Karig wrote them. Did Edna get fired from doing such a bad job like the postman had, and did Nancy Drew help her out? No, because her sister Harriet was the supervisor over this series, and she wrote most of the outlines, but her sister helped outline many more. Harriet’s sister had no sense of adventure. I would have given her the job of janitor. Its just that without a good outline where else can you go but down the ladder.

Reread: February 21, 2018

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The audiobook narrator of this book is downright goofy. She went into the studio and said I'm going to make some unhinged creative choices today and they just let her.

[Kavita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nancy's Mysterious Letter is rather different in some ways from the general Nancy Drew stuff. Nancy receives a letter informing her that she is an heiress. The letter gets stolen along with a bunch of other letters. The suspicion falls on Edward Nixon, the half-brother of the postman, Ira Nixon. Edward is a rough man and has demanded money from Ira, but he appears to be involved in more shady business.

Then there is Nancy Smith Drew, who is the heiress and has no idea she is going to inherit. But she is making wedding plans. Is she doing the right thing? Is our Nancy going to reach her on time?

Nancy's relationship with Ned seems to have taken off within a couple of books. She visits him in Emerson and finds a link there that helps her to solve the mysteries from there. There is a strong romantic element involved in the mystery, which was rather interesting and off-beat as far as the regular ND mysteries are concerned. There was a rather boring and lengthy description of a "football" game. This may be due to the fact that this book was written by a different author to Mildred Benson, who wrote the first books of the series.

I did enjoy Nancy's Mysterious Letter and looking forward to reading what other changes Walter Karig brings to the series.

[Katherine Tobiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have most of the Nancy Drew books, and all the edition types too (from 1930's onward), and I have to say my original unrevised editions are the best. They are more detailed, and fit more to the time period Nancy is originally from. It also gets annoying how the stories can get completely different for the editions (for example The Secret at Shadow Ranch was changed to The Secret of Shadow Ranch, and the mysteries are completely different). I know this might sound messed up of me, but one of the things I liked in this mystery, is how much Nancy got scolded for being spoiled, lazy and "modern" which showed a lot of how sexist the times were back then. Also it's good the original books mentioned the "colored" maid and janitor and stuff, not that I like that it was racist, but again, it shows true to the times...and their dialogue of the maid and janitor sounded exactly like how the characters of Their Eyes Were Watching God..it gave me weird de ja vu about that book lol :p Also, I think in the modern edition Nancy gets chloroformed or something? Nothing that exciting happened here, but it was still good anyways :]

[Whitney (The Cover Collector) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This was about dating? Why?

[Dean Cummings · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A trim little figurehead she was…neat as an admiral’s cutter…” Sailor Joe’s description of Nancy Drew.

In the opening scene, we read that Nancy Drew is driving back from Red Gate Farm, on her way back to the Drew home, along with her friend George Fayne and George’s cousin, Bess Marvin.
Red Gate Farm happens to have been the place that Nancy helped capture a counterfeiting gang in an earlier mystery titled, “The Clue in The Diary.” But today their farm visit was for a very different purpose…to pick up a trunk load of fruits and vegetables for the Drew’s housekeeper, Hannah Gruen to use for cooking, preserves and baking purposes.

As the three girls draw near to the Drew home, they spot the local mail carrier, Mr. Ira Nixon, as he labors under the weight of the heavy mail bag. Nancy slows down the car to greet the carrier, who tells her that he has a letter for her at the bottom of his bag. One that was sent by air mail from London, England. Nancy thanks the carrier, then remembering that it was cool outside, asks the elderly man to stop by their house for cocoa when he reached their address.

For the rest of the drive home, the three girls speculate as to who might be the sender of this mysterious letter from England. Nancy had no friends there, so that possibility was ruled out. Bess, for her part, opined that it must be a secret admirer, a suggestion that the other two girls laughed off as yet another of Bess’s romantic fantasies.

Later, the girls arrive at the Drew home, and with the help of Hannah Gruen, they unload the trunk of the car. Sometime later, the mailman catches up to them. The exciting, mysterious letter is in his mailbag, and Nancy is tempted to ask about it straight away. But instead, she opts to be courteous by first offering the carrier a hot chocolate, cookies and delicious pie. It’s an offer Mr. Nixon gladly accepts as he sets his bag by the front door and comes into the house to sit down with his friendly hosts.

Sometime later, he’s about to leave when he suddenly remembers, “Nancy, I almost forgot to give you your letter!”

The mailman then exits through the front door and a moment later he cries out, “The letters, they’re gone!”

As Nancy and the girls make their way to him, they see him standing there, empty mailbags in hand, overwhelmed with the implications of the theft, “Oh dear! Only six weeks more to my retirement and now this disgrace!”

Bess then tries to sooth his nerves, “But Mr. Nixon, it wasn’t your fault!”

The carrier sighs, “It’s a rule that a mail carrier must keep his bag with him at all times.”

Suddenly George turns to Nancy, “Your letter from England! Now you’ll never know who sent it!”

The mail man then recalled another problem, “And that’s not the worst of it…I also had a registered letter for Mr. Drew. There might have been an important document inside it!”

Upon hearing this, Nancy sprang into action, “The thief can’t be far away…we must try to catch him!”

The three girls then put on their coats and dashed out the front door. Moments later, Nancy spotted little Tommy Johnson riding his tricycle on the sidewalk. Her intuition told her that he might have seen a man fleeing the scene, and that the guilty man, even if he saw Tommy looking at him, would not be concerned, since he was such a young boy. Nancy’s intuition proved correct, the boy did indeed see a man quickly climb into his car and speed away. Further, he gave a general description of a thin, rather tall man wearing a yellow winter coat. The car, the boy added was almost the same color as his coat and his license plate had a TJ letter on it, (remembered easily because these were the boy’s own initials). The first two numbers were 1 and 2 the boy added.

And as if this boy wasn’t helpful enough already, he added that he saw the man stuffing what looked like letters into the pocket of his large coat.

Nancy thanks the boy, promising him a detective badge next time she sees him. She, George and Bess then return to the Drew home, informing the distraught letter carrier (now laying on the sofa, an elderly man in a state of shock,) that while they did not catch the thief, they gained some valuable information.

Nancy then left Hanna and the girls to comfort the older man while she placed calls to the police, the postal inspector and her father about the stolen mail. It was police chief McGinnis that she reached at the station, telling him everything she knew so far. The postal inspector was out, but an investigative aid took her message, promising to pass it on once the inspector arrived back in the office.

Then Nancy called her father and told him about the excitement that happened at the house, of her lost letter and the one intended for him. Mr. Drew was concerned, “Keep me informed on what is happening Nancy, I’m afraid that the registered letter might have contained a large sum of money.”

“Who was the letter from?” Nancy asked.

Mr. Drew sighed, “I suspect its from a client of mine named Mrs. Quigley.”

“Isn’t it unusual for people to send money through the mail nowadays?” Nancy asked.

“Indeed, it is, and it’s a very bad thing to do.” The lawyer replied, then went on, “I’ve told her repeatedly to send checks, but I have a hunch she ignored my advice again.”

Suddenly, there was another voice in the background of the call, “My secretary just tole me that Mrs. Quigley is here…I’ll have to call you back Nancy,” Her father informed her.

While waiting, Nancy told George and Bess about the client who insisted on sending cash in the mail. It was not long till Mr. Drew called back telling her that indeed it was Mrs. Quigley that sent the packet of cash in the mail. He said that he was just making this quick call to let her know this one detail and that he and Mrs. Quigley had more to discuss so he had to go but did ask Nancy to keep him update on any further developments.

Nancy hung up, then turned to the mail man to see if she could learn anything more from him, “Did you by chance see the return address on the envelope to me?”

The carrier, somewhat revived, did his best to concentrate, then a moment later, brightened even further when a thought dawned on him, “Seems to me your letter was not from one person…it was more like three names.”

“A business firm,” Nancy suggested.

The postal worker was now absorbed, trying his best to conjure up some detail from his memory. Suddenly, his face lit up once again, “I remember now, clear as a bell…the first word was Malmsbury!”

“That’s a wonderful help!” Nancy told him, even as she thought there were probably a lot of Malmsburys in the London area. It would take her a long time to find out who the sender of the mysterious letter was…

But this is Nancy Drew we’re talking about; she wouldn’t stop until she solved the mystery.

And what an eventful few days were to follow for Nancy, George and Bess! Some of my favorite moments included: Nancy’s run in with a young officious postal inspector, a feisty woman who takes a swing at Nancy for losing a sawbuck, a cufflink clue, a bridge buckling under the weight of Nancy’s car, a Lonely Hearts Club mail scam, Nancy’s collision with an overenthusiastic snow sledder, the rambling but ultimately helpful Mrs. Skeets, Nancy and a new acquaintance trapped in a dark theater, a dangerous flying rock that almost takes out a young sleuth, and a near miss with a stage curtain were but a very few of the fantastic moments in this story.

I also thought that Nancy, George and Bess’s efforts to short-circuit a wedding was a unique sub plot in this unique version of a Nancy Drew mystery.

History of this book:

“Nancy’s Mysterious Letter” was originally published in 1932, the copy I read was the 1968 edition.

The cover art in the ’68 edition was the work of renowned painter Rudi Nappi. He depicted Nancy in a pink suit, (in the style attributed to Chanel), with a letter in her hand and an overlay image of a letter on a blue background.

The cover art paintings of the 1960’s and 1970’s Nancy Drew editions are, in my opinion, exquisite. They also aid in telling the story and in general are part of the joy of owning the volumes of this storied collection.

[Jenifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I'm understanding what I loved so much about Nancy Drew when I was young. She always encountered things that taught me a little bit about the world. In this one, Mrs. Gruen alters/mends a gown for Nancy, Nancy encounters a sailor who speaks his own funny lingo, and the gang attend a football game, among other things. The next time I read one of these I'll pay closer attention to those kinds of details.

This had a pretty weak story and plot, but it centers around something else I think I would have found fascinating; the bad guy is pretending to run a "Lonely Heart Club" and duping women out of their money. Nancy mostly uses her skills to get him tracked down.

From my collection

[Whitney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mail fraud and mistaken identities!

Meek elderly mail carrier has a mean, no-good brother who convinces single ladies to mail money to him.

Meanwhile, Nancy and her gal pals visit Ned's college to watch him play footballs. The girls cheer "lustily" and yell things that make no sense like "Eeeeh! Yeeeeh!" Meanwhile, Ned faints on the field and is taken to the bench.

Weekend plans for the girls and their football guys include a play on Friday night, the game and a dance on Saturday, and a chapel service on Sunday morning.

If anything gets more wholesome, I'm gonna throw up.

And yet again, Nancy Drew meets another lady named Nancy Drew and some inheritance confusion occurs.

This was a messy one.

[Chaya & Cinnamon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the mystery and I really like Nancy and Ned. I appreciated that it's a decent book. I like the way Nancy knows the law and stood up for herself when an obnoxious postal aide tried to give her trouble by wrongly blaming her. I think the mentions of her going to church and also to chapel at Emerson College is very relevant for today and the importance of taking time to worship the Creator in churches, chapels, and synagogues. Smart.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

May 2017 Reread

I loved this book this time around. I listened to it in audio and found the story interesting and fun. I loved how Nancy was on the hunt for the other Nancy Drew and man was it hard to track her down! Lol! Great read.

**

This was a good mystery. I enjoyed the hunt for another Nancy Drew and found that part very interesting. A nice read.

[Regan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love miss nancy drew what a sleuth!! This one felt relatively straightforward compared to the unhinged/off-the-rails Password to Larkspur Lane

[Ami · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very fascinating book

[Sheila Samuelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in 2008

[Stephi · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fun, nostalgic adventure with our favorite rich white girl living in a small suburban town who seems to somehow neither have a job nor go to school.

2.5 stars

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was pretty good! The reading was a little drawn out on my part because of summer business, but I certainly think it's one of the most challenging yet!

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much football not enough mystery

[Josiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I actually really like Walter Karig’s additions to the series (Minus Twisted Candles, that is definitely the worst Nancy Drew book!). This book was a page turner, and hard to put down. Probably because of the cliffhangers at the end of every chapter! I think while I was in it, I really enjoyed this book, but now looking back after ending it, it has a lot of flaws. We know right away who the villain is, so that is no mystery in the whole book. Pretty much the book is Nancy trying to find the other Nancy. There are some mild danger scenes but honestly not really serious. The villain is stupid to book a fight under his name, leave an emergency address with his brother, and drive a recognizable car. I like how Nancy is helping people (the other Nancy and Ira the mailman). I think this is a good “action-ish” book but there really isn’t any mystery past 1/4 through the book.

Karig’s additions to the series are some of my favorites because they’re different. This is an ok book, Twisted Candles was horrid, but Larkspur Lane was really really good. I think if he would be the one writing the rest of the books, they definitely wouldn’t be as good as Mildred Wirt’s, but honestly he’s probably my second favorite author. I think he probably improved through his 3 books and I do wish he wrote more. I’ll be missing him as we continue the series!

[Betsey Manzoni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mystery #8 in which we learn that Nancy is a very skilled parallel parker! This was one of my least favorite Nancy Drew mysteries. Seems they may have been short on ideas and must have had a looming deadline. This is a lackluster story that hardly puts our pal Nancy in danger at all. She gets a rock thrown at her head and she is almost run over by a car. That's nothing compared to the dangerous scenarios she has landed herself in in the past. At any rate, the very polite Nancy invites the mailman in on a wintery day for some hot chocolate and he leaves his mailbag in her foyer. Much to their dismay, they discover it has been stolen along with all of it's contents. We discover that one of the letters inside was a letter for Nancy Drew, informing her of a large inheritance from a British relative. Alas, it's not for our Nancy, but for ANOTHER Nancy Drew, who just happens be in the River Heights area directing a Shakespearean play. Nancy promptly puts on her sleuthing hat and solves the mystery. She doesn't do this though, until the last 3 pages of the book and it's a very ho-hum, anti-climatic ending. Rather odd, since I felt the stories were steadily improving. I suppose you can't win them all.

[Jaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun walk down memory lane! I loved the Nancy Drew mystery series when I was younger and I find I still do. The characters are as fun as I remember them. Plus Carolyn Keene does not hold back on the mystery and suspense just because Nancy is a teenager. There were quite a few attempts on Nancy's life to prevent her from solving the mystery. All of this with the backdrop of visiting her boyfriend Ned's college campus, going to a football game, and a formal dance. Classic Nancy Drew fun...