Sleuthing Sundays - Nancy Drew #4, #5, #6

Cleolinda, who is so awesome, made an outline for a standard Nancy Drew novel.  It is so hilarious that I highly recommend fans of Nancy check it out.  And I highly recommend everyone check out Cleolinda.  She is one of the coolest bloggers I've ever read.





The Mystery of Lilac Inn (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories 4) (audio) read by Laura Linney

 Nancy, an attractive titian blond, grinned up at her friend. p.1

Weird things are happening to Nancy Drew and once again a mystery is afoot.  Nancy seems to have a doppelganger who is running up bills and causing trouble.  And when she visits her friend's new inn, there are a lot of mysterious occurrences there as well.  Nancy must solve the mystery of Lilac Inn and also find out why someone is impersonating her.

I like listening to these books because Laura Linney is a great reader and the soundtrack provides great dramatic music for all the overly dramatic passages in the Nancy Drew books.  Unfortunately the audio CDs are hard to come by at the library.


The Secret of Shadow Ranch (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories 5)

"We could certainly use a detective. And I've got to hand it to you, Nancy - you sure can keep your head." p.27

Helen Corning ceases to exist while Nancy gets new friends that she's apparently had all along.  It's Bess and George, of course!  Nancy ventures to Bess and George's aunt and uncle's ranch for a vacation and finds a mystery to be solved (of course).  Well, there's like 3 mysteries going on.  One is the phantom horse and the sabotage that follows at Shadow Ranch.  Then there is Bess and George's younger cousin's missing father. And then there is the missing treasure of outlaw, Dirk(!) Valentine.  Of course, the solution for two of the mysteries is the same and Nancy is an expert at finding things that have eluded others for a long time.
Oddly there is a mention of Ned even though Nancy doesn't meet him until The Clue in the Diary (#7).  This was apparently a mistake when the revisions were made. Also (highlight for "spoiler") what are the odds that the bank robbers would keep Alice's dad around after 6 months especially if there were planning on killing him later?*

Things mentioned often now: George's short hair and how level headed Nancy is.  It's a good thing she has George and Bess around now so she will always have someone to be kidnapped with.  There is also an over use of exclamation points in these books and that is where the audiobooks excel at the DUN DUN DUN music.

The Secret of Red Gate Farm  (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories 6)

"Nancy, you're a whiz, as I've often told you," her friend declared. p.36

After Bess buys a perfume called Blue Jade, Nancy becomes ensconced in a mystery.  Bess accidentally spills some of the perfume on Nancy who is then approached by a strange man speaking in code!  Plus Nancy helps a waif-like girl trying to find a job and ends up at that girl's farm where a mysterious cult is renting a cave nearby!  That happens all the time!  Somehow Nancy figures out that maybe the perfume mystery and the farm mystery and the cult mystery and the counterfeiter mystery (I didn't mention that earlier, but totally plausible) are connected because if Nancy had to solve more than one mystery that didn't lead to the same conclusion the book would explode.  Craaaazy.

*(highlight for "spoiler") Also how stupid is it that the counterfeiters would rent a CAVE near a farm to do there stuff and it would be a huge operation and everyone managed to keep their mouths shut?  And WHY would they leave her a mysterious and easily verified note from her dad?  Because that only manage to peak her interest further.  These people deserved to get caught.  Also, Nancy would be helpless when confronted with a real villain/spy because in her pretty head if you are from Texas you have an accent, there is no covering it up.*