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Showing posts from July, 2024

The Hidden Staircase

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Welcome back to Do The Drew! As you can see, again, for the original story, I am using a tweed version of a book, and again, it's because this is the copy that I physically own.  If I find better copies of these two books, I will replace them within the blog.  Now as you may have noticed, I've added the names of the people who worked on the revised stories, though they lack information.  That's because at this time, I've been unable to track down any trace of them and if this ever changes, the past entries will be updated.   Just as a reminder, all pics are from the internet and represent (to the best of my abilities) the state of my own copies of the books I own, though to be fair, the original version of The Secret In The Old Attic belongs to my best friend who graciously allowed me to borrow the book for the blog. Now that that's out of the way, The Hidden Staircase was originally written in 1930 by Mildred Wirt Benson and according to Wikipedia---which, as alway

The Clue Of The Broken Locket

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Okay, first, I will admit, my review is gonna look a little strange.  Instead of the usual book with a picture on the cover, I only show a blue book.  That's because for this particular book---number 11 in the series---this is the copy that I have.  Like a lot of these stories, this was ghostwritten by Mildred Wirth Benson in 1934. Characters : Nancy Drew, Bess Marvin, George Fayne (with appearances by Carson Drew and Hannah Gruen). Premise : Nancy, Bess, and George try to locate the biological mother of a pair of twins that have just been adopted. TRIGGER WARNING: INFANT ABUSE---NEGLECT---IMPLIED.  Yes, I know it's weird to have a trigger warning for a Nancy Drew book, but honestly, I feel that it's warranted with this story. Okay, so a mystery falls into Nancy's lap when her father, Carson, is sent a telegram from a nurse at an orphanage (called a founder's home in the story) begging him to not let an adoption of a pair or twins go through.  Unfortunately, said te

The Hidden Window Mystery

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  Time to travel to Virginia with Nancy as she solves a mystery in Virginia. our 34th story, The Hidden Window Mystery was written in 1956 by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, who was Edward Stratemeyer's daughter.  According to Wikipedia---which, I know, take with a grain of salt---she was heavily involved with the series and wrote several of the stories and oversaw revisions to the earlier stories in later years.  This particular volume was the very last of the series to get a revision.  Characters : Nancy Drew, Bess Marvin, George Fayne (with cameo appearances by Carson Drew, Hannah Gruen, Ned Nickerson, Dave Evans, Burt Eddleston, and Nancy's dog, Togo). Premise : Nancy tries to figure out the location of a stained-glass window, if her mail carrier actually owes a neighbor money, and what's hidden in the house next door to her cousin, Susan Carr. Okay, so Nancy's mystery begins with a visit from her mailman, Mr. Ritter, who's injured while delivering her mail (it was e

The Clue Of The Velvet Mask

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Hey all! Ya'll got your flashlights and magnifying glasses?  It's time to delve back into the world of Nancy Drew while saying a farewell to ghostwriter Mildred Wirt Benson, as this was the final story (though the 30th volume) in the series that she penned. Characters : Nancy Drew, Bess Marvin, George Fayne, Ned Nickerson (with appearances by Carson Drew, Hannah Gruen, the Marvin/Fayne family, Dave Evans, Burt Eddleston, and Nancy's dog, Togo).  Premise : Nancy investigates a string of burglaries that take place during the parties of River Heights' wealthy patrons. Originally written in 1953, this is one of the later volumes, though no less enjoyable. We start off with Nancy and Ned getting ready to go to a masquerade party.  Before leaving, Nancy's father, Carson, warns her to be careful as there's been a rash of burglaries at several prior parties orchestrated by the Black Velvet Gang (for the black masks they wear, which, guys, you couldn't come up with s