Do The Drew

Hey all, welcome back to Do the Drew.  For those of you who don't remember what this blog is about---and let's be honest, it's been a while, so it would make sense if some folks did forget---is my blog that's dedicated to the original Nancy Drew series from the thirties and discusses the differences---if any---between the revisions of their later editions.  Message In The Hollow Oak---the 12th volume---is one of many volumes that was penned by Mildred Wirt Benson. Characters : Nancy and Carson Drew, Bess Marvin, George Fayne Premise : Nancy finds herself in over her head when she tries to find a message in an old tree. Nancy's surprised when her submission to a radio contest----coming up with a title for a mystery story---wins and she's deeded some land in Canada. Which, I mean, since when did radio contests include real estate?  If I had known that , I may have tried to enter some contests as a kid. Sorry digressing.  Anyways, this is obviously a big deal and ...

With this, we reach the end of the books ghostwritten by Walter Karig (for those of you who don't remember this ghostwriter, along with The Sign Of The Twisted Candles first written in 1933 and Nancy's 9th mystery, he penned Nancy's Mysterious Letter and The Password To Larkspur Lane.  As stated in the review for those books, I'm not sure why he didn't like Nancy's team ups with Bess and George, so confusion for everyone! Characters : Nancy and Carson Drew, attorney Raymond Hill. Guest spots by Bess Marvin and George Fayne with a cameo by Ned Nickerson. Premise : Nancy investigates an old family feud when a new acquaintance is gifted an inheritance. Due Nancy's car stalling during a storm, Nancy, Bess, and George are forced to stop at a tearoom known as The Sign Of The Twisted Candles, where they learn the owner---Asa Sidney----is celebrating his hundredth birthday and it turns that he is George and Bess' great uncle (this is the book where it's reve...

Hi everyone!  First, I apologize for being away so long.  Life kind of....got away from me. But now I'm back and ready to dive back into the world of Nancy Drew. Originally written in 1932, the 8th offering of Nancy's tales is the second of my offerings that is ghostwritten by Walter Karig, who as you recall from my review of The Password To Larkspur Lane didn't really like pairing up Nancy with Bess and George as he apparently wasn't a fan of the formula, though why this is, I still can't tell you.  Characters : Nancy and Carson Drew, and Ned Nickerson, with guest appearances by Hannah Gruen, Bess Marvin, George Fayne, and Ned's parents, James and Edith. Premise : Nancy tries to figure out who stole the mailman's pouch and attempts to find a similarly named heiress. During the Thanksgiving holiday---which Bess and George make mention of and honestly explains why they're not in the bulk of the story----while visiting with Nancy, the mailman, Ira Dixon--...

  Hey guys, you know what time it is.  We're jumping right into this one and with family history, long-lost relatives, and buried treasure.  It seems like a Hardy Boys or a pirate story, but nope, it's Nancy Drew's The Quest Of The Missing Map, number 19 in the franchise. Characters : Nancy Drew, Bess Marvin, George Fayne (with guest appearances by Ned Nickerson and Hannah Gruen) Premise : Nancy searches for the missing half of a treasure map in order to help some new acquaintances.  So, this is one of the many books penned by Mildred Wirt Benson----I know, it seems like she penned all of them----in 1942, and surprisingly, it's Hannah Gruen of all people who initiates Nancy into the mystery by introducing her to Ellen Smith who explain that her family is looking for the second half of a map left by her grandfather, Tomlin Smith, that was split between her father and his brother which would lead to buried treasure which would be their inheritance to be shared jointly...

  Hey all!  It's time for Do the Drew!  Like a lot of these stories, this was originally penned by Mildred Wirt Benson in 1930 and is the 4th mystery in the series. Characters : Nancy and Carson Drew (with a cameo appearance by Helen Corning) Premise : Nancy investigates a theft from an inn/tearoom. Nancy's called into action when a woman, Mrs. Willoughby, loses her purse full of valuable jewels while at lunch having gotten distracted by an accident that has happened (which, okay, I can see getting distracted, but why oh why would you take valuable jewels out of a safety deposit box?  This lady was stupid ). She's convinced that someone who works at the tearoom is the one who stole it and enlists Nancy to help her prove it as the jewels are important to her because they're the inheritance of her ward, Emily Crandall and she doesn't want to disappoint the girl who plans to use the gems to finance her fiancée's career, which is admirable and I probably would'v...

  Hey, all!  Welcome back to Do The Drew.  In today's Installment, we have our 29th adventure, The Mystery At The Ski Jump (renamed Mystery At The Ski Jump in the revision) written by Alma Sasse in 1952. I couldn't find anything about this particular author so let's just dive into the review. Characters : Nancy Drew, Bess Marvin, George Fayne (with guest appearances by Carson Drew, Nancy's aunt, Eloise Drew, Hannah Gruen, Ned Nickerson, Burt Eddleton, and Dave Evans.   Premise : Nancy investigates a fake fur stock company that's swindling people and also tries to help a young man reacquire his inheritance and reunite with an old friend.   Nancy gets pulled into her next mystery when her housekeeper, Hannah Gruen, buys some fur stock thinking it's legit, but it turns out it's not when the company sent their clients a "dividend" which is just a money order instead of a check made out by the company's treasurer, which is noted by one of the swindl...

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---the 2nd book in the franchise---was originally written in 1930 by Mildred Wirt Benson and accord...