Carolyn Keene

Book Review: The Sign of the Twisted Candles

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The Sign of the Twisted Candles
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #9
by Carolyn Keene
read by Danica Reese

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic mystery

Nancy gets involved in another mystery when she learns that a man’s 100th birthday is going to be ignored. The man’s relatives are waiting for him to die so they can get their inheritance, while others are taking matters into their own hands and siphoning off some of the man’s possessions early. Meanwhile, there’s a young woman caught up in the plot, who Nancy befriends and whose life Nancy turns around. It’s all a bit much for me, and some of it feels too much like at least parts of previous plots. (Does Nancy ever help a young man in need, or is it only ever women who are being taken advantage of or in some kind of messy situation?) To make matters worse, the young woman, Carol, tends to act a bit whiny and acts as if Nancy is the best thing on the planet. If I had to hear, “Oh, Nancy…” one more time…

The narration has gone completely downhill since Laura Linney’s narration ended (though this one was a bit better than the previous), and there’s only 1 more in this series that even has an audiobook (at least at my library). I think this is a good place to end my trip through the series, since I have a difficult time with the repetitiveness and Nancy as the most awesome, kind, beautiful, and generous person to ever walk the earth anyway. I guess I could handle it more with decent narration, so if they get Laura Linney to do some more, maybe I’ll listen to more. Or maybe they can get Lani Minella to narrate some! I’d be down for that.

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Book Review: Nancy’s Mysterious Letter

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Nancy’s Mysterious Letter
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #8
by Carolyn Keene
read by Jessie Birschbach

My rating: 2.5 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic mystery

Coincidences abound when Nancy is contacted by a firm in England looking for a Nancy (Smith) Drew and thinks maybe this Nancy is the one they’re looking for. She’s not, but since the firm had tracked the other Nancy Drew to the United States, it only makes sense that she would be found somewhere in the vicinity of our Nancy Drew. The United States isn’t very big, after all, and same-name people tend to gravitate toward each other. My sarcasm aside, how hard would it have been for the author of this story to have given at least a somewhat more plausible explanation for why this other Nancy Drew happened to have connections to River Heights?

The rest of the story was decent enough, though not outstanding. What brought my rating down more was the narrator. Laura Linney was a great choice for narrating these books, and she was going to be a tough act for anyone to follow. But this narrator was objectively not great. Some of her voices were outlandish or ridiculous, and I’m glad to see she doesn’t narrate any more of these books (though apparently there are only a couple more ND books that even have audiobook editions). My reading of this long series may be coming to a close much sooner than I expected.

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Book Review: The Clue in the Diary

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The Clue in the Diary
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #7
by Carolyn Keene
read by Laura Linney

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic mystery

Nancy again stumbles onto a mystery when a house she’s driving by explodes. But it’s all good, because she’s able to save a mother and daughter whose husband/father is blamed for the fire. Coincidences and Nancy-is-the-best moments aside, I enjoyed this story more than most of the previous books in the series. It didn’t feel as bloated, and I can’t pretend to not have liked the introduction of Ned Nickerson. He seems to be a bit of a stereotype himself, but I’d imagine that was on purpose. Giving the young readers these books were intended for ideals in the main characters seemed pretty important to the creators. Linney does a great job bringing Nancy to life, and I’m sad to learn that this is the end of those that were narrated by her.

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Book Review: The Secret of Red Gate Farm

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The Secret of Red Gate Farm
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #6
by Carolyn Keene
read by Laura Linney

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic mystery

The coincidences that occur around Nancy that lead her to solve this case would bother me if the book was meant for adults or even teens. But I often have to remind myself that the books are written for kids, and with that in mind, the elements that don’t seem connected at first might create an exciting story for the target audience. The plot of this book didn’t seem as bloated as the previous couple in the series did, but I was still annoyed by the “Nancy is the best at everything she does” aspect that I suppose I’ll just have to get used to. Whatever reason the writers had to think that was the role model kids needed at the time these were written, I’m sure it won’t be toned down at any point in the series. Linney does a great job bringing Nancy to life, and I’m looking forward to continuing.

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Book Review: The Secret of Shadow Ranch

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The Secret of Shadow Ranch
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #5
by Carolyn Keene
read by Laura Linney

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic mystery

This book was the first in the series to bring up major ND video game memories for me. The game takes different turns, but the legend of the outlaw whose phantom horse is showing up and wreaking havoc are in the game. There’s a sub-plot in the book regarding a kidnapped man that I didn’t see a reason for—supposedly his kidnappers let him drawing pictures and then sold them in town. It ended up being a way to help Nancy and her friends begin to find answers to the main mystery, but it seemed pretty sloppy to me.

This series has already showcased Nancy as great at everything she does, but this book takes it a step further, when Nancy and her friends win every activity during a town festival. I suppose that during this time period, it seemed best to show the good guys as the best at everything, but it would certainly have been more realistic and taught kids more about real life if Nancy was 2nd-best now and then.

For a second time, a bloated plot was my biggest issue with the book. Linney still does a great job bringing Nancy to life, but I hope to enjoy the next one more.

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Book Review: The Mystery at Lilac Inn

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The Mystery at Lilac Inn
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #4
by Carolyn Keene
read by Laura Linney

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic mystery

This installment in the series was a bit disjointed and bloated. I feel like too many sub-plots were thrown in, or maybe they were trails meant to throw us off the mystery. Not terrible, but I definitely wasn’t as engaged as I was while listening to the previous books.  Laura Linney still does a great job bringing Nancy to life, but I hope to enjoy the next one more.

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Book Review: The Bungalow Mystery

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The Bungalow Mystery
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #3
by Carolyn Keene
read by Laura Linney

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic mystery

I’m finding it a little difficult to write a different review for each of these books, so I’ll just say a few things. I appreciate the excitement at the beginning, with Nancy and a friend stuck out on the water during a thunderstorm and that leading them to meet a young girl who ends up needing Nancy’s help. Though her predicament was pretty obvious to me from the start, I’m certain that those of the age group that these books are meant for would not have figured it out as easily. Overall, I’m enjoying the series and this trip back to a different time (though whether that time is the 30s or the 50s, I don’t know…apparently the original books were updated at some point, and I don’t know for sure which version these audiobooks are based on.) Laura Linney again does a great job bringing Nancy to life, making the audiobook a great option for this series.

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Book Review: The Hidden Staircase

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The Hidden Staircase
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #2
by Carolyn Keene
read by Laura Linney

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic mystery

Continuing on with listening to these old books that I somehow didn’t pay attention to when I was younger, one of the things I enjoyed about this book was the setting and the feeling of being transported back in time. Communication was slow, houses were thought of as haunted, and teenage girls were tasked with solving mysteries. Okay, that last one might not have been true-to-life even in the 30s, but somehow it just feels plausible in these books. And though there are some fairly obvious coincidences in this book, I’m sure that the kids in the age group it was meant for wouldn’t pick up on them as easily and would enjoy the excitement of the mystery. Laura Linney again does well bringing Nancy to life, making the audiobook a great option for this series.

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Book Review: The Secret of the Old Clock

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The Secret of the Old Clock
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #1
by Carolyn Keene
read by Laura Linney

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic mystery

Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys were household names in my house growing up, though for some reason, I didn’t read much of them. Maybe they felt dated to me even then, but now I’m ready to see what I missed. While, yes, Nancy’s life is shown to be a bit too perfect in this series opener, it somehow feels about right for the time period. I also don’t think I really ever realized that these books were intended for pre-teens, 9-12-year-olds, rather than older teens or young adults like I assumed, considering the age of the main character. In that light, the not-terribly-deep mystery makes a little more sense. I do like that Nancy’s desire to find the missing will is driven by her compassion for those who are in need and had been promised part of the inheritance, but it also seems to me like she just can’t help but want to solve the puzzle. I can understand why Nancy was a role-model for young girls for decades, why the series lasted for so long, and why it even inspired a lengthy series of video games (many of which I’ve played). Laura Linney was a great choice for narrator, as she brings the smart, young, wholesome young woman to life quite well. I don’t know that I’ll have the endurance for 100 books, but I do plan to continue the series.

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