The Secret of Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #5)

The Secret of Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene 

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #5, 160 pages

⭐⭐/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Nancy Drew is in Arizona. She's been invited to spend a short vacation at Shadow Ranch which is outside Phoenix. She soon discovers that it's having problems. A phantom horse has been seen racing through the nearby meadows, and there's been malicious damage to the buildings and fences. Could it all relate to a treasure hidden somewhere on the ranch by that 19th century outlaw, Dirk Valentine?

The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #4)

The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #4, 200 pages

⭐⭐⭐/5

Synopsis (from StoryGraph)

Nancy and her friend Helen visit their friend Emily Willouby at the Lilac Inn, which Emily now owns, to help her plan her wedding. Emily plans on selling inherited diamonds in order to help fix up the Lilac Inn. However, Nancy soon learns that someone has been impersonating her and making expensive purchases under her name. Soon after, Emily's diamonds are stolen! Can Nancy find the thieves and recover the missing diamonds?

The Bungalow Mystery by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #3)

The Bungalow Mystery by Carolyn Keene

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #3, 204 pages

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

While trying to help a friend out of difficulty, Nancy has a perilous experience in and around a deserted bungalow, from which only her bravery and quick thinking save her.

The novel starts in exciting fashion. A young woman comes to the rescue of Nancy and her friend Helen Corning when they are out boating and a storm comes up. Friendship at first sight! It's not long after that, that Nancy discovers the mysterious bungalow. At almost the same time, her father asks for her help on a serious fraud case and her new friend gets into difficulty of her own.

The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #2)

The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #2, 182 pages

⭐⭐⭐.5/5

Synopsis (from Google Books)

In this book, Nancy, the daughter of prominent attorney Carson Drew, is visited one evening by Nathan Gombet, a sinister man who claims that Carson Drew swindled him out of money for a property. Nancy gets rid of Gombet with difficulty. Soon after, she is drawn into the case of the Turnbull sisters, unmarried women living alone in their old family mansion, Cliffwood.

The sisters claim that their house is haunted, but it quickly becomes clear that something more is afoot: valuable heirlooms of the Turnbull family mysteriously vanish. Nancy, sure that ghosts are out of the question, stays with the sisters to unravel the mystery. She is certain that there must be some secret entrance to the old house, but she cannot find it. In the meantime, Carson Drew is mysteriously detained in a trip out of town on business. Nancy does not hear from him, and she worries that something may have happened to him.

The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #1)

The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #1, 210 pages

⭐⭐⭐.5/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Nancy is in her late teens and often helps her father, attorney Carson Drew of River Heights, with his practice. She had been delivering legal papers for him when she almost hit a young girl who suddenly ran into the road. Inquisitive, she learns that Judy is an orphan and her aunts are not well off. That were hoping for a bequest from a recently deceased friend, Josiah Crowley. But his latest will is missing.

Nancy Drew's keen mind is tested when she searches for that will.

The Secret in the Old Attic by Carolyn Keene

The Secret in the Old Attic by Carolyn Keene, 177 pages

From the MARC: "Nancy Drew must use clues in a dead man's letters to find some unpublished musical manuscripts that will save an old man and his granddaughter from financial ruin."

Nancy Drew was a staple of my childhood reading, and The Secret in the Old Attic is the mystery that most had me in its thrall. It stuck in my imagination to the point I remember illustrating various scenes on my own. 

 

Nancy Drew: The Demon of River Heights (Graphic Novel, Girl Detective #1) by Stefan Petrucha and Sho Murase

Nancy Drew: The Demon of River Heights (Graphic Novel, Girl Detective #1) by Stefan Petrucha and Sho Murase, 96 pages

This is the first Nancy Drew graphic novel I have read.  I have read Nancy Drew books in the past and I have enjoyed them.  Carolyn Keene wrote the original girl detective series which was later made into a television show.  I personally did not care for this graphic novel and feel Nancy Drew should just be left to the imagination in the written pages.  In this colorful graphic novel, Nancy, Bess and Drew have to find the monster scaring their town.  All this, with a surprise ending.