Where's Nancy?

Nancy Drew: Girl Detective Super Mystery #1

by Carolyn Keene

Where's Nancy? Nancy was going to tell you about this big mystery, but she disappeared. Poof. Just like that. So now Bess, Ned, and me, George, have the Case of the Missing Detective on our hands. We've got to find Nancy! Let me tell you, this sleuthing thing is no joke. We've worked with Nancy on lots of cases, but we've never had to do it ourselves -- and the stakes have never been so high. We think this might have to do with that possible museum theft Nancy was talking about -- we're just not sure yet. But we're woking on it. Wish us luck!

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Young Adult, Adventure, Classics, Fiction, Detective

Paperback

First published May 1, 2005

About the author

Carolyn Keene is a writer pen name that was used by many different people- both men and women- over the years. The company that was the creator of the Nancy Drew series, the Stratemeyer Syndicate, hired a variety of writers. For Nancy Drew, the writers used the pseudonym Carolyn Keene to assure anonymity of the creator.

Edna and Harriet Stratemeyer inherited the company from their father Edward Stratemeyer. Edna contributed 10 plot outlines before passing the reins to her sister Harriet. It was Mildred Benson (aka: Mildred A. Wirt), who breathed such a feisty spirit into Nancy's character. Mildred wrote 23 of the original 30 Nancy Drew Mystery Stories®, including the first three. It was her characterization that helped make Nancy an instant hit. The Stratemeyer Syndicate's devotion to the series over the years under the reins of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams helped to keep the series alive and on store shelves for each succeeding generation of girls and boys. In 1959, Harriet, along with several writers, began a 25-year project to revise the earlier Carolyn Keene novels. The Nancy Drew books were condensed, racial stereotypes were removed, and the language was updated. In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.

Other writers of Nancy Drew volumes include Harriet herself, she wrote most of the series after Mildred quit writing for the Syndicate and in 1959 began a revision of the first 34 texts. The role of the writer of "Carolyn Keene" passed temporarily to Walter Karig who wrote three novels during the Great Depression. Also contributing to Nancy Drew's prolific existence were Leslie McFarlane, James Duncan Lawrence, Nancy Axelrod, Priscilla Doll, Charles Strong, Alma Sasse, Wilhelmina Rankin, George Waller Jr., and Margaret Scherf.

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy Drew is missing? Say it ain't so!

This was a fun one!

[Chelsea Panchision · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want a clean fun mystery this is your kind of book. I thought it was a great book that kept my interest the whole time. I caught myself thinking and trying to figure out where Nancy Drew was. I like trying to figure out the mystery of who did it and what happened. Also what I mean by clean is that it was written without all of the gory details and blood and stuff that some mysteries would have.
I would recommend this book to middle school or high school students for a quick fun fast read. I would not use this book as something that a teacher would discuss as a class together. This is the type of book to read independently.

Warnings:
Sex: none
Language: none
Violence: none
Drugs: none

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was good and kept me interested, but I didn’t like how much of a flake they made Nancy into. Definitely different from the original series.

[Lydia Hess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how it had Bess and George's pov instead of just all Nancy.

[lilyy · Rating 4 out of 5]

okay ngl i thought the title of this book was "nancy drew: missing" 😭 they misled me..it was on the freaking cover..anyway. i was literally screaming "OH MY GOSH GEORGE ITS NANCY IN THERE!! NANCYS IN THE MUSEUM NOT THE DOG!! but i knew something was wrong with Mrs whatever-her-name-is since the beginning.
also it was pretty cool to finally watch as nancys friends look for her xD all the hints were really good, great foreshadowing :33 hehe

[Sinead · Rating 2 out of 5]

i want to start off with i am a huge Nancy Drew fan always was wrote her letters when i was 11 and everything but this book was so a no go for me. i would have DNF it to be honest but like i said love Nancy Drew. The one good point i suppose was we saw it from the friends point of view.

[Sohila Kaur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enthralling plot and an amusing end.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was nice to get the viewpoints of Bess and George in this one!

[Aashi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshing series after mystery stories hardbound

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thing about this Nancy Drew mystery that makes it stand out is the unique conceit of writing it from the perspective of the sidekicks. George and Bess narrate the whole thing, as the mystery is that Nancy herself has gone missing.

Granted, the mystery itself is not so difficult to solve, but the fact that it takes them the whole length of the book to work it out does kind of demonstrate why Nancy is the detective and her friends are the supporting cast. It also gives some nice perspective on Nancy (a completely focused detective who sometimes forgets where she parked her car) and Ned (a nice guy, but boring when he drones on about Beowulf) that you would not otherwise get from Nancy's usual narration. It also has some nice tongue in cheek moments, such as River Heights having a location called Anvil Park, in a nod to the somewhat obvious clues that tend to populate a typical Nancy Drew mystery.

I don't know how much you would enjoy this particular installment if you were not already a fan of Nancy Drew mysteries in general, but if you have read them before and like them, you will be delighted by the innovation of this particular story.

[Susannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

***BIG SPOILER***This book is good I donn't like mysterys that much so this one I like. It is cool cause it is told from 4 or 5 different points. I am reading it for my class but...so it got mutch more interesting during the ending. It also was kind of stupid but i just can't get over that she was in the pantry and had to pee in a pickle jar.

[Maddison Holland · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Where's Nancy?" hahahahahahaha
I don't think it is possible to do "modern Nancy Drew" accurately or well. It was awful. She conveniently was bad at sleuthing and super forgetful. Because of course when you're a modern sleuth with Nancy's credentials, you forget to charge your cell phone. But I got the first 3 as a gift, so I read them anyway.

[Coralie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This follows the Girl Detective line of the Nancy Drew books, so it's more modern. In spite of it's watered down feel (just how I feel about the Girl Detective and Undercover Brother's line in general), the story was intriguing and the characters are just as amusing. I particularly enjoyed the idea of Nancy's friends solving the mystery of the missing Nancy.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the one that I'd wanted to read when I accidentally read the one about squash. I like this one a whole lot better. The pacing is sorta slow, but the plot is pretty decent, and it's definitely new seeing things from Bess and George's POV. This one I'd recommend

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

suspisious and everything a girl could want in a book

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

IT WAS REALLY A GOOD MYSTERY

[Lauren Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was kind of boring at first but then it turned out to be good.

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book! i would have never expected what happened. It was a different book since Nancy was the one missing and George, Bess, and NEd and to find her! I recommend it to everyone!

[Aisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book was great except i figured out where she was like in the first chapter! LOL!

[(Jen) The Artist Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extra star since we got to see Bess, George, and Ned's point of view ... a fun, quick read in the style of the new "Nancy Drew: Girl Detective" book series --first person narrative.

[Prashansa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool! It was somewhat (very, very little) boring without Nancy solving the mystery.

[Shreya=Drastically Random. Find the emoticon. · Rating 5 out of 5]

REALLY COOL! I liked how it would switch from Bess and George's perspectives, and I like how it clarified that Nancy's not the ONLY smart one. It was a little scary, but still good.

[Danielle]

Nancy Drew.

[Kareena]

I remember reading this a long time ago and thought it was cool because this time Nancy wasn't solving the mystery...

[Sona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it and different from usual Nancy Drew mysteries.:)

[Noor Al lawati · Rating 2 out of 5]

sadly this was a very boring mystery for me =( the whooole time they're trying to get clues! only at the end some action happened .. oh well at lease i have other Nancy's that seem interesting ..

[Amrina]

Why is this called a super mystery? That part just doesn't make sense to me.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is not from nancy's point of view it is from george bess and neds view it is really good

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5