A Race Against Time

Nancy Drew: Girl Detective #2

by Carolyn Keene

If I'm in the game, I play to win. So as captain of my team in the River Heights Biking for Bucks charity road race, my goals are to bring my team over the finish line first -- and to catch a thief along the way!
See, all of the money we raised before the race has been stolen -- and I know I can find it. With two days, practically no clues, and a bike race to win, I've got my work cut out for me. But with Bess, George, and Ned on my team, what could stand between us and the gold?

Genres: Mystery, Middle Grade, Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Mystery Thriller, Detective

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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

[Viviana Almendra Rehbein]

Al fin leo algo de la famosa Nancy Drew, aunque esta autora no sea la original de los años 30. Ahora entiendo por qué es un icono y ha durante años, con diversos autores y epocas que en realidad ya me esta dando ganas de buscar las obras originales aunque sea obvio que no sera facil. Solo piensenlo, una mujer de los añod 30 resolviendo casos: sublime!!

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library)]

A Quickie Review

Just what I've come to expect from this franchise...which, in this case, isn't a bad thing.

Score: 4/5

[maryumqofb]

always a pleasure to read nancy drew

[theperksofbeingmarissa ;)]

A good but predictable mystery!

[Alex]

Another cute entry into this modern day Nancy Drew series.

[Ruby]

The new Nancy Drew books have our favorite heroine in the midst of the Open Heart Fundraiser Race when strange things start happening. First, Ned's car ends up in a ditch, and his bike is cut. Then the Open Heart money is stolen under the police's nose. Strangest of all, is a man in red shorts who no one has seen before, and he was the closest to the money when it disappeared. Can Nancy find the clues? Read along and you can too!

[Autumn Leaf]

I picked it up from the store as the name Nancy Drew bought so many nostalgic memories from my school days.
It was a mistake. I shouldn't have. I would still recommend a Nancy Drew book to a beginner.
I think it was a good read for a schoolgirl but not for the grown-up reader in me.

[Abbey]

This was a cool mystery book, and I thought I should rate it 4 stars.

[Tori]

⭐⭐⭐⭐

A RACE AGAINST TIME by Carolyn Keene

Nancy and the team are competing in a race to raise money for a local charity. Sabotages ensue, knocking them off track. It seems that's the worse that can happen...but then the raised money goes missing. Of course, Nancy Drew is on the case.
A RACE AGAINST TIME is another fast-paced whodunit. I flew through this middle-grade novel in just a couple of hours. Like Nancy, I put my detective's hat on as I tried to solve the case of the missing money. I thought I had it all figured out, but I was wrong---the evidence was there I should have seen it. Some might find this predictable, but it is what it is.

[skai_booksandbracelets]

This is a reread of a childhood favorite. I remembered many of the pieces of the story, but I couldn’t remember how they all fit together.it was interesting that Nancy put the mystery above the race, but she did much of it on her own. This series is drastically different from the original because she will have let her friends help her in the original. While I enjoyed that is started with some danger and drama I was a little disappointed that it was sort of a side plot that was largely forgotten when bigger mystery started.

[K.L.]

Nancy, Bess, George and Ned are competing in a bike race for charity when all the money is stolen. Weirdly Nancy is in no danger when recovering the stolen loot. Also, Bess as a mechanical whiz is just too much for belief! The secondary mystery is who is trying to sabotage Nancys bike team - the culprit is obvious, but never gets the comeuppance they deserve. Ned is much nicer in this series!!!

[Melia (she/her)]

Ned's car is crashed and he's missing! There are all sorts of problems with the team's bikes and suddenly the money is missing? A quick read and the mystery was definitely more compelling than the first one. I'm hopeful they will continue to get better the more I get into the series. Definitely good for a quick giggle and light mystery. 3/5

[Norwegian_Writer]

Nostalgi fikk meg til å høre på denne boka, og jeg gikk gjennom hele med tanken at jeg visste nøyaktig hvem som gjorde det, men det gjorde jeg ikke. Tror jeg kommer til å lytte meg gjennom hele serien med nye frøken detektiv, det er et koselig avbrekk og de tar ikke 20 timer å høre på.
(Lyttet på Storytel)

[Natelle]

The new voice of Nancy Drew reflects her entry into the age of cell phones and GPS though I felt she sounded younger than she should. The dueling mysteries in this book kept me entertained though the solution proved very predictable to Drew and her sleuthing team.

[holly]

Another Nancy Drew book I read to Frank & Sophie.
This is the newer series written in the early 2000’s & honestly, it sucks😅 Nancy gives off bully vibes. I remember reading Nancy Drew & loving it so much. Just ordered the original set written in 1930 so hopefully those are more what I remember.

[C.]

I don't know why it took me so long to finish this. Not too bad and a quick read.

[Julia Fox 🦊]

😊👍

[Emma And Alley]

I love this book

[Jamie]

Love anything Nancy Drew.

[Ron]

Better than most. Like the bicycling details.

[Monica Rives]

It was better than the first book of this series. At least, it felt more interesting and like a real mystery. The come up with a creative solution, to win the race and solve the crime

[Jordyneiguess]

Ned went missing for a bit and that was scary

[daybright🌙]

nancy girl can we get a little more commotion for your boyfriend being missing?

[Sharon]

A sweet mystery, enjoyed reading Nancy Drew as a young teen.

[Joanne]

E.5

[Odette]

Cute.

[Malene]

Nostalgia delux

[*.✧ Bella*.✧]

Those guys are giving me miraculous vibes>>

[michelle]

Read for addition to classroom library.

[Maya]

Another great mystery that I kept on going back to when I tried to put the book down. Just had to finish in one day.