Nancy Drew: The Secret of Shadow Ranch (December 2022)

[D.L.]

Please join us for a group read of The Secret of Shadow Ranch (Nancy Drew Mystery #5) in December. We would love to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions of the book! :)

[Vicky]

I will read this one after Nancy's Christmas book. I've never read a ND Christmas story before. Kind of exciting.

[Vicky]

I just started this 2 days ago. I usually have the book read by the first few days of the month, so I am lagging. But I think I have a good excuse - getting ready for Christmas.

[Vicky]

I actually read this book before Nancy's Christmas book. It was enjoyable. We meet Bess and George for the first time. Bess and George are great. I am still a bit miffed that the authors have to include comments about overweight characters who always want to eat. Oy! Nancy again saves the day by finding out who is trying to sabotage Shadow Ranch. Yes, there is even a mystery regarding hidden gold. It was a mining town in the past. One dead outlaw's fortune and a ghost horse make the tale interesting.

[D.L.]

I am a month behind (whoops! bad moderator!) but I am finally getting to read this one. It's pretty darn good. Nancy has a puzzler on her hands. I can't wait to find out what/who is behind the phantom horse!! I like George & Bess a lot, but I already miss Helen Corning & shall miss her forever!

[D.L.]

(view spoiler)[I am so glad the dog Chief was okay. It was so cool how he was the reason Nancy figured out how the phantom horse "lit up". (hide spoiler)]

[Taffeta]

Hmm, this book is starting out similarly to Trixie Belden #6 Mystery in Arizona…teen friends invited to Uncle’s ranch for a holiday, but at the last minute plans are jeopardized by a mystery…perhaps the teen friends can investigate said mystery…

[Vicky]

I haven't read any Trixie Belden books. I have noticed that when the HBs have a plot in one novel, Nancy Drew has a similar crime in her book. For example, the HBs find a counterfeiting ring in book 6, but ND had a counterfeiting story in #5. I still enjoy the books, though.

[Taffeta]

Oh, yes, I love them too. I’m not very familiar with HB, but I plan to visit the used book store tomorrow! I like the trio of Nancy, George and Bess…if it weren’t for Bess, the other two would go plunging headlong into dangerous situations.

I am also really digging the desert setting.

[Vicky]

I think Bess is sweet. I wish her cousin, George, would stop making unkind comments about Bess's weight and eating habits. That detracts from the book a little bit for me, as it does when it is in the HB. I still mess Helen Corning. I read these books when I was 8, and I honestly didn't even remember Helen Corning. But, I liked her in the first few novels.

[Taffeta]

I agree that George is guilty of shaming Bess; it is my one disappointment with George.

Vicky, do you think the series ghostwriters were assigned the similar plots? I don’t know much about about their methods.

[Vicky]

The authors were hired by a man named Stratemeyer to write both series. It is possible that the authors met occasionally and shared ideas. They were paid $125 per manuscript, had to sign a confidentiality agreement, and signed away their rights to copyright the books. I would guess that in 1928 (first HB book came out), and 1931 for ND, $125 dollars was a lot of money. The authors of the ND first few books resigned, and Stratemeyer's family members took over the books as well as others. The author of HBs eventually was replaced also by Stratemeyer family members and others.