The Secret of Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene
Series: Nancy Drew #5
First Published by Penguin in 1931
Genres: Girls & Women, Mysteries & Detective Stories, Thrillers & Suspense, Young Adult
Pages: 192
Nancy Drew arrives in Phoenix, Arizona, eagerly looking forward to a fun-filled vacation at Shadow Ranch, but abruptly finds herself involved in a baffling mystery. The ranch is being haunted by an unknown enemy. Local people believe that the ghostly animal is carrying out the curse of Dirk Valentine, the romantic outlaw who was killed many years ago at Shadow Ranch, where he had gone to fulfill a promise to his sweetheart. Aided by her friends Bess Marvin and George Fayne, Nancy comes face-to-face with disaster when she is trapped inside a building that is toppled by a rockslide —a rockslide which is deliberately caused. But the pretty titian-haired detective remains undaunted in her determination to solve the mystery.
This series is just classic. In this book, we’re finally introduced to Nancy’s friends George and Bess. Ned is mentioned in passing and it seems to insinuate that Nancy and Ned are a couple. Which is disappointing. I hoped that we would have been introduced to him like some of the other potential boyfriends were. I’m curious to see how he’s officially introduced in upcoming books.
Overall, though, this book has a good clean adventure with a capable girl. The believability isn’t always there but I can’t help but love this series anyway. My seven-year-old is really enjoying this series so far as well.
About Carolyn Keene
Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon are the pseudonyms under which many ghostwriters penned the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series, respectively. Both series were created by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate book packaging firm, in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Stratemeyer’s daughter, Harriet, and syndicate writer Mildred Wirt Benson were the two people primarily responsible for bringing the iconic character of Nancy Drew to life in the minds and hearts of millions of readers around the world.
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