Nancy Drew

Growing up I use to love anything mystery. I loved trying to solve the missing piece of the puzzle, I loved watching “Scooby Doo” because it had two of my favorite genres- mystery and comedy! Also, I loved reading, especially “Nancy Drew” or “The Hardy Boys” books. For this discussion post, I chose “Nancy Drew 02: The Hidden Staircase” by Carolyn Kenne. The story begins with Nancy getting a call from her friend Helen to help solve a mystery. Helen’s Aunt Rosemary has been living with her mother at the old family mansion, and they’ve been noticing some strange things around the house. At night, they hear music, thumps, creaking noises and even eerie shadows! As soon as Nancy hangs up the phone, a strange man visits Nancy’s house to warn Nancy and her father that they are in danger; he is working a case to buy a railroad property. The warning from the strange man leads Nancy and her father to search for the missing Willie Wharton, a landowner, who can prove he signed away his land to the railroad thus saving the railroad from a lawsuit. What made me enjoy this book; what made me enjoy the whole “Nancy Drew” series, was the author. In all her books, she slowly builds the intensity of the mystery- to the small minor clues that Nancy notes through her journey- to finally finding the big piece of the puzzle. The characters play a big part of understanding the story because each of the characters play a different part in solving the mystery.