Nancy Drew Mystery Stories 2 The Hidden Staircase

 

In this intriguing story, Nancy runs to the aid of her friend Helen Corning. Helen's Aunt Rosemary and Rosemary's elderly mother live in Twin Elms, their  "old family mansion in Cliffwood." Frightening events have been occurring at their home which lead Helen to ask Nancy for help. This story contains some spine-tingling moments at Twin Elms, and Carson Drew has his own dangerous situation to unravel. 

This is one of the first of the Nancy Drew series that I heard as a "book-on-tape." Remember that phrase? LOL  Now, everything is on Audible, including many of these Nancy Drews read by Laura Linney. Miss Linney does a marvelous job reading with just the right amount of emotion and intonation for the characters. 

In this story, Nancy is ever-kind, patient, and loving toward her father and the beloved Hannah Gruen. 

Over the years, I have read many  posts on Series Books for Girls  This blog is an excellent resource for all things Nancy Drew as well as MANY other book series. The blogger, "Jenn" has read through all of the Nancy Drews in all of their incarnations (i.e. editions).  She points out that the original Nancy was a little less "perfect." Her observation is correct, but I have to say, I like the "perfect" Nancy much better. There is nothing wrong with providing a better role model--and kids do emulate what they read and watch (adults, too) without even thinking about it. I champion the writers' presentation of a respectful and kind, practical, and smart young lady. 

Next up--a very dramatic story --The Bungalow Mystery. 

A Better Mysteries Bookshelf!

 

Thanks to help from John Thomas and Michael (JM was at work), we finally put this project plan into motion. Some time ago, I saw a picture where someone had made an outstanding Nancy Drew bookshelf where she housed her collection of the original series.  She even had an "old clock" on the shelf--a tip-of-the-hat to the first title, The Secret of the Old Clock. Being a clock fanatic myself, I had my own old clock to use with the shelf. A friend at school donated this self to the project.  JT helped me with moving the CD case we had in this spot, and Dad helped me get the books from a shelf downstairs. He even helped with the Hardy Boys you see in the bottom section of the shelf. 

So after months of looking for a shelf, planning on where to put it, and working on the logistics of the move, here it is!  

I hope to add a picture light above the shelf .  

The best part of this other than having the shelf arranged is that I can easily log what I have and what is needed to complete the collection. 

Lots of fun on the way!  

Here is a picture of the shelf with the bottom doors closed. 

Hypers! A Nancy Drew Christmas Suprise!

 

Hubby has been fretting about a Christmas present running late.  It arrived today, and it is AMAZING!  He must have ordered it directly from River Heights! LOL  Look at these beautiful gifts.  

The Out of Print company has all kinds of reprinted treasures involving older books, and this lovely bag is one of those.  Look at Nancy in her signature pose. 

Mr. Wonderful also picked out some socks for my ever-cold feet, and a bookmarker!  Yesterday, I had this book under the tree:

Look at those end pages!  And it is a first edition!  WOWOWOWOWOW!  I have two editions of this title, The Haunted Bridge, but not this one.  

I am hoping tomorrow to work on the shelf project and hopefully have some more pictures to share. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Starting with Number 1 The Secret of the Old Clock

 

Good Morning from the posting desk!  The Secret of the Old Clock gives us a wonderful introduction to Nancy, her father Carson Drew, and their beloved housekeeper, Hannah Gruen. The two editions in the top photo are mine; the one beneath is a picture from a seller on Etsy. I would like to purchase that soon so that I have each of the covers. The "tweed" cover belonged to my mother. She gave me several of her books when I was a little girl, and this is worthy of its own post one day soon. 

As the editions changed, the number of chapters typically diminished from 24-25 to 20.  I am most familiar with the latter edition here--I need to read Mama's again to note the differences. I think that Nancy's personality mellows a bit with the revised versions. 

In this mystery, Nancy encounters a snooty family, the Tophams. Their daughters have been unkind to Nancy in their school days, and the parents are "shady" at best. Their actions may be responsible for a host of difficulties for other characters--to set things right involves a search for an old clock! 

Nancy's kindness is as present as her inquisitiveness. She treats everyone courteously and compassionately.  We certainly need that model today. 

In this opening volume to the series, we aren't yet introduced to her River Heights friends, Helen Corning, Bess Marvin, George Fayne, and the young men, Ned, Dave, and Burt. We will see Helen in the next installment, The Bungalow Mystery. 

'Til then, have a great week reading!

Welcome to Better Day Mysteries!

There was a better day in the history of mysteries written for young people. I am encouraged that there remains a deep appreciation for some of these classic series--Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, the Dana Girls, and most recently, the Happy Hollisters.  I have long wanted to have a blog or blog posts dedicated to these characters.  Today is the Day!  Thank you for dropping by. Stay with me as I work on building this blog.