Nancy Drew: Girl Detective

     It is time to discuss the third Nancy Drew series, Nancy Drew: Girl Detective! The following paragraphs are an excerpt from a book I am working on about everything Nancy Drew. Enjoy!


     "In March of 2004, shortly after the digest series ended, a new Nancy Drew series began. It was called the Girl Detective series. According to Simon and Schuster, 'Nancy Drew has a new spring in her step. And it's no wonder: We've given her whole world more oomph. In the all new Nancy Drew, we've enhanced and expanded everything you've loved about Nancy, Bess, George, and the rest of Nancy's crew. You loved the series before, but with more, dimension, you'll love the series even more now! Learn why River Heights is such a hotbed of criminal activity, meet some new key sources of information for Nancy on all her cases, become acquainted with Nancy's new nemesis, and become even closer friends with Bess and George. And that's just the beginning...'

This series portrays Nancy much differently than any other series ever has, but she is still dedicated to solving whatever challenges that lie ahead. When she's on your trail, you had better watch out because nothing can stop her! A big change in this series is that they are now written in first person, almost always from Nancy's point of view. All of the characters in this series are also a bit different from the Classic series, but they are still loosely shaped around the way they started out. Bess is still a total girly girl, but this time around, without her boyfriend, Dave Evans, she tends to be a bit more flirty. Another change to Bess that is very different is that she has pretty much turned into a mechanic. She can fix almost anything and pick any lock you give her. This change takes some getting used to as Bess has never been this way before, but it certainly helps Nancy solve many of her cases!

George has also been changed a bit, but in a way that (to me) seems very much like George if she were a real person living today. Now she is totally into electronics and knows all about computers and any other electronic device you could imagine. Also, unlike the classic series, her name is no longer just plain George, it is now Georgia, but she can't stand Georgia, so everyone just calls her George. Everyone except for her parents, that is. Another change to the cousins is that they now have siblings. George has an older and a younger brother and Bess has a little sister.

Nancy also experienced a bit of a change when this series first appeared. Aside from when she is solving a mystery, Nancy is very clumsy and forgetful. Always forgetting to fill her car up with gas, or forgetting her date with Ned, or any number of things. She even has Charlie Adams, the River Heights mechanic, on her speed dial because she forgets to put gas in her car so often! Charlie has also stopped charging Nancy because he has to help her out so much.

Mr. Drew and Hannah stay pretty much the same, but all of a sudden, Chief McGinnis has become very impolite to Nancy. He seems to think that she is always "sticking her nose where it doesn't belong," or interfering with other people's business. I do understand that she does solve many cases that started out as his, but if he really were a good police chief you would think that he would be glad that his community is safe, no matter who puts the criminals in jail!

Ever since book 30 came out in June, 2008, the mysteries have been in trilogies. Three books all written about the same mystery to make one long, intricate mystery! These books are still available in bookstores although they are no longer being written. This series also has three Super Mysteries and six Crossovers. The Crossovers include both the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. This series ended on February 21, 2012 with the forty-seventh book in the series, Stalk, Don't Run."

~Sienna

1. Without a Trace
2. A Race Against Time
3. False Notes
4. High Risk
5. Lights... Camera...
6. Action!
7. The Stolen Relic
8. The Scarlet Macaw Scandal
9. Secret of the Spa
10. Uncivil Acts
11. Riverboat Ruse
12. Stop the Clock
13. Trade Wind Danger
14. Bad Times, Big Crimes
15. Framed
16. Dangerous Plays
17. En Garde
18. Pit of Vipers
19. The Orchid Theif
20. Getting Burned
21. Close Encounters
22. Dressed to Steal
23. Troubled Waters
24. Murder on the Set
25. Trails of Treachery
26. Fishing for Clues
27. Intruder!
28. Mardi Gras Mystery
29. Stolen Bones
30. Pageant Perfect Crime
31. Perfect Cover
32. Perfect Escape
33. Secret Identity
34. Identity Theft
35. Identity Revealed
36. Model Crime
37. Model Menace
38. Model Suspect
39. Green-Eyed Monster
40. Green With Envy
41. Seeing Green
42. Secret Sabotage
43. Serial Sabotage
44. Sabotage Surrender
45. California Schemin
46. Mystery at Malachite Mansion
47. Stalk, Don't Run

Super Mysteries:

Where's Nancy?

Once Upon a Crime

Real Fake

Crossovers:

Terror on Tour

Danger Overseas Club Dread

Gold Medal Murder

Bonfire Masquerade

Stage Fright

Also, Nancy Drew Ghost Stories

What Does Nancy Drew Look Like?

     For those of you who don't know, HeR Interactive is a game company that has been making Nancy Drew games for 15 years. They have made 28 ND games. Their most recent one, Ghost of Thornton Hall came out the beginning of this month. At the end of every game is a trailer for the next one.

     The trailer for the newest game was very short and only revealed a small amount of information, but it has everyone very curious and excited. These are the things we know about the game:

1. It will be called The Silent Spy
2. It will be set in Glasgow, Scotland
3. It will be about Nancy's MOM!

     You can watch the trailer here:

     There are a lot of people who are excited about this game, but some people are not looking forward to it. Not much is known about Nancy's mother or how she died. And a lot of people want it to stay that way. Here is what we do know:

• Nancy was only three years old when her mother died (ten in the original Classic books)
• Her maiden name was Austin
• Her family to America from Scotland and her grandmother (Nancy's Great-Grandmother) still lives there
• She died of a long, mysterious illness

     The French Nancy Drew books say that her first name was Elise, her maiden name was Beauchamp, and she is from Louisiana. In the 2002 pilot episode of a Nancy Drew show that never took off, Nancy says that her mother died of a heart attack. I have also heard some people say that she died in a car accident, but I am not sure where that came from.

     Some people are very concerned that, because this game is about Nancy's mom, we may finally see her dad, Carson in this game. We have talked to him over the phone a few times, but never actually see him. This may also be our chance to see Hannah, Ned, Nancy's Great-Grandmother, and maybe even Nancy herself. Personally, I will not be bothered by seeing anyone in this game. I actually want to! I have seen so many different interpretations of what people think Nancy and her family and friends look like that seeing one more will not bother me a bit and I am interested in knowing how HeR imagines Nancy to look. Here are a few different versions of what people have thought Nancy to look like over the years:

Graphic Novel 1, Girl Detective 44, Emma Roberts, Tracy Ryan
Classic 44, Classic 1, Girl Detective 41, Several Different Pictures

     What are your thoughts about possibly seeing what Nancy or certain other characters look like in a HeR Interactive game for the first time?

~Sienna


Random Fact of the Week: Nancy has been portrayed by twelve different actresses in movies and on tv shows in the last 83 years!