The first book in the Nancy Drew series. I’d read it back in the 1950s and enjoyed it and the rest of the books in the series. It is probably one of the books that got me hooked on mysteries.

It seems there are furniture thieves travelling around the area, stealing from vacant vacation homes: furniture, heirlooms, household good and other items that can be sold. The thefts are discovered until the families visit these homes.

There is also the matter of Josiah Crowley’s wills. For a number of years he had let it be known he would divvy his estate between a select number of friend and family that could really use the financial help. Three years before his death, he was persuaded to move in with some distant relatives. Shortly after this move, word got out that he was leaving his whole estate to this family instead of the people mentioned before. The beneficial family had had slim to no contact with Crowley before, so the change seemed unusual.

Nancy learns that Crowley had spoken with his lawyer about rewriting his will and stated he would. She sets about investigating this news and finding where he had put the new document. By accident her path crosses the furniture thieves and she is able to help solve that mystery.

Written in 1930, Nancy is a pretty independent girl who isn’t afraid of challenges. She may not be as up-to-date as today’s girls, but she is ahead of her time in her series. ( )

I thought I’d read the original Nancy Drew novels, but I think I’d only read the reimagine version from the ‘90s. I liked that Nancy solved the case on her own. She didn’t need to be rescued, she was clever (and sometimes lucky), and she stood up for the underdogs who had been unexpectedly disinherited. I do wish the title didn’t give away so much of the plot. My daughter and I are both interested to read the next one. ( )

Read the 50s version and found Nancy to be kinda crazy
Highlights:
★Almost goes Karen mode and tells Taylor's employee she will talk to the manager
★Invades Allison's birthday (also wtf why does Allison start singing)
★Has only one friend other than the randos she meets and befriends to solve their mysteries? ( )

The Secret of the Old Clock is the mystery that began it all for America's favorite teenaged sleuth. The accidental rescue of a little girl who lives with her two great-aunts leads to an adventurous search for a missing will.

There was a pandering feel to this, like it doesn’t trust that the reader is smart enough to follow along or do any deducing of their own, with every aspect of the mystery not only spelled out and easy to solve but repeated ad nauseum, this is a short book, and could easily have been shorter for how much of it is just repeating what the reader has already been told.

The dialogue was a problem for me, too, extremely stilted and way too overloaded with exposition.

Also, if this man was so wealthy, why did he live with people he didn’t necessarily like? Did I miss something? That did not make sense.

While I struggled with much of the storytelling and writing style here, I did like Nancy herself, she’s brave, she’s determined to right wrongs, and there is something just plain fun about the image of this young woman driving around in her blue convertible solving crimes, I can see why she’s endured in so many readers’ hearts even if this first book wasn’t a good fit for me. ( )