Under Review

I finished the third book in The Nancy Drew Files series and barely took a breath, so to speak, before I jumped right into this fourth one. I'm getting a kick out of these '80s YA mysteries.

I also got a little kick out of the tie to other actual mystery novels and authors in this book, including a mention of books about the Hardy Boys. And one character's comment about detective stories being too predictable for her—a pretty mischievous move on the writer's part to stick a line like that into one of these quick and easy Nancy novels.

I found it kind of funny that at one point, the narrator adds a little explanation about what the phone number "911" is. That emergency number had been in effect for almost two decades by the time this book was written, so the book's young target audience would have grown up knowing the number already.

As I suspected would happen while reading the previous novel, Nancy and her boyfriend Ned run into more relationship trouble as romantic plans of theirs are again interrupted by a case Nancy takes on. As for the case itself, some of the most interesting action and its resulting problem are brought on by a critical mistake on Nancy's part, when she jumps ahead of "the rational side of her brain." Not the first time that she's messed up in a way that doesn't make the most sense for a detective who's so experienced.

Nevertheless, I still found the read quite entertaining, from the workplace mystery, to the dash of teen magazine industry glitz and glam, to the now outdated tech and the presence of a store like good ol' Woolworth's. (Am I dating myself?)

Looking forward to reading (and revisiting) more of this series. ( )