I breezed through this seventh YA mystery in the Nancy Drew Files series from the '80s.

The main reason for my breezing was that I found the parts in between the action scenes to be only mildly interesting. As for the series' old-fashioned style, it seems this story doesn't have as many exclamation points as those before it—especially noticeable at even the cliffhangers that end the chapters with unceremonious statements rather than exclamations(!).

On another note, though I understand taking deceptive measures in life-and-death situations, I imagine that a YA detective story written for thrills and entertainment today would find measures for Nancy to take other than spreading a lot of bronzer all over her skin to make her look more like a certain Latina character.

It seemed for a minute like this mystery would wrap up with only a fairly mild climax to speak of. So I was pleased to see the stakes shoot up again at the eleventh hour. On to Book Eight, likely sooner than later. ( )

I read this book as part of the "YA of the 80's & 90's challenge".

A short book, pleasantly Nancy Drew-like. No real surprises or thrills, but it's just such a classic Nancy Drew tale. She gets herself into situations that anyone else would avoid, and solves the case in the end. A quick, not terribly compelling read. ( )