Nancy Drew becomes entangled in a case to determine the true heirs to the estate of the recently deceased Josiah Crowley. Nancy’s dislike for the Topham family, a snobbish, wealthy family that has laid claim to the estate,
prompts her to look into the matter, where she meets several friends and family of Josiah Crowley who are claiming that he wrote a later will. When one of them tells her that a clue to the location of the will was hidden in an old clock before he died, Nancy finds herself on a dangerous quest to find this mysterious old clock in the hopes of finding Josiah Crowley’s true will and providing for his rightful, and more deserving, heirs.
Keene, Carolyn. The Nancy Drew Files, Case #1: Secrets Can Kill. Pocket Books, 1986. ISBN 978-0671746742. Ages 10-14.
When Nancy Drew goes undercover as a high school student at Bedford High School in order to investigate a series of thefts, she expects it to be a piece of cake. But after someone sends her a videotape warning her to stay away, and then one of her main suspects ends up dead, Nancy finds herself even more determined to get to the bottom of this case. So when the line becomes blurred between allies and enemies, and she develops feelings for someone other than Ned, Nancy realizes that if she doesn’t figure things out soon, someone could get seriously hurt…or even end up dead.
Keene, Carolyn. Nancy Drew, Girl Detective #1: Without a Trace. Aladdin Paperbacks, 2004. ISBN 068986566X. Ages 9-12.
In the first book of this modernized version of the famous girl detective series, Nancy Drew gets caught up in not one, but two mysteries. While trying to determine who has been destroying the neighborhood zucchini patches and keep the neighbors from turning on one another, she meets a new neighbor, who kindly welcomes Nancy and her friends into her home. But things take a turn for the worse when her new neighbor discovers that her priceless Faberge egg is missing! Could the two crimes be linked? With the help of her friends Bess and George, Nancy is determined to get to the bottom of both of them, no matter what!
