Sho Murase

River Heights is a hosting a nostalgia event for charity so the whole town and all its denizens are decked out like it's the 1930s. But things quickly go awry when an antique dollhouse starts depicting crimes -- and the crimes start happening in real life. Things quickly escalate when one of the dollhouse scenes shows Nancy Drew being murdered! Can the girl detective solve the case before the haunted dollhouse does her in?

This was a fun read; the title and description caught my eye and I show more realized only later that this is part of a graphic novel series that I had previously written off after not loving the first one in the series. While the mystery is pretty obvious, the story is still fun. Told in three chapters, it dips into the supernatural but only as a red herring. I loved the nostalgia week gimmick to continue setting the series in the modern day while making nods to the old titles. Indeed, this title includes lots of fun Easter eggs for tried and true Nancy Drew fans, but this mystery also stands on its own for new readers just meeting the famous girl detective.

The illustrations aren't fantastic ... they're at times using too much of a dark palette to see what's going on ... but they suffice for the story to be read in an enjoyable enough way. show less

Nancy Drew is babysitting Owen when a thunderstorm hits River Heights. As a result, a truck jackknifes and a SUV crashes into the truck. Just so happens, this accident happened near Nancy’s charge’s home. Charlie Adams, a tow truck driver and good friend of Nancy’s, calls in a favor of Nancy: he wants to bring the SUV driver by because he has precious cargo that he refuses to part with.

When Charlie arrives with Professor David Severe, an archeologist, he informs Nancy he has proof the show more Chinese were in America prior to Christopher Columbus. He shows her the artifact (or a “rock” as Owen calls it) and shares its history. Nancy asks Professor Severe to tell his findings at the museum fund raiser. He agrees.

The night of the fund raiser, the professor begins talking about his research and just when he’s about to show the artifact, he realizes it’s missing! And that’s not the only thing that is missing. Owen is missing too. Immediately Nancy is on the case hunting down clues. The first clue leads her to the museum security guard. Did he steal this “rock”? And if so, why? Nancy is determined to find the answers to these questions.

Like book one of this series, the mystery is light and Nancy does a fantastic job with solving the case. I have to say though, I love how the criminals just confess EVERYTHING to her prior to the police showing up. What is it about Nancy that just makes them want to talk??

Yes these graphic novels are not the Nancy Drew I grew up with. I do have to admit, though, I am enjoying them and for now will continue with the series. show less

Nancy Drew solves the mystery of a missing boy and archaeological artifact. In this manga-influenced re-imagining of Nancy Drew, the River Heights detective stumbles into historical fraud when a visiting professor claims to have proof of Pre-Columbian cross-cultural contact with the Americas. When the mysterious disappearance of the artifact coincides with the disappearance of a local boy, Nancy must race to find both before someone ends up hurt! An engaging plot that draws on interesting show more academic theories but simplifies it to fit the high-low reader aspect of the graphic novel. A poor substitute for the classic series of novels, but this graphic novel series may act as a good gateway to full Nancy Drew novels for reluctant readers, but the plot merits less praise than the interesting illustrations. The artwork attempts to keep the focus on the characters by washing out the backgrounds so they take on the patina of a blurry snapshot. The indistinct settings are offset by CG elements that add an edge to the action scenes. For the price and quality, school librarians could better spend their money elsewhere, although I would consider buying this for public libraries. show less

I read this book because I wanted to see what a graphic novel was like and very curious to read one that was based on the Nancy Drew series. I enjoyed it. This story takes place in the present day but the fun thing was that River Heights ( the setting) is celebrating retro days and everything is themed to the 1930s. The story is original as far as I know and not based on an early original book. The story also refers to previous real Nancy Drew books, which I thought was kind of fun. I'd like show more to think that reading these would encourage the reader to try the old Nancy Drew books. show less