The Clue in the Diary

A hallmark of detective fiction, Nancy Drew is a enduring and well known literary figure. From the original books, to remakes, spinoffs and television and movie adaptations, Nancy Drew is synonymous with amateur sleuth.

The Clue in the Diary was published on January 1, 1932, comprises of twenty five chapters and was written by Mildred Wirt Benson under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. The following review is for the 1930's edition of the text.

In Nancy's blue roadster, Nancy, Bess and George are returning from a lovely day out at the carnival when they see a nearby house explode into flame. Rushing to help, Nancy is soon knee deep in another mystery when she finds a small leather diary left behind by a man fleeing the scene.

It's hard not show more to like Nancy. She's spunky, kind and enthusiastic. She might be scared, frightened or surprised - but she'd never let that stop her from solving a case - or saving a friend. Or anyone else in need.

I adore her relationship with her dad, Carson Drew. They're both so proud of each other and I really like that he's such a prominent figure in these books. Plus I love that he's so supportive and willing to let Nancy take the lead and step back when he can and most importantly - listens to her thoughts and opinions and values them. And it's funny when they tease each other.

"What kept you so late?" Carson Drew inquired. "Jove! You've been in an accident!"
"Rather. I'm afraid the roadster will never look the same again."
"I don't care about the car. I'm thankful you're here safe and sound. When you didn't telephone to explain the delay, I was very worried."
"We didn't have money enough left to put in a telephone call, Dad. We spent most of it at the carnival, and the rest at a garage."
"You could have reversed the charge."
"I didn't think of that. Anyway, things were happening so fast there wasn't much time to do anything. When we reached Mapleton I thought we'd be home in a little over an hour. I'm sorry I worried you."
"I'll recover," the lawyer smiled. "The question now is, how big a lawsuit will I have on my hands?"
"Suit? Oh, I see, you think I crashed into another car. A lot of confidence you have in my driving!"
"Accidents happen in the best regulated families."
"Yes. It seems to me I remember you once ran into a telephone pole," Nancy reminded her father mischievously as they turned toward the house. "Well, you can relax! Another car ran into mine and I have the driver's name and license number. I can easily look him up."

Keene, Carolyn; Benson, Mildred A. Wirt. The Clue in the Diary: Nancy Drew Mystery #7 (pp. 28-29). Applewood Books.

This book is also the introduction of one, Ned Nickerson. I liked Ned. I was amused that she thought he was going to steal her car when really he's just kind and thoughtful. The flirting and banter between them was cute. And it was interesting to see Nancy a bit out of her depth with a guy she clearly really likes. I really wanted to know Ned's thoughts on the whole saga. And Ned meeting Carson was hilarious. I love that Carson and Nancy are both evaluating how he is with the other. They just all want to like each other. Aww. The bonus was seeing Carson and Ned join forces to come to Nancy's rescue. I mean, she didn't exactly need it - but they did catch her escaping criminal.

One thing I find interesting with these books is the parental involvement. Nancy is generally free to do what she wants, with a token enquiry with her father, but he is also present in a way parents just aren't in children's fiction. He usually knows what Nancy is up to and is often at hand to give her advice or help or the odd rescue. Bess and George parents aren't seen on screen so to speak but the girls don't have total freedom, being required to check in or stay home or whatever. It makes it feel more grounded in reality than a lot of other children's fiction (and to be fair, mainly the fantasy, action, adventure genres) is. Not entirely relevant to this review, but just an interesting approach.

This was a bit skint on the secondary characters if you haven't read any others but it wasn't too bad. I loved seeing the girls all work together to solve their problems, but I was amused by how they're alike too - i.e. all shopping for Honey separately.

As for the mystery it was really good. The plot was fast paced and exciting, littered with small moments of humour and warmth. I was hooked as the girls investigated. These are really just feel good mysteries.

That said, they were written in a time of differing social values, so they don't always align to modern ideas. This one didn't stack up too badly but there are a few unfavourable moments. As I've said, I support rewriting Nancy Drew books to get rid of the racial disparity but I don't think the entirety of the plot needs to be changed to do so.

A fantastic Nancy Drew adventure with heart. 4.5 stars, rounded to 5 stars for Ned Nickerson. show less

In the 1931 edition, Nancy and her "girlfriends", the plump Bess and the tomboyish George, see a country mansion burn to the ground, and discover nearby a diary written in Swedish. The mansion's wealthy owner Felix Raybolt is missing, and evidence of arson (and possibly murder) points to Joe Swenson, whom Raybolt had swindled. Nancy figures out what really happened, and singlehandedly makes things right again -- forcing Raybolt to renumerate the people he's cheated, and helping to pull the poor Swenson family out of poverty. Meanwhile Nancy attracts as a boyfriend a student at the nearby college.

Volumes could be written (and no doubt have been) about this sort of work from a sociological standpoint. (Why is there an emphasis on the show more fact that the poverty-stricken family was Swedish... was that a feature of the 1930s? Was it carried into modern editions?)

As for the characters, Bess is always eating or thinking about her next meal, and two sentences into this book, she's gulping down her fifth chicken sandwich. Her female cousin "George" seems to be an odd figure for 1931: she's adopted a man's name, dresses in men's clothing, keeps her dark hair as short as possible (and never combs or brushes it), and shows no interest in men. Did the underpaid writers who invented her (under the pseudonym "Carolyn Keene") have something mildly subversive in mind, or was the character simply constructed as a contrast to Nancy and Bess, to give tomboyish girl readers someone to identify with? Whatever it was, by the 1960s, George had been developed into a more feminine character, with short, bouncy curls.

Despite large holes in the plot and larger implausibilities, this story is harmless entertainment. Tales of its ilk no doubt inspired generations of female enthusiasts to seek to be more like Nancy -- clever, independent, and able to outwit the male villains amongst us. And those who could not aspire to Nancydom could gain solace by identifying with Nancy's pals Bess and "George." show less

Nancy Drew finds a Clue in a Diary - unfortunately the diary is written in Swedish and the person she knows who can translate it is so sick he's hospitalized but this doesn't deter Nancy.
A quick synopsis -Nancy and her friends George and Bess, meet a woman with a little girl at a carnival who are financially desperate. On the way home they spot a fire, while George and Bess drive to a neighbor's house, Nancy runs up to the house and tries to rescue anyone who might be trapped. Instead she sees a man running away, finds a diary, has her car rear-ended and meets her boyfriend Ned Nickerson. Ned finds a signet ring with a D on it and calls Nancy to ask if it's her - that set Nancy all a twitter. The man turns out to be the lost show more husband/father of the woman and her daughter. He's a good guy, but the checks he's been sending home have been getting stolen. Nancy solves that crime too. But now he's a accued of setting the fire and killing the homeowner. Nancy sets a trap and along with Bess and George figures out the mystery. Her father and Ned show up just in time to head off the real villian as Nancy is chasing him.

This book is quite obviously written by a third writer. I found some discrepencies from the previous books. The most glaring of these is that Ned is mentioned in book 5. Bess makes a comment that Ned is returning home and that he is Nancy's boyfriend. But in book 7, Nancy meets Ned for the first time.

In previous books, the emphasis has felt more like feminism. In fact in the first couple of books, Nancy doesn't need a man to help her and barely needs a female side-kick. She is a role model of the independent young woman. In book 7, every time Ned is mentioned she gets giddy. She runs home to get dressed up for their dates, after he calls, she dances around the room. It's a wonder Nancy can stay focused enough to solve the mystery.

Also gone this time are the lengthy descriptions of meals. Hannah Gruen is still a fabulous cook and can just whip up a cake from scratch so Nancy can serve Ned cake and ice cream. The book also doesn't spend so much time describing the clothes that are worn.

By now, I have some questions. How old is Nancy? She's out of high school and her friend Helen was a few years older than she was. I always thought she was probably 18 or 19. If Hannah Gruen practically raised Nancy and they are so affectionate, why do the Drews still treat her like a servant? Where is River Heights? I know it's suppose to be a fictional city, but what state is it located in? The books mention Mr. Drew going to Cleveland and taking the train to Chicago - so my guess is that it's someplace in Illinois, Indiana or possibly Wisconsin.

Next question, why doesn't Nancy or any of her friends have jobs? If they're suppose to be independet women, you'd think they would have jobs at least in a department store. And why doesn't Nancy attend college? Her father has the money and he himself is edcuated, but by book 7 she is just tooling around in her convertible solving mysteries and not being paid.

Well, it's off to book 8. show less

[This is a review I wrote in 2016]

The Clue in the Diary – Nancy Drew Mystery No. 7

It’s been a very long time since I last read a Nancy Drew story – I would have been around 9 years old and borrowing them from my local library, along with many, many other books which I devoured, particularly in the school holidays.

I have always loved books with a passion and, although I didn’t have very many, the books that I owned as a child are the ones that were re-read and they are the stories that stayed with me most vividly. I remember borrowing the Nancy Drew stories – I even have a visual memory of the carousel in Daventry Library that housed them – but I can’t remember anything more about them… that is, until now.

The Clue in the show more Diary is the 7th Nancy Drew mystery and features Nancy with her friends, the cousins George and Bess, and her new friend Ned Nickerson. Together the three girls, with a bit of help from Ned, are trying to solve the mystery of a diary and signet ring found at the site of a burning house which the girls saw on their way home one night. They stopped at the scene to see if they could help. Nancy saw a man fleeing the scene into the undergrowth and the diary and signet ring were found soon afterwards…

I thoroughly enjoyed this quite undemanding but entertaining read. I’ve recently re-read a number of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five stories. This is very similar but (and I never thought I’d say this) not quite as well written or as well plotted as a Famous Five. Still, the characterisation is very good, the novel well-plotted and I enjoyed it very much. Although Nancy drives a car and has had boy friends, this is perfectly suitable for 8 and up and is equally suitable for teenagers and beyond looking for a lightweight read.

About the Series:

Set in America the first four novels in the series were published in 1930. The original series kept running until 2003 with 175 novels published in total. The main character has also appeared in spin off series The Girl Detective, The Nancy Drew Files and is the heroine in the Diaries series as well. The author, Carolyn Keene, is the pen name for a number of different writers used to write the books. show less

Another fun mystery with Nancy, her friends, George and Bess, and finally Ned Nickerson! I had forgotten that Ned could be quite flirtatious and Nancy quite demure. Add to that a mansion gone up in flames, a missing owner, and a poor family in need, and you've got quite a puzzle for Nancy to solve! Nancy doesn't hit her head in this one, but she does get slapped in the face. 😱 I've thoroughly enjoyed rereading this series from my childhood.

The Clue In The Diary, by Carolyn Keene
★★★ and 1/2

This was yet another Nancy Drew mystery. I figured it would be a quick read but it took me longer than expected because as an adult I kept getting bored. But I loved this series when I was a kid, so for nostalgia's sake, I rate this book 3.5 stars.
Nancy Drew is definitely a character that young girls could look up to. She's nice, responsible, loyal, and inquisitive. The books are sweet and fun, and always end with a happy resolve. It's a book series that I would strongly recommend to any kid daughter, but I don't think adults would be quite as passionate about these books if they were reading it for the first time.

Read both the old and the new books. We meet Ned finally! I always enjoy this one, the bomb, stolen patents, and good times. The main difference is the confrontation, love how Nancy holds the bad guy hostage to wrote checks haha.