The Secret of Red Gate Farm

My first ND since I was a child. Even though we had a tiny library, I was not quite desperate to read these after the first one I tried bored me silly. But now I can see the appeal, at least for girls reading them in the 30s and 40s.

Yes, this was first published in 1931. Three 18 year old girls driving around solving exciting mysteries. From now on, whenever someone tries to explain away sexist writing in books of this era (or since) as "that's the way it was in the old days; they didn't know any better," I'll point to this and say "Ha! No, they were sexist and had no excuse."

Otoh, it's pure pulp, and I'm not interested in reading any more in the series.

The Secret of Red Gate Farm was a fun, quick read! As a children's mystery novel, it delivered exactly what I wanted—an engaging plot that kept me curious without being overly complex. Nancy Drew's adventures at Red Gate Farm were entertaining and moved at a nice pace. It's a simple, charming mystery that's perfect for a light read. If you're looking for something nostalgic and easy to breeze through, this one hits the spot.

Books of the Nancy Drew series certainly weren't meant for adult males, but personal circumstances have led me to read several. In general, they are pretty bad from any standpoints by which fiction is usually judged (e.g. plot, prose, believability, character development, etc.). Their social merit mainly lies in the their value as inspiration to young girls to emulate the 18-year-old Nancy herself. After all, she shows courage, determination, intelligence, and empathy, and persists in the face of danger to solve the crimes with which she's faced.
In this work, she seeks to help a woman and her daughter keep their beloved "Red Gate Farms" in the face of mortgage payments that the woman cannot afford, and despite pressure from an show more unscrupulous man who tries to take advantage of her plight. (Anyone who has had a mortgage payment may find it amusing how the small amount of money generated from borders suffices to keep the farm from being repossessed). The mystery relates to the nature and activities of the "Black Snake Colony" which rents some of the property. The members dress in white robes and cavort about the hillside at dusk, waving their arms and making strange sounds. As it turns out, they are a local band of counterfeiters who have a secret cave in which they mint and distribute fake money. They are masking their identity and activities by pretending to be a weird cult -- as if having ceremonies in which they dance around in masks and bedsheets is a good way to not attract attention from the locals. Of course, Nancy and her friends spy on them and are discovered and captured, and are tied up by the bad people who plan to leave them in the house "without any food" (!). However, after a flight through a cave, they are rescued by a local branch of the Secret Service. Thus Nancy and her friends live to detect in future books, with gratitude from the authorities and admiration from her father. Little wonder that books of this kind led my younger sister to want to be a Lady Detective someday.

PS. This book does nothing to get its readers over an unreasonable fear of snakes. One of the girls is bitten by a snake, and fearing that it might have been poisonous, Nancy affixes a tourniquet on the leg and opens the wound to let out the poison... show less

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 Secret of Red Gate Farm was published on September 1, 1931, comprises of twenty five chapters and was written by Mildred Wirt Benson under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. The following review is for the 1931's edition of the text.

Nancy and her friends, Elizabeth "Bess" Marvin and George Fayne are out shopping when they stumble across the strangest mystery - a shop lady who doesn't want to sell a bottle of perfume the girls are willing to buy. It's only the first of a series of strange coincidences that lead to the show more girls meeting Millie Byrd, a young girl desperate to save her family farm. Deciding to help her save the farm is easy, figuring out why a shop has perfume they're unwilling to sell is a whole different issue.

It's hard not 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. Carson Drew doesn't feature as heavily in this one as he does in the previous books, which was disappointing. I adore her relationship with her dad, Carson Drew. They're both so proud of each other and I love that he's so supportive and willing to listens to her thoughts and opinions and values them. But I liked George and Bess and was happy to see more of them. I like that they're both down to earth and willing to follow Nancy into danger - even if it's not their first instinct. I also really like that all three girls are self-sufficient and like to help out - even when they're paying customers.

Like the last book, this was kind of slow going, mystery wise. There were mysteries but I found it a bit boring. There was lots happening but it felt convoluted and it just didn't grab me. I did like that the blue roaster makes an appearance and that there's something of a car chase though. My favourite part was Nancy's ideas to save the farm. Turning the cave into an attraction was a fantastic idea and following it up by making the farm a destination to holiday at was even better. Her marketing skills were very clever. And I loved Carson's recognition that Nancy was undoubtedly the driving force behind the campaign.

There was a bit of racism, gender and class discrimination - of course, as a product of its time, these books aren't always inline with modern sensibilities - but I think this one wasn't too bad.

An alright read with a very likable amateur sleuth and her two adventurous besties. 3 stars. show less

This time around Nancy stiffs a waitress, soaks herself in perfume, and joins a cult. But at least she saves the farm!

An entertaining mystery that is dampened by unfortunate racial epithets towards Asian-Americans which we do not use anymore. I'll add that the resolution is more Deus ex machina than Nancy's logic saves the day, and I greatly prefer the latter.

This book opens as Nancy and her friends Bess and George are talking about a uncomfortable perfume purchase made by Bess. On the train ride back to River Heights, this perfume and a girl who has fainted on the train become the underpinnings for Nancy's next mystery.

I LOVED Nancy Drew growing up, I kept them neatly arranged in numerical order on my bookshelf. Noting which volumes I was still missing and planning my next shopping trip. Back then I chose my favorites by the cover art not necessarily the stories, The Spider Sapphire Mystery and the Mysterious Mannequin were my absolute favorites.

In the late 70s and early 80s the Nancy Drew mysteries were thrilling adventures and Nancy Drew a daring detective. Re-reading 30 years later not show more so much.

**********Spoiler Alert***********************

I try to keep in mind many of these were originally written in the 30's, but in this story I chuckled at Nancy's insistence on giving rides and taking home strangers, Mr. Drew's reaction of "well be careful" as she relates mounting threats she is experiencing from the counterfeiting ring.

Her elevation, at age 18, to almost a detective peer with Chief Mcginnis. Nancy relates to him her mysterious experiences and suspicions about this counterfeiting ring and again gets a "well be careful" and let us know if you find any clues.

The mystery itself of course is wrapped up neatly without some much as a run in her stocking, I actually do like the fact that they all have happy, "sigh-that's just the way it should have turned out", endings.

It might have been made a bit more intriguing if the elderly boarders at the Red Gate Farm were really members of the Black Snake Colony, but not to be. It might have had more suspense if when caught by the counterfeiting gang they were threatened with dismemberment or death rather than being locked in a cabin and left to starve. Although I bet it would have been hardest on Bess as she does" love her desserts".

I admit to a bit of eye rolling when reading how this extraordinary, 18 year old, girl brought down a counterfeit ring that has stumped the secret service. If only they had the sense to simply follow the clues; the rude perfume purchase, a strange comment made by a man on a train, the overhearing a series of numbers and a mysterious cult hanging about a cave. Hopefully the new head of the CIA has the same female intuition and we'll see her pull a few Nancy Drew's on the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

I do have to say these nostalgic re-reads give my long smoldering desire to write a big boos,t after all, if these have been such a smashing success for generations, could I do any worse? show less