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Showing posts from April 17, 2016

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #2: The Hidden Staircase (1930)

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Quick note, this is the revised edition from 1959 and not the original edition from the 30s. Nancy gets a call from her close friend Helen for help. Since this is early in the series, Nancy is still honing her skills and wants to go on another investigation. Helen asks her to come check out the home of her aunt and great great grandmother. Before she can though, a Mr. Gomber arrives on her doorstep. He's the lawyer for this guy Willie. Willie owned land that a railroad company wanted to buy, something happened with his signature, and now the railroad company is suing. Gomber warns Nancy and Hannah that Carson is in serious danger and acts so threatening that Nancy throws him out. She then goes to see Helen's aunt Rosemary and Miss Flora, her great great grandmother. Rosemary gives her a short history of how they thought their big ass family home was haunted because they kept hearing weird footsteps and noises. Someone then broke in and stole some things. Nancy a

Fear Street: Secret Admirer (R.L. Stine)

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Secret Admirer starts with a letter addressed to Selena from someone named The Sun that's all about how she is oh so beautiful and has hair of gold. Either she's a Wakefield twin or part of The Brady Bunch. Selena is the top actress in Shadyside High School and super popular too. After finishing up her latest performance, she steps off stage and rolls her eyes when her friend Jake calls her Moon. It's a nickname from when she was a kid because her name literally means moon. Selena then chats with her best friend Katy who is one the backstage crew. They were both overweight as kids, Selena lost some weight, and since Katy still has 20 extra pounds on her frame, she's clearly a loser. Backstage, Selena finds a bunch of dead flowers waiting for her and a note that says tonight was her final performance. On her way out, she has a run in with her ex-boyfriend Danny. Even though he's handsome, a football player, and super popular, she dumped him after six

Nancy Drew Mystery Stores #33: The Witch Tree Symbol (1955)

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Nancy is such a nice young girl that she offers to drive her new neighbor, Mrs. Tenney to Follett Mansion. Her Aunt Sara lived there for years before passing away. Tenney tells her all about how her aunt had a ton of antiques, but when they get there, everything of value is gone. Aunt Sara apparently split the furniture between Tenney and her cousin Alpha Zinn. Zinn is an antiques dealer, but Nancy doesn't think that's enough evidence or proof. Nancy does find a weird symbol. It's the witch tree symbol, which is a curse in Pennsylvania Dutch communities, and Zinn just so happens to live in that area. Tenney also tells her about an antiques dealer she met. He heard about Sara's death and stopped by to say he was interested in buying anything the heirs didn't want. She says that he left at the same time she left with the estate lawyer but isn't totally sure that the door was locked behind them. Nancy calls local hotels to see if the dealer – Roger Hoelt