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From The Clue In The Crumbling Wall, The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #22 (1942).

This is one of my favourite vintage Nancy Drew illustrations by the marvellous RH Tandy. It is a masterful composition, enhanced by Rockner’s subtle colourisation, in which Nancy, in full damsel in distress mode, occupies the centre of the drawing, straining at a locked door, which an unknown enemy has closed on her. Her wide eyed alarm is palpable, but there is also an energetic fury at having been trapped, evident, along with a determination to escape her prison if she can: Nancy is no shrinking violet. Although one is concerned at the peril the girl detective finds herself in, you also know she will find a way through and go on to win the day.

This illustration is from 1945, and the elegance of 1940s female fashion is on full display here, despite the drama of the situation. Nancy’s hairstyle is beautiful and she manages to look vulnerable, tough and sexy all at the same time.

Source: illustration from the book colourised by Rockner on Deviant Art.

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Character Card 004: Bess Marvin

Basic Stats:

Appearance: 5’5, mid-twenties. Mixed-Race (Black and Vietnamese), Dark eyes, curvy build, killer makeup. Always deliberate, always put-together, a little edge in every outfit.

Star Sign: Libra

Sexuality: Lesbian — magnetic, discerning, and never unsure of what (or who) she wants.

Occupation: Programmer; ex–tech startup burnout. Currently “between things,” but always lands on her feet.

Drives: 2020 Acura TL, jet black with smoked tint.

Currently Reading: Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann (again).

Something She Believes In (But Would Never Admit): Magic.

Local Rumor That’s Half True: Bess Marvin is particularly influential—she can turn the tide of a room with a glance. Be careful not to cross her, though. She’s a big believer in returning the energy.

Vibe References:

Holly Golightly (Breakfast at Tiffany’s) – Witty, sharp and magnetic with a shadow of something deeper.

Beth Harmon (The Queen’s Gambit) – sharp strategist under the party-girl gloss; elegance paired with calculation.

Princess Jasmine (Aladdin) – independent, rebellious, refuses to be confined by expectation.

Archetypes:

The Enchantress – Uses beauty and charm to push boundries.

The Player – risk-taker, strategist, understands power dynamics; performs recklessness while calculating her next move.

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Character Card 001: Nancy Drew

Basic Stats:

Appearance: 5’7, Mid-twenties, white-girl, red hair, slight freckles, foxlike features. 

Star Sign: Taurus

Sexuality: Straight—except for that one time. 

Occupation: Journalist. Currently working the crime beat.

Drives: 66 Ford Mustang in Tahoe Turquoise

Currently Reading: The Haunting of Hill House

Something She Believes In (But Would Never Admit): Omens

Local Rumor That’s Half True: Sometimes Nancy just…knows things. Things she has no business knowing. Things she couldn’t know. Things that haven’t happened yet.

Vibe References:

Clarice Starling (The Silence of the Lambs) – Determined, emotionally complex, and often underestimated. Combines intelligence with raw, unpolished toughness and the ability to dig deep into difficult, dark places.

Joe March (Little Women) – Creative, fiercely independent, and driven by her ideals. Fierce ambition and a mix of vulnerability and strength, constantly striving for something greater.

Cassandra (Greek mythology) - intnese, visionary, cursed with knowing too much.

Archetypes:

The Investigator – relentless, always digging for the truth even when it breaks her.

The Rebel – seems composed, but beneath the surface, she’s constantly questioning.

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Nancy’s Mysterious Letter (Swedish version), The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #8 (1932 and 1968).

I have summarised Nancy’s Mysterious Letter earlier in this blog - an unusual story of stolen mail, mistaken identity and lonely hearts scams, but I post this version of the novel featuring Kitty, the Swedish Nancy Drew, because of its great cover. I find the non-English versions of the books often come with illustrations much more dynamic and intriguing than the somewhat predictable cover art to be found in the originals, particularly the 1960s’ canonical “yellow” editions. Here Kitty manages to look serious, suspicious and determined all at the same time as her curious companion glimpses a mysterious and shadowy male figure on the stairs outside the room…

The fact this scene is actually rather difficult to place in the novel itself is, perhaps, of secondary importance

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“He’s escaped!” Nancy exclaimed as she surveyed the confusion. “How did he get loose? I tied him too tightly for him to be able to get free without help!” Her gaze turned suspiciously to the anxious-looking concierge behind her.

Source: Illustration from The Bungalow Mystery (1930), colourised by Rockner on Deviant Art; rope detail my addition.

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The Message in the Haunted Mansion, The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #122 (December 1994).

Nancy seeks to unlock the strange secret in a house of shifting shapes and shadows…

Nancy, Bess and George head off on what sounds like fun trip with Nancy’s housekeeper, Hannah Gruen, who has been invited by her friend, Rose Green, to help her renovate an old Victorian mansion in San Francisco. This worthwhile project however takes a frightening turn when the young women find themselves assailed by strange sounds, moving objects and ghostly apparitions, indicating that the previous residents of the house do not wish any changes to the house to be made. However Nancy doubts these supernatural happenings when she learns that the mansion is rumoured to house a hidden and long lost cache of family gold, and suspects all-too-human perpetrators are at work, seeking to scare Rose and her helpers away from the house.

Nancy seeks to prove her suspicion that common crooks are at the roots of the mysterious goings-on, but even her rational approach to mystery-solving is put to the test by strange shapes, deadly trapdoors, dark shadows, creepy tunnels and falling glass that indicate restless spirits may well walking the corridors of the old house.

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Tables Turned

It gave Nancy and George immense pleasure to have finally captured the Scarpa Brothers. As the sleuths smilingly looked down on their two glowering captives who sat against the wall of their workshop, bound hand and foot, George taunted: “How do you two feel about being tied up for a change?” Nancy gave her friend a not-altogether-admonishing look and nodded. “Yes, George,” she agreed, “it’s hard to believe that it was only yesterday the Scarpas grabbed us from behind, overpowered us and kept us tied up in their cellar to thwart our investigation!”

However the girls got free and a combination of surprise, George’s judo skills and Nancy’s calm, logical persuasive abilities meant that the detectives were able to turn the tables on the brothers and secure their surrender. “Let’s find something to gag them with, lock them in here, then go to the police with our evidence.” Nancy suggested. “You bet, Nance!” agreed George grimly, finding two oily rags on the brothers’ workbench. “These should do to keep them quiet!”

Illustration from the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #65, The Mystery of the Winged Lion (1982).

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The Clue on the Silver Screen, The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #123 (April 1995)

Nancy lands a starring role when a film festival takes an explosive turn!

Nancy hopes she can kick back and enjoy the magic of cinema when she attends the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival. But typically, while she is there, a movie masterpiece is stolen meaning Nancy is forced to suspend her budding interest in the movies and return to her more familiar role of dauntless girl detective as she attempts to solve the mystery of the theft and its motivation. Nancy soon discovers that the ending of the centrepiece movie that has been stolen was made but never viewed, making it an almost mythical classic. It appears that plans to screen the film in full at the Festival have severely upset some particularly possessive movie fans who will apparently stop at nothing - even murder - to maintain the movie’s secret. As her investigation progresses and she gets closer to cracking the case, Nancy finds herself in danger of not actually making it to the final reel herself…

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Date With Rodney

“Hey, Nancy!” said Rodney cheerfully. “I’m really glad you agreed to my suggestion we go for a ride and have a bite to eat! Shall we go?” Nancy smiled broadly at the excited young man as she stepped out of her front door. “Sure, Rod - I can’t wait!” she replied.

An hour later, Rodney was not quite so happy. “You darned snooper!” he complained at the girl sleuth who stood with arms folded, waiting for his frustration to burn itself out. “You tricked me!” Nancy nodded silently, after having explained to him she knew he was the jewellery thief thanks to his damaged car light. “The glass debris I recovered from outside the store match this make perfectly, Rod,” the young woman went on with a smile. “I just needed to check it was yours.”

Rodney was even less pleased when he found himself stretched on the back seat of his own car with his hands tied behind his back as Nancy drove it back to River Heights in the direction of the police station. “Are you comfortable back there, Rod?” she asked her glowering prisoner with a cheeky smile, eyeing him through the rear view mirrror. “I’m sorry our date turned out to be such a disappointment - for you at any rate!”

Source: Illustration from an Alice Roy novel by Albert Chazelle

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The Case of the Twin Teddy Bears, The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #116 (December 1993)

A Christmas secret hides in the shadows, and it’s up to Nancy to unwrap the mystery.

In one of the few of her adventures set during the Holiday Season, Nancy is confronted by a festive and rather unlikely peril - a teddy bear thief. Bess is working in the pre-Christmas period as a shop assistant in Beary Wonderful, a River Heights teddy bear and toy store that unsurprisingly does its best business in December. Bess’ perfect holiday job suddenly takes an unseasonal turn when the shop’s entire exclusive collection of antique and highly expensive teddies produced for richer customers is stolen. Perhaps in normal circumstances, Nancy would have left this annoying but fairly low-level crime to the police, but when Bess herself is attacked and the teddy bear she had been gifted by Beary Wonderful’s owner (a replica of one of the antiques) is taken from her by the assailant, Nancy suspects that there might be something more sinister to this affair than someone wanting to reduce their Christmas shopping bill.

Inevitably, the mystery becomes a lot more tangled and less straightforward than it first appears and the ultimate culprit turns out to be a lot closer to home than either Nancy or Bess anticipates.

The question is, can the girl sleuth unmask the thief, solve the mystery and restore the bears to their rightful owners in time for Christmas Eve?

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“Yes, Mademoiselle Roy, I see now the error of my ways. I will confess to everything when you take me to the police,” said M Gilbert wearily with downcast eyes. Despite everything, Alice felt a twinge of sympathy for her bound prisoner, even after all he had done. “I’ll put in a good word for you, monsieur,” she promised the despondent man softly.

Source: illustration by Albert Chazelle from the Alice Roy story, Alice et le Medaillon d’Or (1960).

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Trouble At Lake Tahoe, The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #118 (1994)

It’s think fast - or sink fast- as Nancy searches for a saboteur!

Nancy’s good friend Katie Cobb is the favourite to win the Far West Regional Water Ski-ing Championship but when she is plagued by mysterious accidents, Katie increasingly comes to believe that someone is trying to rig the competition to prevent her victory. Nancy, vacationing at Lake Tahoe, the venue for the championship with Bess and George, works with Katie to expose the saboteur and ensure no one prevents her friend from achieving her ambition.

This is no easy task because in the dog-eat-dog world of competitive water ski-ing, there seems to be a dizzying array of credible suspects. Jealousy and ambition dominate the proceedings, but one of the potential culprits is different - he is willing to stop at nothing to thwart Katie: even dangerous sabotage and murder.

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Not The Wrong Guy

“You’ve got the wrong guy, Miss Drew!” growled Lee Henderson, grimacing in discomfort as he was pressed against the corridor wall of the shabby apartment block where he had been hiding out while Nancy efficiently tied him up. “I don’t think so,” the girl sleuth replied with a slight smile, “but if you’re innocent you’ll have nothing to worry about!”

George looked on in admiration as her friend subdued the glowering man. “How did you work out it was Mr Henderson, Nance?” she asked. “I’ll tell you once we have him safely locked in the back of our car, George.” Nancy replied briskly. “Can you bring it round the front? Mr Henderson isn’t going anywhere in a hurry are you, sir?”

AI image created via Ideogram.

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The Secret Lost At Sea, The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #113 (June 1993; Simon and Schuster)

A Rising Tide of Crime Leads Nancy Into Dangerous Waters!

Nancy is enjoying a holiday in Bridgeport, Connecticutt, whose chief attraction is an interesting nautical museum, reflecting the historical importance of the sea to the town’s development. For some reason an unknown vandal begins to wantonly destroy many of the museum’s ancient artefacts meaning Nancy, aided by George, plunges into investigating the mystery and identifying the culprit. The girl sleuth therefore poses as a student undertaking vacation work at the museum to help her investigate unhindered, but also to enable her to trap the villain.

Source: Nancy Drew Fandom

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Nancy Foils The Getaway

“Young lady, are you insane?” a shaken and disheveled Gerald Boyle demanded of Nancy as the two confronted each other on the dusty minor road. Boyle’s vehicle, a valuable vintage model at least fifty years old, was a write-off - black smoke rose ominously from under its bonnet, while Nancy’s powerful blue Sunbeam Alpha stood, almost triumphantly, blocking the older car’s exit with barely a scratch on it.

“It was the only way I could stop you!” the girl sleuth exclaimed, running forward to seize her quarry by the arm. “You need to come back to River Heights with me, Mr Boyle - you have a lot of questions to answer!” Boyle went to shake Nancy off, but the elderly fugitive found the young woman’s grip surprisingly strong. “Please just surrender, sir,” Nancy urged him, “I’d hate to have to embarrass you taking you back to the sheriff lying tied up in the back of my car!”

Source: an illustration by Albert Chazelle of Alice Roy, the French Nancy Drew, dramatically foiling a getaway.

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The Suspect In The Smoke, The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #115 (October 1993)

In another of the Mystery Stories’ River Heights-based adventures (the 1990s continuity books involved far less travel to exotic locales for Nancy than in her sixties heyday), Nancy, George and Bess are involved in a campaign to re-establish their home town’s recreation centre after it is seriously damaged in a fire. Inevitably, Nancy begins to suspect arson after she discovers some major insurance payments were made following the fire. The girl detective’s suspicions of foul play are only heightened when the campaign’s fundraising efforts begin to be sabotaged and the leader of the group, Mary McGregor, begins to receive threats. Now convinced someone does not want the recreation centre to be rebuilt at all, Nancy seeks to uncover the identity of Mary’s enemy, who may also be the possible arsonist, whom she believes will return to finish the job.

Although determined to capture the villain(s) behind the destruction, Nancy is baffled as to motive and finds her prime suspect is a highly unlikely arsonist.

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Busybodies

“You female busybodies have got nothing on me!” exclaimed Rogers, backing away from Nancy and her friends until he found himself pressed up against his own workbench. For all his bravado, the man’s eyes revealed a mixture of guilt, fear and defiance. George looked over at Nancy. “What should we do, Nance?” the dark-haired girl asked the detective. “I think we need to search Mr Rogers’ workshop so we can see if his protestations of innocence are right, ladies,” Nancy replied to George and Bess, “but I think we had better tie him up first - just in case.” The girl sleuth placed a hand on Bess’ shoulder. “See if you can find some rope, Bess,” she told her friend, “George and I will make sure he doesn’t go anywhere.” George moved to block the doorway as Rogers licked his lips, his eyes darting around the room, seeking escape.

“You girls have got no right,” the man whined as Bess returned, a coil of rope in her hand. Nancy walked towards the alarmed looking man and said, as reassuringly as possible, “Please just co-operate with us, sir. If you are innocent, you have nothing to worry about.” The man scowled as Bess drew his hands behind his back and Nancy went to help her bind their prisoner.

My interpretation of the story behind this illustration by Albert Chazelle from the Alice Roy version of The Secret Of The Wooden Lady.