Secret at Shadow Ranch (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, #5)

by Carolyn Keene

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

While visiting Shadow Ranch, with her friends Bess and George, (surprise surprise) a mystery turns up. The ranch is supposedly haunted by the outlaw Dirk Valentine, who died leaving a hidden treasure to his sweetheart said to be on the property of Shadow Ranch. Not only does Nancy take this case but also a young girl's who's father is missing. Nancy Drew -- two mysteries for the price of one! So immediately this became a game of clue for me, all the ranch-hands, owners and even Alice's father became suspects; as it is always the little details that make you go oh, that makes perfect sense. So I led a watchful eye and got about half of it right.

The thing I liked about this mystery is that the clues involved antiques, of which I have been surrounded with throughout my life, by various family members; so the fact that the first clue was an antique watch and the second, an old bottle made me very intrigued. This gave the book a vintage feel (although it was written in 1931 so in sense was already) anyway, I really enjoyed that aspect.

At one time or another I thought any or all of the ranch hands were involved and at another I suspected Alice's father and Bess and George's Uncle Ed or even Alice's father as like I said above "it is always the little details that make you go oh, that makes perfect sense." I won't give it away, but only one is the culprit.

I understand that she is fiction and therefore perfect, and "living" in the 30s, a completely different era to begin with, but there is something so sweet about her, she is polite but stern enough to get her way, with just a little eye-batting involved. I have yet to understand how she has been push aside as a role model in way for Hannah Montana.