Under Review

I'm pretty sure this fifth book in The Nancy Drew Files is one that I didn't read back in the day. All the same, this '80s YA mystery still welcomed my nostalgic side as if I'd already visited it before.

I chuckled inside while watching the "cool" college kids on spring break in Florida, partying on the beach, dancing to music playing from radios and cassette players. But I had to shake my head a little at how easily Nancy gets interested in new guys (and even lets one kiss her) when she's supposedly so in love with Ned, her boyfriend who doesn't appear in this book. And Nance had the nerve to get all jealous and accusatory in the last book when another girl showed an interest in good ol' Ned.

Nancy seriously takes her guy for granted. A lot.

As for the mystery, I wasn't surprised to see Nancy do some running toward danger by herself at one point to conveniently get caught in a trap. But unlike in the previous books, Nancy figures out the mystery here at about the two-thirds mark. So the rest of the book is just a matter of getting out of danger and getting the bad guys caught, rather than sleuthing.

I guess I don't prefer such an early solving of the puzzle in a mystery novel.

Still, some of the action in the last third is pretty exciting, particularly in the last chapter or so. Looking forward to moving right along on my trip/revisit through this long, vintage series. ( )

It’s been many, many years (20?) since I’ve read a Nancy Drew book, and I’d forgotten how much fun they can be. Nancy, Bess, and George have all they need for the perfect spring break — great weather, nice beaches, good looking guys, and a mystery. Nancy arrives just in time to see her friend run down in the street and witness the friend’s room being searched. And if she resisted the urge to find out what was going on, she wouldn’t be Nancy Drew. The storyline is actually still relevant, and if it weren’t for the lack of cell phones, this could have been written yesterday. I have a bunch of these on my Kindle, so I’ll definitely keep reading them from time to time. ( )