13 Unforgettable Nancy Drew Stories (And the New Action Figures Inspired By Them)

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Calling all Nancy Drew Fans! Grab your magnifying glass and hop in Nancy’s convertible as we adventure back through Nancy Drew’s most famous and memorable cases.

With over 600 books published since 1930 in the original series and various spin-offs, there’s a Nancy Drew mystery for every generation. The classic 56 Nancy Drew series published from 1930 to 1979 and still in print today due to its popularity, has inspired these Sleuth-tacular Nancy Drew action figures from Wandering Planet Toys. Fans will remember fondly the mysteries the figures are based on and enjoy seeing Nancy Drew come to life right off the infamous mystery covers. Some of the following titles are accompanied by images of the figurines inspired by the series.

I grew up reading Nancy Drew in the late 1970s and 1980s and then as a fan discovered my own Nancy Drew mystery when I stumbled upon a vintage 1930s Nancy Drew book in an antique mall. That led me on a journey to meeting other fun collectors and learning about the mysterious history behind Nancy Drew. Several of us formed a discussion group in 2000 in the beginning and now have platforms on most social media and active discussion groups and a book club on Facebook. Thanks to the original ghostwriter, Mildred Wirt Benson, I was proclaimed “President” of the group and we started to officially band together as the fan club “Nancy Drew Sleuths” with merchandising, a series zine about Nancy Drew and similar series and annual Nancy Drew Conventions where we strive to follow in Nancy Drew’s footsteps and bring the books set-in real-life places to life for the fans. We also donate Nancy Drew books to libraries. I think that is what excites and intrigues me most about the new Nancy Drew action figures in keeping with our group’s mantra – they come alive for the fans right off the covers they represent; nostalgia for the books (and the mystery inside) drives you to want them all and want more!

From spooky old attics to stakeouts to chasing suspects down dark pathways, here’s a look at 13 of Nancy Drew’s best and most memorable cases…

The Secret of the Old Clock (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #1)

A raging storm, a chance meeting with heirs and a lost will are the stuff of drama! The quest to make things right sets Nancy Drew on a course that entangles her with a conniving family trying to cheat heirs out of their inheritance, and an old roadhouse where Nancy must steal away with a mysterious old clock after being locked up by robbers in an old bungalow. Will she or won’t she find the infamous will at the psychological moment and right wrongs and restore justice to the downtrodden? Nancy even changes her own flat tire. She’s got gumption!

The Hidden Staircase (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #2)

A spooky old house being haunted, a mysterious mansion nearby, secret passageways, a hidden staircase. Kidnappings and crooks. These are some of the old Gothic style mystery elements that grace the pages of Hidden Staircase. The iconic image of Nancy Drew with her flashlight climbing up the mysterious staircase to the unknown is a classic foreboding of what’s to come that makes this mystery so intriguing! So intriguing it was that Warner Brothers turned it into one of their 1939 Nancy Drew movies staring Bonita Granville as Nancy.

The Mystery at Lilac Inn (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #4)

Batman has the Joker. Holmes had Moriarty. The closest Nancy had to an evil Nemesis is Gay Moreau, a con woman and stage former actress who’s served time in prison for check fraud and larceny, who appears in the novel “The Mystery of Lilac Inn”. Now out of jail, Gay uses skills learned during her time in the theater to stage a haunting, go undercover as an employee of a local inn, and even disguise herself to impersonate Nancy, using her “charge plate” (old timey credit card). Sadly, Gay never appeared in more of the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, but she’s such a thrilling “evil twin” version of Nancy, it’s fun to imagine them clashing again.

The Sign of the Twisted Candles (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #9)

Lightening, thunder, a storm and a chance stop at an old inn lead Nancy and her chums into a tangled web of family secrets and drama. An old centenarian in a tower room, twisted candles and symbols abound. Missing heirlooms. Thieving caretakers. Nancy’s friendship with her besties Bess and George is tested due an old family feud. A death and a will, heirs, and much melodrama ensues. And who can’t forget the delicious cinnamon toast!

The Password to Larkspur Lane (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #10)

Witnessing a kidnapping! The elderly Mrs. Eldridge has gone missing. A gang of thieves using carrier pigeons and secret passwords to communicate. Finding Larkspur Lane and the “sanitorium.” A bold ruse to gain entry disguised as a patient. Being locked in a cistern having to practically claw her way out, Nancy Drew saves the day and disables the crooks’ means of escape as the police swoop in and round up the gang. She’s as daring as she is clever. Warner Brothers based the movie Nancy Drew… Detective on this mystery, which hit theaters in 1938.

The Quest of the Missing Map (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #19)

An old “haunted” ship cottage, a mysterious missing map discovered in an old ship model, a sinister voyage to Little Palm Island in search of treasure. Poisoning! Will Nancy and her chums make it to the island alive and will the treasure be found or lost to antiquity? These are the cliffhangers that keep you turning the page in this exciting Nancy Drew mystery.

The Secret in the Old Attic (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #21)

A spooky old mansion, a ghostly thief. These are the trappings of a very spooky Nancy Drew mystery story. Nancy searches for missing sheet music and tangles with a dastardly villain matching wits with his cunning and devious ways. Let’s not forget all those spine-chilling poisonous spiders. An attic skeleton, a secret room, and an old creepy factory add to the ambiance. It’s the stuff of mystery that makes it the kind of page turner that keeps you hiding under cover with a flashlight reading late into the night. Who can forget the most eerie scene of Nancy Drew in peril, in the dark, tied up, and a poisonous spider on the loose!?

The Haunted Showboat (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #35)

It’s a Nancy Drew travelogue mystery trip to New Orleans where Laissez les bon temps rouler! Or in Nancy Drew’s case, let the mystery begin… An old run down Showboat moored in a creepy bayou is haunted, it’s Mardi Gras time and the pageantry brings out some no-good thieves searching for an old pirate treasure. Don’t get me started on all the yummy Cajun food Nancy and her chums eat—that’s to die for. If you’re ever in New Orleans sleuthing around, don’t forget the pralines and beware of spooks! (P.S. This novel was clearly lifted as inspiration for a Scooby-Doo episode of the same name).

The Crooked Banister (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #48)

This one’s a weird one. Nancy’s called to assist her lawyer father with a missing persons case. It seems someone has been conning people out of cash but has now disappeared. This fraudster’s last known residence is an abandoned house called “The Crooked Banister.” Once Nancy gets across the MOAT OF FIRE (you read that right) to investigate, she not only finds hidden panels in walls and secret rooms (pretty standard for her) but also staircases that go to nowhere, an actual literal crooked banister (which proves hard to slide down) and a giant robot on wheeled skates, which is programmed via reel-to-reel tapes, and which attempts to viciously squeeze the life out of her. Pretty cutting-edge tech for a book first published in 1971.

Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon (Her Interactive videogame)

Starting in the late 90’s, a company called Her Interactive made a long series of Nancy Drew point-and-click mystery computer games that have gained an amazing cult following. Most of them were based in one way or another on Nancy Drew novels. “Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon” is one of the best. Nancy and her sidekicks, the Hardy Boys, are on a train trip hosted by a wealthy socialite who sudden goes missing, leaving the teen detectives (and therefore the player) to piece together the clues and discover her whereabouts. The Nancy Drew videogame series ran all the way until 2019, all of which are still available for download. Retro point-and-click puzzle fun.

The Big Lie (Graphic Novel from Dynamite Entertainment)

When indie comic book publisher, Dynamite Entertainment, decided to do a Nancy Drew graphic novel, they went in a whole new direction, recasting Nancy as a hardboiled detective. When the Hardy Boys are arrested for the murder of their own father, a crooked cop, Nancy is forced to delve into the darker side of Bayport to prove their innocence. It’s a departure that not all fans of the classic stories will enjoy, but it’s an effective blend of film noir and Nancy Drew.

The Haunting of Nancy Drew (Season 1, episode 16 of the CW’s Nancy Drew TV show)

Many fans of Nancy’s classic adventures were not totally in love with the CW’s teen drama TV version, which is part supernatural horror (classic Nancy always disproved the supernatural) and part teen romantic drama (the pilot has Nancy in a sex scene, something unthinkable for the younger skewing novels) but for those who were open to it, the series’ very best episodes include charismatic performances by Michigan-born actress Kennedy McMann as Nancy. “The Haunting of Nancy Drew,” an early episode of the show, is a great example of McMann putting herself through the paces, piecing together forensic clues, and sorting out emotional drama to discover what happened in the suspicious death of her own birth mother.

The Mystery of the Ghostwriter’s Cruise (Season 1, episode 12 of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries)

The 1977 TV series “The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries” was a bit of a mixed bag for Nancy Drew fans. On the one hand, Nancy was on the TV each week, as played by teen model, Pamela Sue Martin, who put in a memorable turn in “The Poseidon Adventure.” But, on the other hand, Nancy was frequently relegated to the status of sidekick, or worse, kidnapping victim. But in this episode Nancy’s the center of the story as she goes on a cruise, only to discover that someone is forcing a fellow passenger, a mystery writer, to relive aspects of his novels before killing him. One of the best episodes of the 70s show.

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