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NOT A GIRL DETECTIVE
by Susan Kandel
William Morrow, May 2005
304 pages
$23.95
ISBN: 0060581077


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

There's one woman who has always been more stylish than Nora Charles, more connected to powerful people than Harriet Vane, and solved more mysteries that Miss Marple -- Nancy Drew. Eternally young, eternally curious, and inevitably triumphant, she is the most famous and long-lived of the teen detectives.

Cece Caruso is reliving her childhood as she researches her next biography, this one for the fictional Nancy's equally fictional author, Carolyn Keene. During the research, she also becomes fascinated with the 'real' Nancy -- model Grace Horton, who posed for the original set of covers, providing Nancy's first face.

Along the way she meets another collector, Edgar Edwards, whose random collections includes a roomful of Drew memorabilia, including a one-of-a-kind item -- a painting of Grace in the nude. He intends to unveil it at a Drew convention, but he is murdered and the painting destroyed before he can arrive. Begged by the main suspect to help and as insatiably curious as Nancy, Cece is off and investigating.

Equal parts chick lit, murder mystery, and Drew nostalgia, NOT A GIRL DETECTIVE is a charming, funny read. Cece, for those who did not make her acquaintance in her debut I DREAMED I MARRIED PERRY MASON, is amusing without being unbelievably quirky. So are her friends.

The set-up is occasionally a little tenuous -- Cece is more of a meddler than a detective -- but the puzzle is well-paced and ample clues are provided for readers who like to play along at home. Nancy Drew buffs will be particularly in heaven -- Kandel's fondness and research shine from the pages, along with a few clues aimed directly at fans. But even those who left Nancy behind decades ago will find a book worth a lazy afternoon's reading.

Reviewed by Linnea Dodson, August 2005

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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