2012 Convention Details -
Updated February 3, 2012

View current convention info--bookmark this page and check back often for updates. Then below, view information on our past conventions. Interested in Attending? Are you a member of the media interested in profiling us? E-mail us here if you want info on the convention or want to be on our e-mail list for updates and information about it.

The Mystery Behind Following in Nancy Drew's Footsteps... Our mission is to walk in Nancy Drew's footsteps each year at our conventions. We select a theme book--one of the classic 56 hardcover Nancy Drew books printed from 1930 to 1979--that is set in a real location and we do things that Nancy Drew and her chums did in the books. This adds that nostalgic flair to our conventions so they're much more special than a generic location! While we may not chase villains down dark alleys or sleuth for secret passageways (yet!), we do manage to mix real-life locations with book hunting and activities based on the mystery in the theme book(s) for a fabulous event of mystery and "mayhem." The convention is a great time for series book collectors to meet, trade books and stories, and hunt for missing books from their collection. Conventions are open to both Sleuth members and non-members, but Sleuth members receive special discounts and perks. This Year's Theme Books - #62 The Kachina Doll Mystery and #5 The Secret of Shadow Ranch First published in 1981, The Kachina Doll Mystery finds Nancy Drew and her chums sleuthing at a rustic spa/resort by the Superstition Mountains outside Apache Junction, AZ. Real life book locations: Superstition Mountains, Apache Junction, Phoenix and Mesa. First published in 1931 and then revised with an all new story in 1965, The Secret of Shadow Ranch finds Nancy Drew and her chums sleuthing at Shadow Ranch, located outside Phoenix, AZ in the mountains. In the original version she seeks to reunite a girl with her missing father by chance but also discovers the real identity of an young girl being cared for by nefarious types. In the revision which our convention will focus more heavily on, Nancy searches for an old cowboy outlaw's treasure and battles a phantom horse and the villains behind it. Real life book locations: Phoenix, Arizona.

BOOK HOTEL: HOTEL: Gold Canyon Resort , 6100 S. Kings Ranch Road, Gold Canyon, AZ 85218. HOTEL RATE: Bungalow/Casitas: $120.00/nt King, $140.00/nt double beds + tax. Spa Casitas with jacuzzis and suites with kitchenettes and laundry also available--inquire about pricing. HOW TO BOOK HOTEL: Book directly with Nicole Walker in Group Sales - Phone: 480-671-5524. Mention Nancy Drew Sleuths Convention. DEADLINE TO BOOK HOTEL: Feb.19, 2012 - We only have 40 Casitas in our block which are a mix of single/double/spa/suites so book early to guarantee what you want! AIRPORT SHUTTLE INFO: For those flying into the Phoenix airport, check out Super Shuttle. The airport is just a reasonable 35 minutes from Gold Canyon Resort. If you're flying into Mesa/Gateway airport, it's about 20 minutes from Gold Canyon Resort. For those driving or renting cars, parking at the hotel is free and they do have Valet parking as well. Cancellation policy on rooms booked is 48 hours in advance. RESORT EXTRAS: Gold Canyon Resorts has 2 golf courses and also a full service spa for those interested. Please inquire when booking about rates. We'll post more info here on these services in the future.

CONVENTION LOCALES: Goldfield Ghost Town, Lost Dutchman State Park, Dolly Steamboat, Rockin' R Ranch, Series Book Hunting, The Poison Pen Bookstore, Collection Tours, optional golfing, and The Lost Dutchman Mine Lore/Superstitions.

CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS: DATES: March 19 - March 25, 2012 LOCATION: Gold Canyon, AZ (Scottsdale/Mesa/Queen Creek/Phoenix too) THEMES: Nancy Drew classic #5, The Secret of Shadow Ranch and #62, The Kachina Doll Mystery. Tentative Schedule: Mon. Mar. 19 - Meet & Greet Cocktail Party - 7:30PM at Gold Canyon Resort, Poolside. Tues. Mar. 20 - Book Hunting/Collection Tours. Lunch at Jenn's/Collection Tour/Activity, Bookhunting, Souvenir Shopping, Cocktails/Hearty Hors d'oeuvres at Sleuth Judy's, Poison Pen Bookstore Event & Dessert to Die For. Wed. Mar. 21 - Western/Superstitions Day. Goldfield Ghost Town, Optional Horseback/Wagon rides (240lb limit), Dolly Steamboat cruise at Canyon Lake, Rockin' R Ranch Western Dinner/Stage Show. Thurs. Mar. 22 - Mystery Weekend Begins! 9am to 3pm presentations and activities. Role Play packets handed out at evening mystery weekend meet & greet. Clues Skits at scheduled times. You will be sleuthing in character as one of many series book characters to team up with Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, the Hardy Boys, and many of your other favorite series book characters to solve a baffling mystery that will play out over the course of the weekend. Fri. Mar. 23 - 9am to 3pm presentations and activities. Optional Series Book theme events, Clues skits at scheduled times. Optional Dancing Class. Sat. Mar. 24 - 9am to 3pm presentations and activities. Mystery Banquet with gift exchange and costume contest. Mystery winds to a close and is solved with prizes to be given out. Sun. Mar. 25 - Breakfast at hotel restaurant at 9:00am - farewells until Boston: May 2013. A Few Clues To The Mystery: 2012 Will find us celebrating Nancy Drew with lots of Nancy Drew activities and presentations but also other series books as well. If you collect or want to learn about other series books like the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, Ken Holt, Rick Brant, Dana Girls, Vicki Barr, Trixie Belden, Cherry Ames, Judy Bolton, Ruth Fielding, Penny Parker and many other similar series, there will be presentations and panels on these books that you can attend during our convention--Sleuth Con--and AZ/Western activities to commemorate the various series books set in Arizona mixed in with our Nancy Drew schedule. Click here for more details on Sleuth Con. Tues/Wed. Tours: We will be busing around on Tues./Wed. and touring about the Apache Junction/Superstition Mountains area as Nancy did in the theme books. We'll be following in her footsteps with a Ghost Town visit and work in some lore about the Lost Dutchman mine, with lots of western activities as well plus some book hunting and parties. Our busing on each day will begin in the morning and run through the evening so be prepared for a long--but lots of fun--couple of days! Thurs-Sat. Activities: Ever wanted to attend one of those murder mystery weekends, where you sleuth to solve a mystery? Join some festive characters like Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, Trixie Belden and others plus a cast of sinister characters as we work to solve a baffling mystery around Gold Canyon Resort. This will play out beginning Thurs. evening and culminate on Sat. evening at the mystery dinner banquet. Prizes will be awarded. We will have am/early afternoon presentations and activities on a variety of topics and optional activities in the afternoon and evenings mixed in with scheduled clues skits that relate to the mystery to be solved. Optional activities include a dancing class, book discussions/trivia contests, and more to be listed here in the near future! Convention Day: Our final convention day on Sat. will benefit the Phoenix Library. Every year we host a raffle for Nancy Drew prizes that benefits in part the local libraries. Thurs. - Sat. Speakers & Panels: TBA shortly... Mystery Dinner: Our mystery dinner will be a western theme to go along with the western setting of our theme books. Come as your favorite Nancy Drew character or villain! Nancy Drew Gift Exchange: If you want to participate in our Nancy Drew gift exchange we have two tables--1 for handcrafted gifts and 1 for store bought gifts. Storebought items must be Nancy Drew items. Handcrafted gifts must feature Nancy Drew imagery. Gifts are wrapped anonymously and left on the appropriate table.

HOW TO REGISTER: HOW TO REGISTER: OUR REGISTRATION DEADLINE HAS PASSED! If you are able to come and want to inquire as to space, please e-mail me. We may be able to fit you in but some space is limited at this time! AZ LOCALS: If you would like to attend on Thurs, Friday, or Saturday for the portion open to the public from 9am to 3pm each day, our presenations on various Nancy Drew and series book topics, meet fans, shop our Nancy Drew merchandise boutique, check out vintage books, and win prizes in our charity raffle to benefit the local library, you may e-mail me to purchase tickets and inquire. Registrants help pay for the convention costs including but not limited to: transportation and driver gratuities, any provided meals noted, tours provided and entry fees, equipment/room rentals, decorations, printing costs, advertising, goody bag supplies, and DVDs/shipping. If there is an activity or set of activities you cannot do or wish not to, contact us via e-mail for an adjusted total on what to pay for your registration. REGISTRATION FEE INCLUDES: Depending on whether you attend the whole week or weekend: Monday evening meet & greet cocktail party, goody bags and packets, commemorative booklet, all day/evening private charter bus transportation on Tuesday and Wednesday, tickets for Goldfield Ghost Town, Dolly Steamboat cruise, Rockin R' Ranch chuckwagon dinner show, Lunch at Jenn's, Cocktails/Hors D'oeuvres at Judy's, mystery weekend, 3 days of convention presentations and activities, Saturday evening mystery dinner banquet, and DVDs of event/shipping. Optional add-ins (add these in on your registration forms): Horseback Riding and Nancy Drew Craft Activities. MEALS: The only meals & snacks included in the registration are Snack Bags at Mon. Meet/Greet, Tues. evening Western Dinner at Rockin R' Ranch, Wed. Lunch at Jenn's, Wed. Evening Cocktails/Hors D'oeuvres at Judy's, Saturday evening mystery banquet dinner. OTHER DINING OPTIONS: Rooms have refrigerators and some have microwaves(request a room with a microwave if you want one), Suites have kitchenettes too. For your convenience, we'll be making a grocery store stop Tues. evening for anyone interested in stocking up their casita. For those coming after Tuesday, there's a grocery store near the resort. The resort has 2 restaurants on property and next to the resort is a deli/BBQ place plus there are restaurants just down the road within driving distance. Each morning the resort has a $9.95pp (price subject to change) breakfast buffet that's comes highly recommended. REGISTRATION FEE: Fees are NON-REFUNDABLE. There are 2 fees listed: one for official Sleuth Members and one for non-members. Join us officially and pay the member rate! To join, you may just add the $10.00 lifetime member fee per each registration for those joining. NEW: For members attending, spouses/partners/family members attending with you may also pay the member rate. For those just attending the mystery weekend, we have a special rate for you and that includes the weekend activities and convention plus the goody bag/DVDs/program as noted above in the registration fee description. REGISTRATION FEES: ATTENDING MOST/ALL OF THE WHOLE WEEK: 385.00 MEMBERS // 395.00 NON-MEMBERS ATTENDING THURS &/OR FRI PLUS SAT: 260.00 MEMBERS // 270.00 NON-MEMBERS DEADLINE TO REGISTER: Feb. 1, 2012.

HELP US SPREAD THE WORD! Capture the banner seen below (right click your mouse/do a save as) and use it on your websites/blogs/etc.. to help us advertise. Just link back directly to this page of our website!

HELP US ADVERTISE! To Help Sponsor our Fan Club and our 2012 convention, we are asking for donations for advertising costs. Every little bit helps and we thank you for your support! Click on the "donate" button below--you may donate any amount you wish!

2012 - Nancy Drew Sleuths Convention & SLEUTH CON - All-Series Book Convention with Nancy Drew Events/Mystery Party - Phoenix, AZ

2013 - Nancy Drew Convention - Boston, MA (The Secret of the Wooden Lady theme)

2014 - Nancy Drew Sleuths' Convention & SLEUTH CON 2 - All-Series Book Convention with Nancy Drew Events/Mystery Party - Location TBD

2015 - Nancy Drew 85th Anniversary Convention - Hawaii (The Secret of the Golden Pavilion theme)

Other classic locations we'll be visiting in the near future: Florida Keys, Maryland, Maine, New York. Following that we will revisit some classic sites and mix in modern paperback locations.

The original "Carolyn Keene" Mildred Wirt Benson, Toledo, OH, at first annual Sleuth convention March 2001 Photo Copyright 2001, J. Fisher, All Rights Reserved.

Past Conventions & Highlights

March 2001: Toledo, Ohio. Members met the original "Carolyn Keene," Mildred Wirt Benson, and had books signed and asked lots of questions. They toured sites of Toledo, went book hunting, and ate dinner at a haunted restaurant.

April 2002: Iowa City, Iowa. Members visited The University of Iowa to view Mildred Wirt Benson's archives of photographs, outlines, letters, columns, stories, and ephemera. They visited with the organizers of the 1993 Nancy Drew Conference, held at the university, Carolyn Stewart-Dyer and Nancy Tillman Romalov and presentations were given. A trip to Ladora, Mildred's hometown, to view her childhood home and meet her family was a wonderful experience for all who attended.

April/May 2003: New York City, New York. Members spent a week touring sites of New York including Stratemeyer themed sites. Visits to the New York Public Library Stratemeyer archives were met with enthusiasm of members who got to delve into Stratemeyer Syndicate lore. Highlighting the week's activities and book hunting was a visit to a book dealer's home with thousands of series books and a local collector's huge Nancy Drew® collection spanning books, collectibles, and artwork. Capping off the week was a successful day of presentations from the Stratemeyer family, the Russell H. Tandy family, Simon & Schuster, Applewood Books, and Sharon Reid Harris.

March 2004: New Orleans, Lousiana. Members spent the week visiting historic and haunted sites in the French Quarter and outer lying areas, Nancy Drew® theme sites mentioned in the books set in New Orleans, went book and antique hunting, joined in on a crawfish boil and BBQ at a local collector's home, visited a historic plantation, attended a Nancy Drew® murder mystery party aboard a "haunted showboat" on its dinner and jazz cruise, and attended a day of presentations from Sleuth members Sharon Reid Harris, Todd Latoski, Meredith Jaffe, Rachel Smith, and presentations by Simon & Schuster and Gumshoe Girls.

October 2005: Phoenix, AZ. Members were treated to a Shadow Ranch and Kachina Doll Nancy Drew® theme during their week in Phoenix, AZ. Highlights include: Meet and Greet Dinner, Ghost Town tour and Dirk Valentine Treasure Hunt, Western Dinner, Kachina Doll collection tour, book hunting, Kachina Doll dinner and mystery hunt at "hacienda", tour of Jenn Fisher's collection, day of presentations from: Garrett Lothe, Renee Walker, Jenn Fisher, and Dean Burcham, book dealers set up. Game play of life size version of Nancy Drew® Mystery Game from the 1950s. Lots of prizes given out and trivia contests. 3 Goody Bags given out.

The Nancy Drew 75th & Stratemeyer Syndicate 100th Anniversary Conference was held June 16-19, 2005 in NYC, with a few Sleuth events. For details on the conference, click here.

October: 2006: Chicago, IL. Members toured "River Heights Country" while solving mysteries at Red Gate Farm and found a Hollow Oak treasure! Activities included: All Day Bus trip of book hunting, antiquing, visit to a real life Red Gate Farm, Hollow Oak treasure hunt, Sleuth Madonna's Red Gate Farm party, Chicago sightseeing, visit to the American Girl Store to view Nancy Drew® book on display, Danger on the Great Lakes dinner cruise on Lake Michigan, presentations at the Chicago Children's Museum, a Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza dinner, a Joker's Revenge game, and a fun Nancy Drew® theme gift exchange.

June: 2007: Pasadena, CA. The Sleuths had their first movie & TV theme convention, timed to the release of the Warner Brothers movie, Nancy Drew. Members toured the Huntington Library and viewed some sights where the Nancy Drew® movie was filmed, went book hunting, and played a Nancy Drew® cover art game. On the day of the movie's release, members held a Nancy Drew® 101 event at the Burbank Public Library, toured Warner Brothers Studios, and saw the Nancy Drew® movie. The Sleuths held their big convention day at the Pasadena Hilton and featured 7 speakers on a variety of topics, had book and merchandise sales, and that evening held a special 1930s Nancy Drew® murder mystery party complete with skits, a prize, and a fun Nancy Drew® theme gift exchange. A tour of Dave Farah's collection and BBQ was a highlight!

Sept-Oct: 2008: Bird-in-Hand, PA. The Sleuths headed to Witch Tree Country for a fun-filled convention! Members visited Hershey, PA and had their photos printed on chocolate bars, went book hunting and antiquing and found a few goodies, toured Amish farms, quilt shops, and went on a Witch Tree Clues Hunt. A hayride and a ghost tour were especially fun! Members spent a day in historic Philadelphia touring sights around Independence Square and those that Nancy visited in the SuperMystery, A Question of Guilt. A dinner at City Tavern complete with Revolutionary War era costumed servers was a treat. The Sleuths held their convention day at the Bird-in-Hand Family Inn complete with speakers: Author Jennifer Fisher, Nancy Drew Files Artist Tricia Zimic, Author Penny Warner, Crafty Sleuth Lea Fox, and Author and Professor Michael G. Cornelius. Dinner was a special smorgasbord and that was followed by a "barn dance" complete with our crafty Nancy Drew gift exchange, some singing, and a raffle for neat Nancy Drew prizes. And no one was hexed or accused of being a witch like Nancy in The Witch Tree Symbol!

Sept-Oct: 2009: Las Vegas, NV. Nancy Drew Sleuths followed in Nancy Drew's footsteps in Las Vegas and around the Valley of Fire State Park where the classic Nancy Drew book, #52 The Secret of the Forgotten City was set. A 70s disco style Nancy Drew meet and greet party was held to kick off the convention. Members bused to the Valley of Fire to compete in a Sleuth Survivor challenge--George Tribe won reward! A visit to the Lost City Museum just like Nancy and her chums in the book was informative and provided great background material for the book and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams who researched there in person before writing the book. Members completed a CSI: Nancy Drew mystery challenge complete with miniature crime scenes. Our big convention day featured 40 local fourth grade girls who were excited to learn more about Nancy Drew. Speakers Jennifer Fisher, Lea S. Fox, Dean Burcham, and guest of honor David Farah rounded out the event along with a Nancy Drew scrapbooking session. A 1940s Old-Time Vegas Gangster Mystery Dinner Party capped off the week's events including a festive Nancy Drew gift exchange.

April 6-10 & April 11-15: 2010: Merritt Island, FL and Cruise to Bahamas. Nancy Drew Sleuths held their 10th annual convention and an 80th anniversary cruise! Members followed in Nancy Drew's footsteps around Merritt Island for our Moss Mansion theme. We held parties at the homes of area collectors, attended a professional Nancy Drew trivia show, book hunted, visited NASA, toured an orange grove, lunched at Historic Cocoa Village, toured 2 treasure museums, visited Cocoa Beach Pier, hosted our annual convention with speakers, activities and a charity raffle to benefit the Merritt Island Public Library. Our honored guest was Nancy Drew illustrator Rudy Nappi. Members attended a Mystery dinner costume party and held our annual gift exchange.

Following our land event we took a 4 day Carnival Cruise from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas for the 80th anniversary of Nancy Drew. We held events on board, went sighteeing in the Bahamas, and held a convention day at sea with honored guests Rudy Nappi and Carolyn S. Dyer and a Nancy Drew costume party plus a fun scavenger hunt.

March 30 - April 3, 2011: Charlottesville, VA. Members attended this 11th annual convention by following in Nancy Drew's footsteps around Charlottesville for our Hidden Window theme. We held a festive meet and greet, visited Monticello, Michie Tavern, Ash Lawn-Highland, Seven Oaks, held an event at the local library with Nancy Drew ghostwriter Alison Hart, particpated in a stained-glass craft activity, book hunted, went on a ghost tour, and held our annual convention day with speakers and a charity raffle to benefit the local library. Members attended a 50s/Clue theme mystery dinner costume party and held our annual gift exchange.

---

Click to join NancyDrewSleuths