Cover Art: Hector Garrido
Interior Art: Paul Frame

Author: Unknown--possibly James Lawrence

PLOT:

A famous advertising photographer calls on Nancy and her father, Carson Drew, to help him after he is accused of pirating his colleagues’ work. When a young actress known to have worked with Nancy’s client disappears just as she’s about to land a starring role in a new Broadway play, Nancy knows she’s dealing with ruthless and devious criminals. The police turn to Nancy for help in finding the missing woman. Some video cassettes, sent anonymously through the mail, may hold a vital clue. But before Nancy can unravel the mystery, a friend of the missing actress is lured into a terrifying trap and Nancy must face one of her most unnerving confrontations. (from the back cover)

CHARACTERS:

Nancy Drew – the teen sleuth faces one of her greatest challenges

Carson Drew – Nancy’s father, who must represent a friend falsely accused

Dallas Curry – a famous photographer accused of stealing others’ ad ideas

Clare Grant – a former Broadway actress who suddenly disappears

Pamela Kane – a friend of the missing actress who is desperate to find her

Mrs. Barrow – housekeeper of the house where Pamela Kane is staying

Detective Hoyt – River Heights’ detective assigned to find the missing actress

George Fayne & Bess Marvin – Nancy’s faithful friends, always ready to help

Ned Nickerson – Nancy’s boyfriend, quick to come to her aid when needed

Marcy Keech – reporter for the Limelight out to do a story on the missing actress

Ryan Hyatt – a blond photographer with a connection to the stolen ad layouts

Oliver Snell – art director of an ad agency whose idea was allegedly copied

Ted Yates – an account executive at an ad agency whose idea was copied

Roscoe Leff – a chief copywriter whose ad was allegedly copied by Dallas Curry

Hugh Jaffee – a psychology professor at Ashton University

Barry Coe – a Broadway producer in whose show Clare was supposed to star

Sylvia Salmo – a former roommate of Clare and Pamela who has come to New York

Eli Jaxon – owner of a chemical company who holds an important clue for Nancy

Pete Dornek – a video hound who uncovers a mysterious clue for Nancy

REVIEW:

When Nancy comes across a beautiful advertisement photographed by famed photographer, Dallas Curry, little does she know that it will lead to her latest mystery! Her father happens to be representing Mr. Curry, who is being accused to stealing ideas from other photographers for his ads! Before she even has the opportunity to find out more, she gets a call from Chief McGinnis, who asks Nancy to help with a missing person case. Actress Clare Grant has disappeared, and since it’s been less than 24 hours, the police can’t investigate. Nancy is more than willing to help out, so she immediately heads over to the Fyfe home, where Clare was staying. When she arrives, she meets Detective Hoyt and Clare’s friend, Pamela Kane. Pamela is distraught over her friend’s disappearance, so Nancy suggests they look around the grounds for some clues. As they reach the edge of the forest, Nancy comes across a torn photograph of Clare!

As the detective, Nancy, and Pamela continue through the woods, they find more pieces of the photograph, until they piece it together to see that it is an advertisement in which Clare posed as the Statue of Liberty! Pamela is certain that someone has kidnapped her friend, but Detective Hoyt is not so sure, since the woman has not been missing for more than 24 hours. They do find some footprints, but nothing conclusive. When Nancy returns home, she finds that she has a delivery – an unmarked package addressed to her! It turns out to be a video tape, which she finds contains only one rock video after another. Since Nancy is not a fan of this music, she is clueless as to who might have sent it to her! Setting the tape aside, Nancy goes to meet her father and Dallas Curry for lunch – only to find herself having an instant dislike of the man! Yet, despite her first impression, she is at a loss to understand why anyone would accuse him of stealing ads, when his success as a photographer spoke for itself. Mr. Drew encourages Dallas to show Nancy the first ad that was supposedly stolen – and Nancy is shocked to discover it is the very same ad for which Clare Grant posed and the picture that she found torn in the forest that very same morning!

At her father’s office, Nancy is then shown the remaining two ads that were the same, which made it appear that Dallas Curry was stealing ideas for ads. He insisted, however, that he created the ideas on his own, and that he had no idea these other ads were in the works. Nancy then informs him of her morning find and asks him how he knew Clare Grant. Dallas admits to having met her when she was doing shows on Broadway, and when she was in-between shows, he had asked her to model for him. Nancy agrees to help him out, and as she leaves her father’s office. As she is leaving, she notices a blond haired man taking pictures. She realizes he was also at the restaurant where she ate lunch with her father and Dallas, so she follows him. Her chase is interrupted, however, when she nearly runs into her boyfriend, Ned Nickerson!

Nancy takes her investigations into high gear, enlisting the aid of her best friends, Bess Marvin and George Fayne. She finds that neither of them sent her the mysterious video tape, and they are just as curious as she about its purpose. Setting it aside, they go back to the woods near the Fyfe home, and find tire tracks leading to an unsturdy bridge. When George tests the bridge for its strength, she nearly falls into the raging stream when it collapses beneath her! She is rescued by a fisherman, who says the recent storm damaged the bridge. Knowing a vehicle could not have traversed the bridge, Nancy decides whoever came this way must have left the same way. They return to Nancy’s car to find a threatening note and a flat tire!

Now things are really heating up! Nancy discovers the mechanic who is fixing her flat tire had his truck stolen – so whoever had driven to that bridge had used his truck! An interfering journalist, Marcy Keech, makes things more difficult with her insistence that Clare was kidnapped, but Nancy is no longer so sure. She is beginning to suspect that Clare may still be in River Heights! As she further investigates, she slowly uncovers clues to link both mysteries – visits to the three ad agencies prove helpful when she meets the blond man who had been following her and Dallas Curry! The clue that clinches it all is when she discovers that Dallas Curry has also received mysterious video tapes of rock music from an unknown source – and has been receiving them for some time! Determined to prove his innocence despite her feelings, Nancy seeks the aid of a young man who video taped a recent rock concert to view the video tape sent to her. When the idea she is considering proves true, Nancy confronts the real villains and exposes the whereabouts of Clare Grant once and for all during a dangerous struggle high atop a faux castle tower!

PERSONAL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS: Once again, it seems that no matter how many different mysteries Nancy becomes involved in one book, they all seem to lead together and be one big mystery by the end of the book!

Also, another hint about the location of River Heights – when Nancy decides to go to New York City for the afternoon, she hops a short flight, and within just two hours of leaving River Heights, she is walking down Madison Avenue! Given the time it would take to get from the airport to Madison Avenue, the flight would have to have been less than one and a half hours, meaning River Heights couldn’t be too far from New York City!

And Bess, at the very end of this mystery, finally makes the statement that we all know to be true – “Same old story – Nancy Drew to the rescue - ta-daaah!”

These paperbacks are not the original texts – they may not be as rich in details, and the characters may not be as multi-dimensional; but the stories are entertaining and original, and the cover style and the art are definitely high standard. Give them a chance – start “wander-ing” through these first Nancy Drew paperbacks – you might just find you like them!

To sign up for a reminder-only(non-posting) service to remind you of when the latest issue is published online and when new ads are placed as well as any other important announcements, contests, etc., click on the following button:

Click to subscribe to TheSleuth