The Silence Of The Library

AFTERWORD

Many adult mystery readers look back with fondness to the teen detectives they read as children and young adults. I discovered Nancy Drew when I was about ten, thanks to a cousin who had a few of the books. I picked up The Secret of Shadow Ranch (the revised version) and couldn’t put it down. I was hooked.

I read every Nancy Drew book I could find, and I discovered there were many other series: Trixie Belden, the Dana Girls, Judy Bolton, the Hardy Boys, Ken Holt, Cherry Ames, Vicki Barr, and the Three Investigators, to name some of my favorites.

Many of these books are collectible today. There are thousands of copies of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books for sale on popular auction sites, and there are Internet groups who routinely discuss the books and the fine points of collecting them.

I am indebted to Jennifer Fisher, Nancy Drew expert extraordinaire, for her willingness to answer questions. She bears no responsibility for anything I might have gotten wrong, however. I have also learned much online from James and Kim Keeline. James in particular is amazingly knowledgeable about Edward Stratemeyer and the Stratemeyer Syndicate, without whom the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew would never have existed.

If readers are interested in finding out more about the groups devoted to various teen detectives, go to the Yahoo Groups website and search on the name of your favorite sleuth. There’s probably at least one group for each of them.

Here are a few websites I have found consistently helpful:

Nancy Drew Sleuths: nancydrewsleuth.com

Girls Series books: series-books.blogspot.com

Stratemeyer Syndicate, etc.: keeline.com

Judy Bolton: judybolton.com

Hardy Boys: hardyboysonline.net

There are many more useful sites out there. Use your favorite Internet search engine, and start surfing.

For those readers who would like to read the rest of Veronica Thane’s first adventure, The Mystery at Spellwood Mansion, go to my website, catinthestacks.com, for the full text. I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you will enjoy it, too!