The Clue in the Diary
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Author | Carolyn Keene |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Nancy Drew mystery series |
| Genre(s) | Mystery novel |
| Publisher | Grosset & Dunlap |
| Released | 1932 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-448-09507-6 |
| Preceded by | Nancy Drew: The Secret of Red Gate Farm |
| Followed by | Nancy Drew: Nancy's Mysterious Letter |
The Clue in the Diary is a 1932 novel featuring Nancy Drew, a fictional character who has appeared in many other novels. It was reissued in 1962.
This is the last manuscript Mildred Wirt Benson wrote in her initial run. Benson would return for volume 11, The Clue of the Broken Locket, and remain with the series until 1948, returning for one last ghostwrite in 1953.
[edit] Plot summary
The Clue in the Diary introduces Ned Nickerson, an admirer of Nancy for life. Nancy and her friends Bess and George, on the way home from a carnival, discuss a struggling Swedish immigrant, Mrs. Swenson, and her daughter. The girls helped the underprivileged duo to better enjoy the attractions (paid for things).
As they are driving, a luxurious roadside estate bursts into flames. The girls park the car and make sure that no one is trapped inside. In doing so, Nancy sees someone fleeing the property, and discovers an anonymous Swedish diary on the ground. She picks up this clue, and as firefighters and viewers arrive on the scene, notes an attractive young man moving her car away from the flying embers. At first suspicious, Nancy warms to him when he helps her out of a jamb. Meanwhile, Mrs. Swenson's husband is missing, and she identifies that his diary is the one picked up at the fire. To top it all off, the owner of the burned house, Felix Raybolt is missing, and his wife claims Joe Swenson has murdered her husband. Raybolt, it turns out, swindles creative inventors like Swenson out of patents and copyrights on their inventions and used an invention to start the fire.
[edit] 1962 edition
The 1962 volume tells essentially the same story, eliminating some detail and subplots, and adding a new, very quickly resolved subplot involving mail fraud. (Many series fans question the addition of a mail fraud subplot, which appears trite in this case. By 1962, this plot device existed in both Nancy's Mysterious Letter and The Hidden Window Mystery.) Nancy struggles to decipher the diary and find the two missing men, aided by her best friends, and a new friend for life, Ned Nickerson.
The cover art for this book has not changed since 1950, when the revision art was introduced by Bill Gillies.
