I am a giant Nancy Drew fan, so when I saw these cute books I wanted to try them out. Though I also was a bit hesitant.

That was because the last time I read a new Nancy incarnation it was just absolutely terrible (see my review for Strangers on the Train here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). The characters didn't match the age they were supposed to be, and various other things. So yeah, I was worried about this book. Would this Nancy feel natural? Would her age fit? How about all the other little things, since this one is set in a time with technology.

And the answer to all that is yes. Yes, and so much yes. This Nancy is Nancy, but then in child-form. She didn't feel strange, it felt perfectly normal. Like we are finally getting a glimpse in Nancy's life when she was a kid (just set a different time period).
Bess and George are also perfect in this one. They didn't feel off, it was completely natural.

In this book Nancy, Bess, and George are at a party. A Happy Sweet Half-Sixteen party by Deidre (who is still rich, and really snobby). Of course this being a Nancy book you can imagine that this party isn't going all right, and indeed, mysterious stuff happens, and our trio set out to find out who the culprit is. They have a list of people who could be it, and they go after them one by one, checking for clues, talking to suspects, talking to anyone. It was so much fun to see them walking around (though with some restrictions, since they are 8 years old in this one).

The whodunnit was a fun one to figure out. I had so much fun sleuthing alongside of Nancy, George, and Bess. And in the end, when Nancy figured out the whodunnit I also knew who had done it. It was a nice surprise though, I wouldn't have expected that person, but all the clues really did lead towards her. And her reasoning? Typical. :)

There are also illustrations in this book, and I just loved how the gang looked, and also how other characters looked. It was just so adorable and so fun to see the characters in tiny form.

So I am going to get this whole series, and I hope that there will be many more books from this author (I would love to know who it is, yes, I know it says Carolyn Keene, but that is for all, if not most, Nancy universe books, I would like who is behind the ghostwriting).

I would highly recommend this book to everyone!

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com