Litsy

Nancy Drew 25: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall | Carolyn Keene

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I think this is my favorite one to date! We had at least one off-page #NNK, kidnappings, near-drownings, ghosts, mediums, and QUICKSAND!!!!!!! Seriously, this was absolutely DELIGHTFUL. Ned and Carson both had a lot more page time. Bess, George, Hannah, and even Nancy‘s dog got in on the action. There was the obligatory fat-shaming of Bess early on, but no harmful racist language or stereotypes. So 👏🏻Much 👏🏻Fun!
#nancydrewbr

Librarybelle

Ruthiella I agree! I thought this was a fun one. 1d

Librarybelle Yay!!! 17h

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DGRachel

Nancy Drew 25: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall | Carolyn Keene

QUICKSAND!! 🤣🤣🤣

#nancydrewbr

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DebinHawaii

Nancy Drew 25: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall | Carolyn Keene

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#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

I finished this one last weekend for #NancyDrewBR & while not my favorite Nancy Drew, it was entertaining. This one is less about a ghost in Blackwood Hall than it is about a gang of scheming crooks fleecing people out of money & jewels through the lens of the spirit world. Slight Spoilers Ahead*** Nancy faces lots of danger in this one including quicksand (childhood fears unlocked!), being locked in an elevator in ⬇️

DieAReader, Librarybelle

DebinHawaii … the haunted house & getting knocked out which puts the Nancy Noggin Knockout counter #NNK at 11/25 books. So still concerned about Nancy‘s brain health. 🤕 Anyway, overall it was a solid entry in the series. 1d

Librarybelle Yay! 17h

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Librarybelle

Nancy Drew 25: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall | Carolyn Keene

It‘s time for our #NancyDrewBR discussion! I have 6 questions posted as spoilers. You can find them on my feed, the book‘s feed, or by searching the group‘s hashtag.

Next month, we learn about The Clue of the Leaning Chimney which involves thievery and missing pottery experts.

BarkingMadRead, kspenmoll, PurpleyPumpkin, MariaW, CogsOfEncouragement, AnneCecilie, Born.A.Reader, Bookwormjillk, Read4life, StayCurious, Laughterhp, CSeydel, Ruthiella, dabbe, Enchanted_Bibliophile, TheAromaofBooks, Roary47, peanutnine, PageShifter, AmandaBlaze

Librarybelle @DebinHawaii @Allylu @Bren912 @bookandbedandtea @Charityann @rubyslippersreads @KristiAhlers @Jennifer3 @kwmg40 @DGRachel @Sace @JenlovesJT47 @Julies_Bookshelf_Adventures @MuddyPuddle 2d

Ruthiella I‘m just finishing the last two chapters! 2d

Librarybelle So weird—the tagging timed out on me, and so I had to post the remaining list in comments. If you‘re not tagged and should be, I‘m so sorry! Technology seems to be a little hairy today (I got bloodwork done this morning, and the system crashed on my patient account, which meant no one else could get their bloodwork done until IT fixed the issue. Yikes). 2d

Librarybelle @Ruthiella 😁 2d

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Librarybelle

Nancy Drew 25: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall | Carolyn Keene

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6. We talked about the mysteries, but let's talk about the adventures. Haunted houses and quicksand come to mind! Any thoughts on these? #NancyDrewBR

BarkingMadRead The quicksand was a bit crazy, but definitely a popular thing at that time! 2d

Ruthiella Quicksand was one of my irrational fears as a child. This book doesn‘t quite outdo the puma attack and exploding oranges in “The Moss Covered Mansion” or the submarine in “Mystery of the Lilac Inn” but it‘s still pretty good adventure-wise. (edited) 2d

DebinHawaii @Ruthiella Mine too! The quicksand was nuts! I‘m pretty sure my conviction I would get trapped in it some day was spurred on by mysteries. Also we know River Heights is the land of plenty but just how many abandoned “haunted” mansions does it have?! All have secret passages too. 🤔👻 Exploding oranges 💥🍊💥 & the wild animals & steaming pool in the evil genius‘s lair will always out crazy the other antics for me! 🤣🤣🤣 2d

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CogsOfEncouragement The quicksand made me smile. 1d

DGRachel The quicksand was definitely a standout. I enjoy a good haunted mansion with secret rooms, so I loved all of those investigations around the mansion here. And yes @DebinHawaii how many mansions can one town have?!? 🤣🤣 I don‘t think anything will top those exploding oranges, though. 1d

Bookwormjillk We all must be around the same age given how the quicksand made something click in all of our brains. It was such a thing at a certain point in my life. 1d

kwmg40 The quicksand incident was pretty exciting, though it seemed a totally random addition that didn't connect to the rest of the plot. 4h

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Librarybelle

Nancy Drew 25: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall | Carolyn Keene

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5. We meet up again with Togo briefly! I had to look when we last saw the dog, and it seems Togo was mentioned in The Whispering Statue book (book 14). Kind of odd we have not seen him since then.

Besides the furry character, any thoughts on the characters in this book? I did not that Bess was referred to as “plump“ a few times. #NancyDrewBR

BarkingMadRead They are way too hard on Bess! 2d

Ruthiella I liked that Hannah was pretty active in this one, physically coming to the rescue-not just staying home baking cookies and answering the phone. 😆 2d

DebinHawaii Yes & Togo 🐕 is quite the tracker-Nancy should use him more often! I also noted the Bess jabs. 😠 Good point about Hannah jumping in @Ruthiella 2d

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bookandbedandtea I loved that everyone- Carson, Hannah, Bess and George, Ned- were all involved in this one. Thanks @Librarybelle for finding out which book Togo was last in, saves me going back to check! @DebinHawaii Nancy should definitely utilize him more! He was very helpful this time. 1d

DGRachel I loved how much page time Ned, Carson, and Hannah got, and the fact that Ned wasn‘t a jerk this time. No whining about Nancy‘s amateur sleuthing, and instead being an active, enthusiastic participant. I‘m always amazed at the personal information giving out by postal workers, policemen, the DMV, and hotel staff in these books. The victims were often annoying, but I honestly never got mad at them. 👇🏻 1d

DGRachel The more obstinate they became, the angrier I got at the criminals because I saw it as a sign of how vulnerable the targets were and in the current climate, I find anger at grifters readily available to me. 1d

Bookwormjillk I was happy to see Hannah take an active part. And I even liked Ned in this one! 1d

kwmg40 I too liked the bigger role that Hannah had. She can definitely do more than cook! 4h

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Librarybelle

Nancy Drew 25: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall | Carolyn Keene

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4. Please tell me none of you have also invested in Three Branch Ranch!

There seem to be a lot of aspects that tie together in this one, especially with the “haunted“ abandoned house, the leaving of messages in the woods, and the trance-like state of Lola. What did you think of the mysteries in this one? #NancyDrewBR

BarkingMadRead I feel like everyone was very gullible, but maybe that was due to the time it took place! 2d

Ruthiella @BarkingMadRead Agreed. They had to be for the story to work and probably also for the 10 year old reading to also recognize the scam. I feel like that‘s why the stories are so over the top - so kids can feel like they are able to spot the truth. 2d

DebinHawaii I mentioned in the comment before that it seemed like an awful lot of effort on the crooks‘ behalf for the victims who were young working women & not making that much money. Mrs. Putney is another story with her jewels. And yes, all were so gullible. I would not have had the patience with Mrs. P that Nancy had! (edited) 2d

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bookandbedandtea @BarkingMadRead and @DebinHawaii I had trouble with how gullible all these women were. Although, to be generous, they probably wouldn't have ever heard of similar scams so maybe their lack of suspicion isn't surprising. Your point @Ruthiella, that the plots can't be too hard for their intended audience, is a good one! 1d

CogsOfEncouragement I felt sorry for these people being swindled. I agree that Nancy was very gracious with Mrs. Putney. She had to be in order to help her. Mrs. Putney was so fully convinced her husband was the one giving her directions, Nancy handled it very maturely. 1d

DGRachel I loved the way things tied together here so that nothing felt like it came out of nowhere. @Ruthiella I never thought of it that way, but that‘s an excellent point about making the stories OTT so kids had a chance to recognize what was happening. This one felt more logical to me than others in the series. 1d

Bookwormjillk This mystery was over the top but also much better than the last one so I went with it. I feel like this ghost writer must be a lot of fun at parties. 1d

kwmg40 The victims seemed very gullible to me. On the other hand, I hear of many people who fall prey to online scammers these days, so maybe it's not so unbelievable. 4h

kwmg40 Seances seemed to be very popular in the early 20th century, and they appeared in so many Golden Age mystery novels. I was surprised when I saw a local winery advertising a wine-tasting and seance event. Are seances making a comeback? 4h

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Librarybelle

Nancy Drew 25: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall | Carolyn Keene

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3. What jumped out at me in this one was the “spirit writing“ that appears in images. While not necessarily spirit photography, it's also not quite automatic writing, where the spirit channels its energy through someone to write a piece.

Brief information on both can be found in links in the comments.

But, we've seen Nancy tackle spirits and “hauntings“ before. How does this compare to other hauntings in the series? #NancyDrewBR

Librarybelle https://www.sfmoma.org/read/seeing-ghosts-a-brief-look-at-the-curious-business-o...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_writing 2d

BarkingMadRead I will admit, the thieves are super creative in this one! 2d

Ruthiella @BarkingMadRead I agree. This one takes the fakery to a new level. The bad guys got greedy. They had a nice little business going, I thought, with the New Orleans “church”. 2d

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DebinHawaii It seemed like a bigger team of bad guys & yes, very creative & involved plots. It seemed like most of their victims beyond Mrs. Putney, didn‘t have all that much money to make the long game worthwhile though. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 2d

DGRachel I agree with everyone here. The con was really creative. I hate that they targeted really vulnerable people, though. Yes, they were gullible, but especially in the case of Mrs Putney, she was a grieving widow who wasn‘t thinking straight. Would she have fallen for the scam if they hadn‘t used her dead husband as manipulation? 1d

Bookwormjillk I thought it was very creative as well. 1d

kwmg40 I liked the idea of a ghost (even a fake one) in a haunted house. This book reminded me of a couple of other books on my shelves that I loved as a child: The Three Investigators and the Mystery of the Green Ghost, and The Mystery of the Green Cat, both involving eerie green things in spooky mansions! 4h

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Librarybelle

Nancy Drew 25: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall | Carolyn Keene

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2. Nancy travels a bit in this novel, venturing to New Orleans to follow a lead. We're seeing Nancy traveling a bit more over the last several books, though River Heights also seems to be quite the metropolis with a variety of transportation systems at the ready.

To get us a bit into the New Orleans flavor, here is a tourism site: https://www.neworleans.com/ .

Have you ever been to New Orleans? #NancyDrewBR

BarkingMadRead I‘ve been so many times, it‘s one of my favorite paces to visit 2d

Ruthiella Ye, River Heights is the gateway to the whole of the US apparently. I‘ve never been to New Orleans or even the South really. The closest I got was New Orleans Square at Disneyland Anaheim. 😆 2d

DebinHawaii I have not been to Nee Orleans before. It‘s on my list for someday. Nancy doesn‘t really need to travel, River Heights has it all! 😉🤣 2d

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bookandbedandtea Did planes have to stop often to refuel? I noticed that their flight to New Orleans had more than one stop and when "Mrs Egan" flew out of town they discovered that she left the plane at "one of the stops before Chicago." Sounds more like bus travel. 1d

Sace I‘ve been to New Orleans twice. Once in the 70s (I was maybe 8?) and then again in high school. It‘s beautiful and the pralines and beignets are delicious! 1d

CogsOfEncouragement I've never been, and Nancy sure hops on a plane more than I realized. 1d

DGRachel @bookandbedandtea I was puzzled by people apparently getting on and off planes like you would a greyhound bus! Sadly, I‘ve never been to New Orleans. I‘d love to go someday, but not during the summer. The South, especially the Deep South sucks in the summer - heat + humidity + mosquitoes. No, thank you. 1d

Bookwormjillk @bookandbedandtea I thought that was weird too. I have never been to New Orleans but would like to. 1d

kwmg40 I'd love to visit New Orleans one day. I wouldn't have minded if more of the story had been set there. 4h

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Librarybelle

Nancy Drew 25: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall | Carolyn Keene

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1. Welcome to the 25th book of the series! How can we be this far already in the series?!?

What are your overall impressions of this book? I thought it was better than last month's book! #NancyDrewBR

BarkingMadRead Not my fave, but not the worst 🤣 2d

Ruthiella I thought it was ridiculously fun! The séance stuff, the conveniently abandoned mansion with secret passages, and Nancy gets 1. Kidnapped 2. Knocked out AND 3. Locked in an an elevator! A trifecta! ? 2d

DebinHawaii It wasn‘t my favorite but it had it moments & it moved the NNK to 11/25 & as @Ruthiella pointed out between that & the kidnapping & trapped in an elevator was pretty lively! 🤕 2d

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DebinHawaii Also, the quicksand!!! 😱 Is this where my childhood conviction that I would sink in quicksand someday came about? 2d

bookandbedandtea This one started out fun and exciting but I felt it lost something midway. Maybe my real issue was being annoyed with how gullible the victims were. (Not very empathetic of me, I know 🫢) I loved how the whole gang was very involved. 1d

TheAromaofBooks @DebinHawaii - I wondered about this!!! The way it just suddenly was there to grab them! 😱 1d

Sace @bookandbedandtea Me too! I was chugging right along and thought I was gonna finish in one sitting, but I had to get some sleep. I came back to it the next day and the end just felt like a slog. It was a great beginning though! Just lost me around page 130. 1d

CogsOfEncouragement This one seemed creepy to me. I don't think of seances as being material for elementary school readers. I would not have liked this one at that age.
1d

DGRachel I loved it and was absolutely delighted with it. I, too, found it ridiculously fun @Ruthiella Was excited to add another #NNK to the tally (@DebinHawaii her poor brain!), and the quicksand! I howled with laughter at the quicksand. #GenXTrauma 1d

Bookwormjillk I‘m with @DGRachel and @Ruthiella I was really entertained just seeing what would happen next. I was so excited when the quicksand made an entrance. 1d

kwmg40 This was a fun one but like @bookandbedandtea and @Sace, I found myself losing interest in the last chapters, despite a good set-up initially. 4h

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