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Sleuth Onscreen
Emma Roberts stars as the sleuthing teen in "Nancy Drew" who accompanies her father, lawyer Carson Drew (Tate Donovan), to California from their hometown of River Heights. True, she promised her dad she'd quit the "sleuthing" business, but the Drews are living in a home that once belonged to famous actress Dehlia Draycott, a woman who died under mysterious circumstances.
Not only that, the Draycott mansion is said to be haunted, and some very strange things have happened there. Seriously now, how could Nancy Drew resist a mystery like this?
Look for a review of "Nancy Drew" in Thursday's Caliente.
Nostalgia Flows
Just mention Nancy Drew mysteries to young girls, mothers and even grandmothers, and nostalgia flows. Here are some local women's thoughts on the young sleuth:
Beth Walkup, Tucson's first lady
"Yes, I read Nancy Drew. We did a lot of reading back then without TVs and later just a few black-and-white choices (of programming). 
"I always thought I wanted to grow up and be a detective and seriously thought about the FBI and going 'undercover,' which obviously I didn't. 
"I had quite a collection of the books. I don't remember any specific story, but do remember reading them with a flashlight under my covers after I was supposed to be asleep. 
"Maybe that's why 'CSI' is one of my favorite TV shows (when I get time to watch)." 
J.A. Jance, mystery writer
Her new book, "Justice Denied," the 18th in the J.P. Beaumont series, will be released July 24.
"Yes, I was a Nancy Drew fan growing up and was given a whole boxful of them (books) by one of my older sister's friends. That was a bonanza. 
"Then I spent several tough years doing adventures-in-moving up and down the I-5 (Interstate 5 up the West Coast to Washington) corridor. As a consequence, those books went away as I gradually lightened the load.
"Then, a few years ago, a fan of mine — from Bisbee — told me her daughters and granddaughters had no interest in her Nancy Drew collection. Would I want them? Yes.
"I felt, and still feel, as though a part of my life had been restored.
"I think my favorite was 'The Hidden Staircase.' "
Christine Acevedo, co-owner of Clues Unlimited
Clues Unlimited is a mystery bookstore at 123 S. Eastbourne Ave., in Broadway Village.
"I discovered Nancy Drew in the little town where I grew up in Florida.
"She did so many things, and no one ever told her she couldn't do something. (The writer and publisher) were way ahead of their time. They introduced girls to the idea that they were smart and competent.
"Nancy Drew is an icon for so many women. But we didn't think about that. We just loved the books.
"I probably wouldn't have a bookstore if it weren't for Nancy."
Nancy Drew Trivia Quiz
1: Where is Nancy's hometown of River Heights located?
2: In what book did Nancy Drew's dog, Togo, appear for the first time?
3: How old was Nancy Drew when the series debuted in 1930?
4: Name Nancy Drew's first mystery.
5: In which book do Nancy's best friends, Bess Marvin and George Fayne, appear?
6: How are Bess and George related?
7: Who is Nancy Drew's motherly housekeeper?
8: Where does Nancy Drew's boyfriend Ned Nickerson go to college?
9: What kind of car does Nancy drive and what color is it?
10: How much money does Nancy Drew earn as a detective?
Answers listed below
Trivia compiled by Nancy Drew consultant Jennifer Fisher, nancydrewsleuth.com.
"I grew up reading Nancy Drew mysteries. I still can picture myself coming home from school and sitting on my bed eating sunflower seeds and reading Nancy Drew. I just loved Nancy Drew."
Annemarie Medina
Constituent advocate for Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup
Answers
1. Nowhere. It's a fictional town.
2. "The Whispering Statue."
3. She was 16.
4. "The Secret of the Old Clock."
5. "The Secret of Shadow Ranch."
6. Cousins.
7. Hannah Gruen.
8. Emerson College.
9. A roadster — blue — in the original books; a convertible now. Her car has been yellow, green and even maroon in some of the books.
10. None. Nancy Drew never takes money for her work. She is, after all, an amateur detective.

Accent

On the case

By Rosalie Robles Crowe / Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.12.2007
Nancy Drew is on the case, so move over, Miss Marple.
The teenage detective is ready to solve the Mystery in Hollywood Hills when "Nancy Drew," the movie, opens Friday in Tucson and nationwide.
As characters go, Nancy actually is a contemporary of Miss Jane Marple, Agatha Christie's famous detective.
Miss Marple, a 60-something spinster who solves the most dastardly of crimes while bird-watching and knitting, came to life in 1930, the same year the first Nancy Drew mystery was published.
Nancy, on the other hand, is perennially young. She was 16 in 1930 when she solved "The Secret of the Old Clock," aged to 18 in revisions of the original books and in new ones, and is now back to 16 in the new movie.
She also has undergone a few cosmetic changes, going from blonde to "titian blonde" (thanks to the books' printing process in the mid-1950s) to now a redhead.
Jane hasn't fared as well, cosmetically speaking, but she does share some personality quirks with Nancy. Think plucky, intelligent, definitely independent, resourceful and brave.
But over the years Nancy also has been portrayed as brash and headstrong, characteristics you could never attribute to Jane Marple.
And when actress Bonita Granville portrayed the teen detective in four Warner Bros. movies in the 1930s, Nancy was even a bit ditzy. Forty years later, Pamela Sue Martin's Nancy Drew was back to brash and daring on TV.
And now, thanks to Emma Roberts, Nancy Drew has a touch of class and elegance and lots of self-confidence. Just what a girl detective needs to succeed in Tinsel Town.
– Includes information from Jennifer Fisher of Queen Creek, a consultant on the "Nancy Drew" movie.
Young sleuth inspired girls
Considering that the first Nancy Drew mystery was written just nine years after Congress gave women the right to vote, the story line is pretty amazing.
("The Secret of the Old Clock" was written in 1929 and published in 1930.)
Nancy Drew "debuted at a time when girls were ready for something different — something that gave them higher ideals," says Jennifer Fisher, an authority on all things Nancy. Fisher, who lives in Queen Creek, served as a consultant to Warner Bros. for the new movie, "Nancy Drew," which opens Friday in Tucson and nationwide.
Fisher credits Mildred A. Wirt Benson, who wrote 23 of the original 30 books using the name Carolyn Keene, for creating Nancy's "feisty spirit."
That, she said, is what made the books "an instant hit."
Benson's Nancy "was the embodiment of independence, pluck and intelligence," characteristics that little girls of the time admired and wanted to emulate.
Actually, Fisher said, Nancy's character owed a lot to Benson's personality. Benson believed that girls could do the same things as boys, Fisher said. That's how she lived her own life.
"Tired of what she liked to call the 'namby-pamby' style" of books written for girls, she was determined that Nancy Drew would be different, Fisher said.
Edward Stratemeyer was responsible for creating the concept. He was known for creating timely and interesting characters and also was responsible for the Hardy Boys series.
Unfortunately, Stratemeyer didn't live to see the huge success of his books. He died in 1930, just days after the first three Nancy Drew books were published.
The series continued, however, thanks to the efforts of his daughters, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Edna Stratemeyer Squier.
In fact, Harriet Stratemeyer took over the writing after Benson stopped ghostwriting for them.
Grosset & Dunlap, the original publisher, hired Russell H. Tandy to do the illustrations, and that, Fisher said, was "a huge factor" in the books' success.
"They were sophisticated and classy (and) brought to life the character of Nancy very memorably."
Conceived as the United States plunged into the Great Depression, Nancy Drew mysteries offered girls a respite and a chance to dream.
Their popularity continued through the throes of World War II and in the '50s and beyond.
For more information about Nancy Drew, the books, collectibles, fan clubs and interesting trivia, go to Fisher's Web site: nancydrewsleuth.com.
● Contact reporter Rosalie Crowe at 573-4105 or rcrowe@azstarnet.com.
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