Without a Trace (Nancy Drew: All New Girl Detective #1)

Eggs and zucchini may sound like a special Sunday omelet to most, but for Nancy Drew, it means it's time to roll up her sleeves and start solving mysteries. In this first book of the "modernized" series featuring the whip-smart girl detective, Nancy is called upon to solve not one but two whodunits, simultaneously. Someone has been smashing the neighborhood zucchini patches and the disgruntled gardeners are starting to point fingers at one another. Meanwhile, a new resident in Nancy's Midwestern town is frantic when she discovers that her old and precious Faberge egg has been stolen. Can our favorite not-so-hard-boiled detective unscramble both these cases before it's too late?

Fans of Carolyn Keene's classic Nancy Drew series will be pleased to note that, although Nancy has been brought up to date with computers and cell phones, she's still the same sweet girl who volunteers in her spare time. All her old buddies are alive and well: George is still a tomboy, but now spends her time surfing the Web; Bess continues to be a bit of a femme fatale, but only in the nicest way; Nancy's boyfriend Ned remains ever faithful and ever patient; and housekeeper Hannah Gruen is as gruffly, bustlingly loving as always. New readers will love to sink their teeth into a "new" series, and may even be inspired to dig out their mothers' old Nancy Drews (Ages 8 to 12) --Emilie Coulter