Read the original Nancy Drew mystery

The Secret of the Old Clock is the mystery that began it all for America's favorite teenaged slueth. The accidental rescue of a little girl who lives with her two great-aunts leads to an adventurous search for a missing will.

After receiving a call from her friend Helen Corning, Nancy agrees to help solve a baffling mystery. Helen's Aunt Rosemary has been living with her mother at the old family mansion, and they have noticed many strange things. They have heard music, thumps, and creaking noises at night, and seen eerie shadows on the walls. Could the house be haunted?

Just as soon as she hangs up the phone, a strange man visits Nancy's house to warn her and her father that they are in danger because of a case he is working on buying property for a railroad company. This warning leads Nancy and her father...

While driving a motorboat around the Twin Lakes, Nancy and her friend Helen get caught in a dangerous storm. Luckily, they are rescued by another teenage girl in a rowboat. They soon learn that their rescuer is Laura Pendleton, whose mother has recently having passed away. Laura has come to meet up with her new guardians, but something isn't quite right about them. Nancy investigates the situation, and soon she stumbles upon a shocking surprise in the cellar of a bungalow

Nancy and her friends, George and Bess, are returning from a country carnival when they witness the explosion and burning of a beautiful country mansion. Fearing its occupants may be trapped in the blazing building, they rush to the rescue - and unexpectedly fund themselves confronted with a mystery that seems to be insoluble. The first clue, an anonymous diary, includes not only indecipherable handwriting, but puzzling technical drawings and chemical formulas as well. Who dropped the diary near the burning house? Was it the gaunt stranger Nancy glimpsed running away from the flaming...

When Nancy Drew and her friends arrive at Misty Lake, they meet pretty, red-haired Cecily Curtis, who seeks Nancy's help in solving two mysteries. One concerns Cecily's fiance, Niko Van Dyke, a popular singer who believes that his record company is cheating him of royalty payments. The other invovles a family treasure hidden before the start of the Civil War; Cecily's only clue is half of a gold locket. Nancy's investigations lead her to Pudding Stone Lodge, where the sinister Driscoll family lives. Strange coincidences give Nancy plenty of opportunity to test her sleuthing skills. Braving a...

A group of professional detectives challenge Nancy to tackle a mystery that they have failed to solve: find an invaluable message hidden by a missionary centuries ago in a hollow oak tree in Illinois. While searching the woods for the ancient tree, Nancy and her friends live with a group of young archaeologists who are excavating prehistoric Indian burial mounds on a nearby farm. A shadowy enemy stalks Nancy and harasses everyone at the dig. The young investigator pursues her dangerous adversary to an outlaws' cave, and is threatened when she discovers an unusual treasure. How Nancy, with few...

What secret life-giving power does the exquisite ivory elephant charm contain? Can the trinket really protect its wearer from all harm? Nancy Drew finds out when the owner of the Bengleton Wild-Animal Show asks her to investigate one of the performers who may be involved in some mysterious illegal scheme.The girl detective's assignment becomes complicated when the elephant trainer's young assistant, Rishi, seeks refuge at the Drew home from his cruel foster father, Rai.While following clues to help the boy find his real father, Nancy learns about an eerie abandoned house. She is harassed by...

Once again, Nancy faces two puzzling mysteries at once The first concerns a valuable collection of rare books that Mrs. Horace Merriam commissioned anart dealer to sell--has he swindled her instead? The second mystery revolves around the baffling theft of a beautiful marble statue. To solve both mysteries, the famous young detective disguises herself and assumes a false identity. Despite these precautions, danger stalks Nancy's every move. An attempted kidnapping, a nearly disastrous sailboat collision, and an encounter with a dishonest sculptor are just a few of the exciting challenges that...

Mr. Drew is on the trail of an international ring of jewel thieves and asks Nancy to assist him. The trail leads to a summer resort area. Before Nancy has a chance to start work on her father's case, a golf caddy tells her a frightening tale--in the dense woods nearby is an old wooden footbridge guarded by a ghost Intrigued by the caddy's story, Nancy decides to investigate. Several riddles confront the young detective as she attempts to solve the mystery of the haunted bridge and track down a woman suspected of being a key member of the gang of jewel thieves.

Challenging questions confront Nancy Drew when she attempts to solve the mystery of the strange tapping sounds in the house of a retired actress. Who is the tapper? How does he gain access to Miss Carter's house, despite securely locked doors and windows? Why do the tapping sounds come in Morse code? Is there a sinister motive behind the prowler's actions? While trying to learn the answers to these and other puzzling questions, Nancy finds her investigations complicated by the dishonest administrator of a will and by a thief who steals the actress's prize Persian cats.