Once Upon a Thriller

I do genuinely think these books are getting better - even if I have a couple minor squibbles with this one. (Side note: the audiobook narration is solid, with none of that women trying to sound like teen boys and sounding horrible that I have experienced in other audiobooks.)

The case is a good one, with interesting twists and turns, but the culprit - who I figured out concurrent with Nancy, even if she had a lot more information than I did - was...underdeveloped. Not as a character, but it was like ‘case solved, slap the cuffs on' and the only explanation we got was kind of an aside when Nancy and co. are debriefing. Which I didn't love.

Now, this next bit might just be a sign of how long it's been since I really read Nancy Drew books coupled with being significantly younger when I last read them. But...I feel like the books are lacking a little in true Nancy Drew peril and excitement. I almost feel like Nancy has lost her moxie. To be fair, there are a couple moments where Nancy is put in peril, but she is gotten out of it almost before she realizes she's in danger. And she receives threatening letters and panic's over that.

Like I said, this could be a case of misremembering coupled with this seeming much more dangerous when you're younger, but I recall a lot more tense moments for Nancy, a lot more where she had to use her wits to escape the bad guy.

shrug I've got some of the older books (the original hardcovers, Girl Detective and maybe even some others) in storage and when the weather cools off, I think I'm going to go dig them up and see if my memory is playing tricks on me.