Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew 8 – Lights, Camera… Cats!

The eighth Clue Crew book from Carolyn Keene is a Hollywood mystery for 8 year olds about a famous cat who vanishes from a film set.

What happens

Lights, Camera... Cats! starts in a silver convertible on Sunset Boulevard. Nancy's dad has work in Los Angeles, so he's brought Nancy, Hannah, Bess and George along. Their hotel has five swimming pools. Five!

His client is a film director, Mr Banner, who's shooting a comedy called The Aliens Next Door. The star is Fluffington, the fluffy white cat from the Krunchies cat food adverts (which is why Bess's autograph book isn't much use). Better still, Mr Banner needs three third-graders as extras in a crowd scene.

Then Fluffington comes tearing across the studio covered in blue paint. The culprit is Beezil, Mr Banner's son, who's already worn out four babysitters with his pranks.

The next morning, while Nancy is still in hot curlers in the make-up chair, the news arrives. Fluffington is missing.

So who would take her? Beezil has a tub of catnip in his backpack, though it's still sealed shut. Tucker, the computer effects man, would quite like to replace the animal actors with computer cats. He also has scratches on his arms and long white hairs on his T-shirt.

Nancy collects some of those hairs with a strip of sticky tape while Bess keeps him talking. It's a brilliant little bit of sneaky detective work, and your reader will love being in on it.

There's plenty of Hollywood sparkle to enjoy along the way. Make-up artists, a fake street with fake houses, and a birthday party for Pompom the poodle (who's turning three and wears a jewelled collar).

Beezil is a properly annoying character. He calls Nancy "Curlerhead" and the girls "six-year-olds". If an older kid has ever talked down to your reader, they'll be firmly on Nancy's side.

It's very American and a little bit silly, in the best way. And the answer to where Fluffington went is a genuinely sweet one (no spoilers!).

What to read next

If it's the glitz they love, Sleepover Sleuths is the very first Clue Crew book, and it begins at Deirdre's Hollywood birthday sleepover, red carpet and all, the night a rare doll disappears.