Nancy Drew Diaries 1 – Curse of the Arctic Star

Carolyn Keene's Curse of the Arctic Star is a mystery for 9 year olds that sends Nancy Drew undercover on the very first voyage of a shiny new cruise ship.

What happens

Nancy's old friend Becca has landed a job as assistant cruise director on the Arctic Star. But things keep going wrong for Superstar Cruises. There have been nasty e-mails. And the film star who was meant to be the big attraction has pulled out after someone threatened his family.

So Becca calls in Nancy. The cover story is that Nancy, Bess and George have won a free trip to Alaska (they haven't). The real job is to find out who wants to sink the company. So to speak!

There's a snag. Bess's goofy new boyfriend Alan has begged to come too, and nobody's allowed to tell him why they're really there. Cue a LOT of whispering behind his back.

They've barely stepped aboard when someone screams that there's a bloody body in the pool. It turns out to be a shop dummy floating in cherry drink mix. Then Nancy's suitcase goes missing, and when it turns up there's a note inside telling her to get lost and stay lost.

Nancy tells the story herself, so you get every suspicion the moment she has it. Is the bouncy butler just very keen? Why does the maid jump out of her skin? And what's the travel blogger doing popping up everywhere with her laptop?

The ship is half the fun. There's a private hot tub, a butler on call day and night and even a pillow menu (Nancy orders a buckwheat pillow purely to get rid of him). Bess and George bicker like real cousins, and George would happily live on free smoothies.

Nancy and her friends are a fair bit older than your reader. Bess's boyfriend is at university and the girls are off on a two-week trip with no parents in sight. The opening scares are the jump-then-giggle kind, though, and the friendship feels warm and easy.

If your reader likes to keep a list of suspects and cross them off as they go, this is a lovely place to begin.

What to read next

Want another trip away for the three friends? The Ghost of Grey Fox Inn has them flying to Charleston for a big family wedding, staying somewhere with a ghostly reputation.