Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew 16 – Thanksgiving Thief

Carolyn Keene's Thanksgiving Thief is a Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew mystery for 8 year olds about somebody spoiling a whole town's Thanksgiving.

What happens

Nancy is eight here, and so are her best friends Bess and George. River Heights Elementary is getting ready for its big Thanksgiving celebration, with a pageant, a feast and a food fair all on one evening.

Then the food starts going wrong. Every jar of Mr. Madison's fresh pumpkin puree gets destroyed. Hannah, the Drews' housekeeper, is devastated, because it's the secret of her prize-winning pies (Nancy had no idea they didn't come out of a tin). Next it's the bakery's special stuffing mix, scattered all over the storeroom floor.

Who would want to ruin Thanksgiving? The girls start a list. A classmate whose uncle lost his job. A big black dog with flour all over his nose. Each time, the clues don't quite fit.

Meanwhile the local news is full of wild turkeys wandering round the school car park, and the whole celebration might get cancelled.

It's a lovely, cosy sort of mystery. Nobody gets hurt, and the worst crime is a lot of wasted food. Nancy talks the case through with her dad over dinner, and Hannah is always there with a hug.

It's funny about small things too. George and Bess bicker the way only cousins can. Bess finds a feather at the crime scene and is thrilled, because she needs one for her costume. Priorities!

One thing you might want to chat about. In the pageant, the three girls play "Native American princesses", picked for the parts by their new classmate Mary White Cloud. The book is warm and respectful about Mary and her family's traditions, but the dressing-up itself feels dated now.

There's a pumpkin pie pomander to make at the very end, too, if your reader likes a craft.

What to read next

If this one goes down well, Wedding Day Disaster is another food mystery. Nancy is the flower girl this time, and somebody cuts a neat slice out of the back of a very grand wedding cake.