Read Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew 2 – Scream for Ice Cream free for 7 days. £7.99/month after - less than a paperback.
Scream for Ice Cream by Carolyn Keene is the second Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew mystery, a sweet-toothed case for 8 year olds about a stolen ice cream recipe.
Jim and Barry's Ice Cream Factory is opening in River Heights, and there's a flavour contest. The prize is a silver ticket for a free pint whenever you like. Who wouldn't want that?
Nancy, Bess and George have invented Clue-berry. It's vanilla with blueberries, a surprise at the bottom and clues on the tub leading to it. They make it by rolling a homemade ice cream maker built from coffee tins (George's hand is VERY tired).
Their friend Kendra has invented something better. Chock Full of Chocolate, with four kinds of chocolate in it. Nancy's verdict is three words. OH MY GOSH.
Kendra swears everyone to secrecy. Then Deirdre puts it on her website that Kendra has a winning recipe. And on sign-up day, the written-down recipe vanishes from Kendra's backpack.
The contest is on Saturday, so the Clue Crew have two days.
The suspects are great fun. Daisy Dorfer and her ice cream fan club, who have a top secret recipe of their own and a whistle. Kevin, who isn't allowed sweets but turns up with a basket full of chocolate. And Mr Drippy the ice cream van man, who won't serve you if you forget to say please, plus his very rude son.
Then someone leaves a message on Nancy's doorstep, spelled out in lolly sticks. GIVE UP!
There's a brilliant real detective trick in here too. George grabs the blank page from under a written note, and Nancy rubs a pencil over it to read what was pressed through. Your reader will want to try that at home (find a soft pencil).
Meanwhile the girls' own ice cream keeps getting ruined, once by Nancy's puppy and once by a five-year-old with a spoon. It's a nice reminder that being a detective doesn't stop the rest of life happening!
The American bits are Popsicles, dollars and third grade. There's a bit of gross-out comedy about eating too much chocolate.
If they want the next case, Pony Problems has a Shetland pony called Buttons escaping from a new petting zoo and turning up in gardens all over town.
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