Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew 39 – Museum Mayhem

Carolyn Keene's Museum Mayhem is the thirty-ninth Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew book, a mystery for 8 year olds that starts as the best school trip ever and ends up with a smashed sculpture.

What happens

Miss Alcott is the coolest teacher Nancy has ever had. She has a purple streak in her hair, peacock-feather earrings and possibly a band. And she's taking the class to spend the night at the Simon Cross Art Institute.

It's everything you'd hope for. There's a room where you put on white jumpsuits and throw paint at the walls. There's a tiny early drawing by Monet. Dinner is grilled cheese cut into little triangles while a harpist plays. And they're sleeping in the medieval armour wing (Robby is thrilled about the swords).

Then a security guard storms into the restaurant. A clay sculpture of a woman's head has been knocked off its stand and broken into pieces. It'll cost four thousand dollars to fix, and she's certain the River Heights class did it.

Miss Alcott looks like she might cry. The curator gives the Clue Crew until ten o'clock the next morning. After that, the school pays.

What follows is a proper little investigation. Bess takes the notes in her sketch pad. There's a purple coin purse under a tarp, two girls from another school who say they took a wrong turn, a pair of painters who heard a thud and a woman in red who was looking for someone called Genie. Nancy keeps going back to the scene, which is exactly what a good detective does.

The easy answer isn't always the right one here. Some of the grown-ups make up their minds quite quickly. Nancy isn't so sure, and she won't let somebody else take the blame just because it looks that way.

It's a lovely one to give a child who loves art, too. Miss Alcott explains the impressionists in a couple of sentences, and your reader gets to feel what a big museum is like after closing time, armour and all. Who wouldn't want a sleepover there?

What to read next

If they're after another Clue Crew class trip, try Butterfly Blues. It's the first day of spring and the girls are off to a brand-new butterfly house built in the shape of a caterpillar.