Nancy Drew Diaries 3 – Mystery of the Midnight Rider

Carolyn Keene's Mystery of the Midnight Rider is a Nancy Drew Diaries case for 9 year olds set at a big horse show in Nancy's home town.

What happens

Payton Evans is a family friend of Ned's. She's about sixteen, she's brilliant at show jumping and the person who picks the Olympic team might be coming to watch her ride in Saturday's Grand Prix.

Then, right before she rides, her trainer storms over with bad news. Someone has sent the show stewards an anonymous tip saying Payton drugs her horses.

Payton swears it isn't true. Ned believes her completely (she once wouldn't rest until she'd returned a pocketknife they found on the beach). But the trouble keeps coming. Someone throws a rotten tomato at her best horse, Midnight, and he rears up and breaks loose. And at the Nickersons' welcome barbecue, Ned's dad opens his beloved old grill and finds a note for Payton inside.

So who wants her out of the competition? There's a snooty rider who nearly crashes into her in the warm-up ring. There's a loud trainer who seems to hold a grudge. And there's a group of animal rights protesters outside the gates. Your reader will probably have picked a favourite suspect within a couple of chapters.

It's the third Nancy Drew Diaries book, but it's a brand new case at home in River Heights and it introduces everyone as it goes.

Horse-mad readers will love the show world. Nancy explains that a "green" horse just means one still in training (Ned thinks it means the colour). There are grooms, jump-offs and a barn full of horses with names like Rain Dance. It feels like you've got a backstage pass.

There's a sweet side story too. It's Nancy and Ned's anniversary, and Bess won't stop nagging him to plan something romantic. Ned has a secret picnic up his sleeve. Will the case get in the way? Probably!

Worth knowing before you hand it over

The note is a real threat. It asks Payton if riding is worth her life and tells her to quit while she and her horses are still alive. Nobody is hurt in the opening chapters and Midnight is fine, but a child who worries about animals might want to know that first.

What to read next

If it's the show ring they love, The Stolen Show puts Nancy in the ring herself. She has to take an old family friend's bull terrier round a top dog show in snowy Quebec City.