The Penguin Nancy Drew Mystery Stories is a classic series featuring teenage sleuth Nancy Drew created by pseudonym Carolyn Keene.  The series included 56 original volumes featuring stand-alone mysteries that do not need to be read in order.  A complete list of novels includes 64 novels. Nancy Drew has been solving mysteries and delighting young fans for over 75 years. The first 10 book titles in order of publication were The Secret of the Old Clock, The Hidden Staircase, The Bungalow Mystery, The Mystery at Lilac Inn, The Secret of Shadow Ranch, The Secret of Red Gate Farm, The Clue in the Diary, Nancy's Mysterious Letter, The Sign of the Twisted Candles, Password to Larkspur Lane and The Clue of the Broken Locket.  

Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon are the pseudonyms under which many ghostwriters penned the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series, respectively.  Both series were created by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate book packaging firm in the late 1920s and early 1930s.  Stratemeyer's daughter, Harriet and syndicate writer, Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson were the two people primarily responsible for bringing the iconic character of Nancy Drew to life in the minds and hearts of millions of readers around the world.

The harder-to-find titles include The Hidden Staircase, The Bungalow Mystery, Mystery at Lilac Inn.  These are "First Edition" adding to their rarity and value.  

Mildred "Millie" Wirt Benson

(1905-2002)

Benson was an American journalist and writer of children's books.  She wrote some of the earliest Nancy Drew mysteries under the name Carolyn Keene and created the detective's adventurous personality.  Benson wrote from 1929 to 1953 and contributed to 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew mysteries which were best sellers.   She began working at the Toledo Blade in 1944 and continued there for 58 years.  In the 1990s, she began writing a weekly column for the Toledo Blade titled "On the Go".  

Benson's favorite Nancy Drew story was The Hidden Staircase.  Whenever asked, she would gladly autograph copies of the Nancy Drew books, but only the titles she actually wrote.

As a young girl I enjoyed reading the Nancy Drew series on our front porch in the summertime after visiting the local library. As the late Jim Roselle of WJTN fame would often ask, What's in your wallet?  His answer?  My library card.