Reviews

The Secret of Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene, Mildred Benson

blondierocket's review against another edition

The fifth series book has Nancy and her cousins solving the mystery of a ghost horse that continues to visit the ranch of their aunt. Along the way, Nancy finds herself again solving three mysteries as her friend Alice’s long lost father has been missing for some time. A painting at a local shop leads Alice to believe he is still alive and somewhere in the area.

But it wouldn’t be a true mystery without the third adventure of a missing treasure and the map and clues are hidden within the ranch somewhere.

Along the way, Nancy finds herself befriending a man who started out hateful and soon grew on her. It was nice reading about Nancy having a possible boyfriend, considering so many of her friends are getting married or dating.

doggirl11's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

ellamiddleton's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

3.5

maddy_walock's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

4.0

laura_cs's review against another edition

3.0

Okay, so, the A-plot mystery could have totally stood alone without the additional B-plot mystery. Actually could have added some more elements to the A-plot (which the Nancy Drew game of the same title does). On that part, that's my only complaint, so knock off half a star. And I knocked off another star and a half for the cringey casually racist language and cultural appropriation (which, yes, yes, I know it was common for the time the book was written but no thank you).

starligh_314's review against another edition

slow-paced

4.25

planet_taffy's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

The Secret of Shadow Ranch is an all-around solid installment in the series, as long as you overlook the continuity error with the sweater: the gimmick of the ghost horse is fun and well utilized; the cast of villains and red herrings are easy to keep up with; and Keene manages to give all of the characters their own charm. This book makes me really wish it was public which authors ghostwrote what, because I'd love to focus on reading the Nancy Drew Mysteries by this particular iteration of Carolyn Keene.

Most importantly, this is the first book featuring Bess and George. They are exactly as fun as I remembered.

alesehunter's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

dgrachel's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

Nancy Drew is not aging well. The casual racism, cultural appropriation, and misogyny are breathtaking, and not in a good way. It’s also filled with stereotypes, exclamation points, and ridiculously frequent life threatening peril. 

crabbyabbe's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Maybe because I'm a native Phoenician, I liked this one the least so far. Too many stereotypical devices to count. We don't say “hombre“ or “sandstorm“ (it's a dust storm or haboob)--nor do we say “squaw“, which crudely refers to female genitalia. Dude ranches existed primarily around Wickenburg (The Dude Capital of the West in the 1950s), which is an hour NW of Phoenix. It was hard for me to take this story seriously.