the clue in the old stagecoach

What a good story! This reminded me of Nancy's very first mystery, The Secret of the Old Clock.

So Nancy, Bess, and George are at Camp Merriwhether vacationing for the summer. There is a lady, Mrs. Strook, who needs there help. You see, Francisville is in desperate need of help. The town has run out of money (since the town just issued bonds for water and sewage systems) and cannot afford to put any money towards educational programs, especially a new school building.
Recently, Mrs. Strook found a letter from her (dead) great uncle leaving hints about finding a clue that will be of 'great value' to the town of Francisville in his old stagecoach. Here's the kicker: No one knows where the stagecoach is because Great Uncle Abner left town in 1852.
So it is up to Nancy and her friends to figure out how to use clues to discover the missing stagecoach and uncover the truth about Abner's fortunes.


I really enjoyed this story because I felt it got back to the roots of mystery solving--using clues and intuition to lead you to a discovery. This story was no loaded with all sorts of villians or outlandish crime activity, which I really liked. Yes, I will say it is somewhat far fetched for Nancy to be unearthing letters from the 1850s, but whatev. This book showed Nancy's true talent, so it get's my stamp of approval.

A couple of things:
Hannah was not in this book at all. She is visiting relatives.
Nancy is dating some dude named Rick while Ned is out of the picture...what's up with that, Nancy? I thought for sure she'd be a one man kind of gal, but I guess I was mistaken.