Nancy Business - the second Nancy Drew-Inspired Mystery

"...we don't listen to what we're told to believe. Like Nancy Drew, we investigate and we find out the truth ourselves."  (Nancy Business, p. 354).  I think this one line from R.W.R. McDonald's latest book pretty much sums up "the Nancys," the unlikely amateur detective trio of young Tippy and her Uncle Pike and his better-half, Devon, who are determined to follow in the footsteps of their favorite fictional sleuth and prove to everyone that they have what it takes to solve the mysteries that even the police get wrong!  It's hard to believe Nancy Business, the follow-up to McDonald's very first book, The Nancys, is only his second published novel!  The plotting, the characterization, the mystery, the fabulous fun, the crazy climaxes - one would think McDonald was a seasoned writer with hundreds of published works under his belt already!

Nancy Business picks up four months later, as Spring is just around the corner.  It has been one year since Tippy's father died following a mysterious car accident, and Uncle Pike and Devon are back in town to honor the occasion - and to begin working on the new home they purchased there in Riverstone!  (Of course, it is the same house where Devon found a rather grotesque surprise in the freezer in the last book, so needless to say, there is PLENTY of redecorating going on in that house!)  While the house is being renovated, Pike and Devon are staying in a rented house, and Tippy is going to spend her vacation with them.  The rental, though, turns out to be anything but what they expected - but their distaste of the look and smell of the place suddenly take a back seat when an explosion rocks entire house!  They can see a large cloud of smoke from downtown - and Tippy takes off running, because it's coming from right where her mother works at the hospital!

 

And so begins the latest Nancys' adventure - but it's not really a "whodunnit?" but more of a "whydunnit?"  The police have video footage from local businesses that show the local florist delivered the bomb, which not only killed him, but the wife of a councilman and severely injured a police woman who appeared on the scene after a call was made warning of the bomb.  The townhall is destroyed, the famous founding tree is now gone, and the lives of those in Riverstone will never be the same.  But something isn't right - because everyone Tippy and her uncles speak to say that Mr. Tulips was a nice man, and no one can imagine him doing such a thing.  So, that begs the question - why did he do it?  Or did he do it ... ?  Tippy is anxious to get to work and solve the mystery surrounding this bombing, but it's not as easy as she thinks, since she has so much working against her ...

- her mother cannot find out what is going on, or she will put a stop to it

- Pike and Devon seem to be having problems, and when they separate, it seems to Tippy that might spell the end of the Nancys

- Lorraine still holds a grudge against Tippy for telling her that her fiance was gay, so she won't help them

- Hornblower is trying to weasel his way back into Pike's life

But the worst possible thing happens when Tippy finds out a horrific truth about her father's death - and the fact that everyone around her, including her beloved uncles, have been lying to her all this time!  Can the Nancys put all of their personal troubles aside in time to solve the mystery behind the bombing and prevent a second bomb from destroying the Riverstone Bridge?

McDonald provides readers with a superbly plotted mystery that also strengthens the characterizations for all of the main cast, providing room for growth in the characters in a natural progression.  The humor is still there - plenty of innuendos, plenty of sassy sarcasm, plenty of double entendres.  McDonald made me laugh, he made me cry, he made me cheer, and he made me anxious, on the edge of my seat - Nancy Business is a roller coaster ride of fun, mystery, danger, love, betrayal, lies, secrets, and most importantly, family!  And that big revelation about Tippy's father?  Well, as I suspected from the first mention of his death in the first book, it appears there is more to that than what it seems.  And judging from the end of this book, the next book is going to explore that mystery (which may ultimately reveal a connection between everything that has been going on in Riverstone!).

 

Oh, and what would a book about amateur detectives who love Nancy Drew be without some great Nancy Drew references?  Like the fact that Uncle Pike and Devon's blue twin-cat ute rental is "[l]ike Nancy Drew's roadster" (p. 7) ... like Tippy wishing her mom were a lawyer like Carson Drew - "He had the best clients with lots of interesting cases" (p. 12) ... like the fact that Nancy and her lawyer dad were well off, and so Nancy did not need to get paid for her work (p. 84) ... like the reference to the bomb in the mailbox from The Clue in the Whistling Bagpipes (p. 91) ...  or the car bomb in The Haunted Showboat (p. 92) ... like the reference to Nancy's books, where the cops were not smart, but they were never the villains (p. 98) ... or the all-so-true observation that the villains in Nancy's books were "usually ugly and rude, with terrible clothes and bad make-up" (p. 100) ... and even a reference to the Nancys' favorite Nancy Drew TV series (p. 109) ... as well as Nathan Gomber (p. 122).  And let's not forget the reference to The Clue in the Velvet Mask and Devon's confusion about George (p. 135)!  And those are just the tip of the iceberg!  McDonald certainly provides Nancy Drew fans with plenty of reason to love this book for more than just the well-written mystery!

The Nancys have definitely become my favorite all-time mystery-solving trio, and I hope and pray they stick around for a long time to come!

RATING:  10 stinky, noisy, rattly Air-BNBs out of 10 for keeping the Nancys in business and sharing their fantastic adventures with the world!

The Nancys - the first Nancy Drew-Inspired Mystery

This book came recommended through a Facebook group to which I belong. I am a huge Nancy Drew fan, as anyone who knows me can attest, so any books that feature Nancy Drew heavily in them, I am more than excited about picking up and reading. So, when I heard about this book, I immediately went to Amazon to buy it - only problem is, I couldn't find it on Amazon. In fact, I couldn't find it on any American site. Come to find out, it was only published overseas. Sooooo, a good friend who was ordering a copy for herself went ahead and ordered a copy for me, too! I got it some time ago, and with this wonderful quarantine in effect, I've been catching up on so many books, and this happens to be one of them.

The Nancys, written by R.W.R. McDonald, is the story of 11-year old Tippy Chan, who not-so-long-ago lost her father in a tragic accident. As Christmas approaches (the first one without her father), Tippy's Uncle Pike (her mother's brother) and his boyfriend, Devon come for a visit to watch Tippy while her mothers goes on a two-week cruise, and suddenly, Tippy's life is turned upside down. First, one of her good friends, Todd, falls from a bridge and is in the hospital in a coma (just as her father was before he died). Then, she witnesses two teachers from her school get into a nasty fight outside of the hospital where Todd is. Then, the body turns up - without a head and without any clothes! And if all of this weren't enough, her uncle and his boyfriend are busy helping her rebellious next door neighbor, Melanie, win the local beauty pageant. What's an 11-year old girl to do?

Why, take up the mantle of her favorite sleuth, Nancy Drew, and solve the mystery of who murdered her headless teacher?!?!

Before going any further, I should warn you - this book is not for the faint-at-heart, nor for anyone who is easily offended. The characters are not afraid to express their feelings with expletives (including the f-bomb), and the book is replete with sexual innuendoes and references. In addition, Uncle Pike and Devon are over-the-top stereotypes of a bear and a flamboyant interior decorator, respectively, who always refer to one another as "she" and "her." Now, these things could be taken in two ways - one, as offensive and stereotypical, or two, as poking a bit of fun at reader's expectations and having a blast with it. For me, it was definitely the second choice! The curse words and sexual references in the first couple of pages nearly turned me off of the book (considering the main character is only 11-years old!!!), but the further I read into the book, the more I realized it was meant to be over-the-top, and the author carefully plays the innuendoes so that while we adult readers may get the joke, 11-year old Tippy doesn't get the meaning.  And Devon often enough says, "Inapprops!" at Uncle Pike's off-color comments.

All that being said, the mystery itself is quite a doozy! Someone has killed Tippy's teacher. Now, mind you, this teacher was a bit of a witch (with a "b') and did not exactly treat anyone with kindness, so her death may not be as much of a loss to the community as it otherwise could have been; however, to leave the poor woman headless and with no clothes (except for one shoe) is a bit too far. The prime suspect is the other teacher with whom she had a fight with in front of the hospital, and soon enough, the dead woman's scalp is found on Sally Homer's house, it is enough for the police to arrest her.  Case closed! Or, is it?

Tippy sees this murder (and her mom's absence) as a chance to be her hero, Nancy Drew. She has read all of her uncle's Nancy Drew books that were handed down to her, and she is ready to find out the truth and solve the mystery! With the help of Uncle Pike and Devon, the three form "The Nancys," and they set out to find clues and uncover the truth behind her teacher's death. But this is not a typical Nancy Drew mystery, and true danger abounds at every turn. Everyone is a suspect, and the one eyewitness, a five-year old girl who is nothing but a spoiled brat, may be the only one who can offer the clue needed to find the true murderer.  Of course, when Tippy's mom comes home early and they accuse the wrong person of the crime, Tippy's days as a sleuth may be at an end.

But what about those white origami flowers...?

McDonald writes a fun-filled, through-provoking mystery filled with humor, plenty of red herrings, and even some heart-touching moments.  Every character has his or her moment, and it seems everyone has secrets that come to light over the course of the book.  The book is nearly 400 pages long, but trust me - it is so engaging, you'll be turning page after page to get to the end, and once there, you'll be wishing there was more!  In two words:  highly recommend!

RATING:  10 plastic snail cellotape dispensers out of 10 for giving us a group of sleuths that definitely break the stereotype and offer some humor and drama along the way!