Nancy Drew
Teen amateur sleuth
Nancy Drew is a fictional teenage detective, the protagonist of a long-running mystery book series that began in 1930.
The name has become shorthand for an amateur sleuth, especially a young woman who investigates mysteries with pluck and determination: She went full Nancy Drew trying to figure out who stole the packages.
Crime fiction identifying perpetrator
- suspenseAnxious uncertainty about outcomes
- puzzleChallenge testing ingenuity
- secretsConcealed information
- crimePunishable illegal act
culprit · motive · alibi · red herring · twist · hidden staircase · cliffhanger · haunted
Professional crime investigator
- cluesHints toward answers
- magnifying glassHandheld lens for enlargement
- deductionConclusion from premises
- investigationFormal examination of facts
sleuthing · roadster · flashlight · notebook · disguise · eavesdropping · trespassing · hunch
Fourth decade, twentieth century
- midcenturyAround the 1950s
- AmericanaHeritage artifacts or music
- convertibleCar with folding roof
- roadsterOpen two-seat sports car
telephone · telegram · boarding school · country club · antique · estate · mansion · small-town
Skilled at solving problems
- pluckyCourageous despite disadvantage
- independentFree from external control
- courageousShowing bravery under threat
- cleverShowing mental quickness
determined · capable · wholesome · role model · protagonist · adventurous · fearless · tenacious
Rigid-bound book format
- ghostwriterUncredited hired author
- editionsVersions of publications
- illustrationsPictures explaining text
- chaptersMain divisions of text
volumes · reprint · revised · original text · young adult · juvenile fiction · collectible · dust jacket
whodunit
Crime fiction identifying perpetrator
- suspenseAnxious uncertainty about outcomes
- puzzleChallenge testing ingenuity
- secretsConcealed information
crime · culprit · motive · alibi · red herring · twist · hidden staircase · cliffhanger · haunted · gothic
detective
Professional crime investigator
- cluesHints toward answers
- magnifying glassHandheld lens for enlargement
- deductionConclusion from premises
investigation · sleuthing · roadster · flashlight · notebook · disguise · eavesdropping · trespassing · hunch · interrogation
1930s
Fourth decade, twentieth century
- midcenturyAround the 1950s
- AmericanaHeritage artifacts or music
- convertibleCar with folding roof
roadster · telephone · telegram · boarding school · country club · antique · estate · mansion · small-town · classic
resourceful
Skilled at solving problems
- pluckyCourageous despite disadvantage
- independentFree from external control
- courageousShowing bravery under threat
clever · determined · capable · wholesome · role model · protagonist · adventurous · fearless · tenacious · quick-thinking
hardcover
Rigid-bound book format
- ghostwriterUncredited hired author
- editionsVersions of publications
- illustrationsPictures explaining text
chapters · volumes · reprint · revised · original text · young adult · juvenile fiction · collectible · dust jacket · frontispiece
- Detectivesdetective, sleuth, investigator, private eye, gumshoe
- sleuthssleuth, amateur detective, private eye, gumshoe, armchair detective
- Teen HeroesHarry Potter, Hermione Granger, Katniss Everdeen, Percy Jackson, Buffy Summers
- children's booksfairy tales, nursery rhymes, picture books, bedtime stories, Harry Potter
- Youth Literatureyoung adult novels, coming-of-age stories, bildungsroman, teenage protagonists, Hardy Boys
- adventure gamespoint-and-click, puzzle, narrative, quest, Myst
Nancy DrewSam Spade
criminal mastermind · hardboiled detective · noir detective · corrupt cop · Sherlock Holmes
Nancy Drewvillain
Wicked story antagonist
criminal · Professor Moriarty · evildoer · Draco Malfoy · antagonist