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Back The Silence of the Library Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. COVER
  2. PRAISE FOR TITLES BY MIRANDA JAMES
  3. ALSO BY MIRANDA JAMES
  4. TITLE PAGE
  5. COPYRIGHT
  6. DEDICATION
  7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  8. ONE
  9. TWO
  10. THREE
  11. FOUR
  12. FIVE
  13. SIX
  14. SEVEN
  15. EIGHT
  16. NINE
  17. TEN
  18. ELEVEN
  19. TWELVE
  20. THIRTEEN
  21. FOURTEEN
  22. FIFTEEN
  23. SIXTEEN
  24. SEVENTEEN
  25. EIGHTEEN
  26. NINETEEN
  27. TWENTY
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. TWENTY-NINE
  37. THIRTY
  38. THIRTY-ONE
  39. THIRTY-TWO
  40. THIRTY-THREE
  41. THIRTY-FOUR
  42. THIRTY-FIVE
  43. THIRTY-SIX
  44. THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. THIRTY-NINE
  47. FORTY
  48. AFTERWORD
  49. LETTER TO THE READER
  50. SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM BLESS HER DEAD LITTLE HEART

He warbled once. Then, I would have sworn, he winked at me.

AFTERWORD

AFTERWORD

Many adult mystery readers look back with fondness to the teen detectives they read as children and young adults. I discovered Nancy Drew when I was about ten, thanks to a cousin who had a few of the books. I picked up The Secret of Shadow Ranch (the revised version) and couldn’t put it down. I was hooked.

I read every Nancy Drew book I could find, and I discovered there were many other series: Trixie Belden, the Dana Girls, Judy Bolton, the Hardy Boys, Ken Holt, Cherry Ames, Vicki Barr, and the Three Investigators, to name some of my favorites.

Many of these books are collectible today. There are thousands of copies of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books for sale on popular auction sites, and there are Internet groups who routinely discuss the books and the fine points of collecting them.

I am indebted to Jennifer Fisher, Nancy Drew expert extraordinaire, for her willingness to answer questions. She bears no responsibility for anything I might have gotten wrong, however. I have also learned much online from James and Kim Keeline. James in particular is amazingly knowledgeable about Edward Stratemeyer and the Stratemeyer Syndicate, without whom the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew would never have existed.

If readers are interested in finding out more about the groups devoted to various teen detectives, go to the Yahoo Groups website and search on the name of your favorite sleuth. There’s probably at least one group for each of them.

Here are a few websites I have found consistently helpful:

  • Nancy Drew Sleuths: nancydrewsleuth.com
  • Girls Series books: series-books.blogspot.com
  • Stratemeyer Syndicate, etc.: keeline.com
  • Judy Bolton: judybolton.com
  • Hardy Boys: hardyboysonline.net

There are many more useful sites out there. Use your favorite Internet search engine, and start surfing.

For those readers who would like to read the rest of Veronica Thane’s first adventure, The Mystery at Spellwood Mansion, go to my website, catinthestacks.com, for the full text. I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you will enjoy it, too!

LETTER TO THE READER

Dear Reader,

Last year, when I was asked to join the board of the Friends of the Athena Public Library, I had little idea what excitement lay ahead. The annual holiday gala was a rousing success—despite the murder.

Two of the board members are the doyennes of Athena Society—Miss An’gel and Miss Dickce Ducote. I grew up hearing about them frequently, though our paths never crossed until I joined the board. I occasionally spotted them around town, but my family did not move in the same social circles. The Ducotes were among the original founders of Athena before the Civil War, and they have been leading citizens ever since.