Before we begin our discussion of episode 2, The Hidden Staircase we want to first
thank all our thoughtful readers! When news of Mildred Wirt Benson’s passing was
reported late last month we received several phone calls and emails from friends and
family who wanted us to be sure and acknowledge the original author of the first 23
Nancy Drew novels. Even at 96 Ms. Benson was still writing a weekly column for The
Toledo Blade. The editor of that paper said, "she was gutsy and daring, a living
embodiment of her Nancy Drew heroine. She influenced generations of Blade
reporters." We continue to be influenced and inspired by her as well!

Keith: Well, we were a little hard on poor, hard-working Nancy in the last book! So
maybe she wasn’t actually cursed… Maybe she really just truly loves solving mysteries!
Who can blame her? I think Millie Benson loved her work as much as Nancy did and
that’s why she was still writing into her nineties, although I was outraged to learn that
she only made a flat fee of $125 per book with no royalties.

Lulu: In Nancy’s world that would have never happened!

K: Totally!

L: Okay, so what did you think of The Hidden Staircase?

K: I liked it way better than the first one.

L: Yeah, it’s totally action-packed! Haunted houses, high speed chases, kidnapping,
falling chandeliers and burglaries - just to name a few. There’s a lot going on in this
episode and I liked all the excitement!

K: It’s true. Nancy was so fearless in this one! Let’s give a brief plot synopsis for
our readers…

L: Okay. Nancy’s just finished gardening when her friend Helen calls. "Are you tied up
on a case?" she asks. How cute is that? She tells Nancy of some strange activity at
Twin Elms, the family home of her great-aunt Rosemary and her great-grandmother
Miss Flora.

K: I love Miss Flora!

L: Me too! So anyway, there’s this ghost at Twin Elms. The ghost does spooky things
like moves furniture but also steals jewels, silver and food. So Nancy trucks out there,
but with reservation because her father’s life has been threatened due to his work on
a high-profile legal battle with the railroad. He even gets kidnapped while she’s working
on her case!

K: But Nancy stays strong and even solves both mysteries!

L: I kinda feel bad for Nancy in this one. Now that she’s an established teenage
detective she feels the pressure to solve the mystery at Twin Elms but has very little
success in the beginning. She keeps trying new theories and uncovering clues that lead
nowhere! On top of all that she is faced with her father’s disappearance and feels
responsible. This is a side of Nancy we don’t get to see very often.

K: It’s true. She keeps saying, "Oh, there must be a secret entrance!" but she doesn’t
find the hidden staircase until page 168! But you have to admire her bravery for
sleeping in that house night after night knowing full well that anything could happen.

L: Seeing her struggle, though, you really get a good sense of the Nancy Drew
philosophy. "One thing is sure," she says on page 106, "work is the best antidote for
worry." And on page 133 she says, "the best way to clear one’s mind is to commune
with Nature for a time." I fully agree with both those statements!

K: Me too!

L: It will be interesting to see how her sleuthing skills and personality evolve from
volume to volume. I must say, when she falls down that gaping hole and finally finds
the staircase I was nervous, but relieved she finally found it. Enough about the actual
mystery, let’s talk about her food and fashion!

K: Lots of food in this book.

L: Tons.

K: There’s a tea service with dainty sandwiches on page 8 and then Nancy basically
has some sort of meal in each of the first five chapters: baked potatoes, sherbet with
orange and grapefruit slices, spring lamb, rice and mushrooms, chocolate angel cake
with vanilla ice cream, chicken salad, steak with French fries and floating island dessert.
She eats a lot of soup - I guess because she’s hanging out with those old ladies. Cream
of chicken soup, split pea soup, chicken bouillon… They eat tons! Practically every time
they’re sleuthing someone says, "I’m starving!"

L: I loved how on the last page Helen says, "We’ll prepare a super-duper lunch to
celebrate this occasion!" There is definitely more food than fashion in this episode.
There is a big fashion moment that happens, though, on page 74. The four women of
the house decide to go upstairs to the attic and look at old costumes. Of course they
put them on and dance around! But then that pesky ghost strikes again…

K: I love how in all the excitement they forget they’re wearing kooky outfits and when
the police officer on the scene asks them about it Helen calmly explains they were
merely having a costume party.

L: I’m surprised they didn’t invite him in for a snack! Okay readers! Stay tuned for
episode 3, The Bungalow Mystery!

07/2002