It would seem that in the quest for a formula for the Nancy Drew series that worked, the Strathmeyer Syndicate seemed to have finally found a groove with several books that work quite well. While she is smart and incredibly clever, Nancy doesn’t come off as larger than life, being an expert in everything that comes across her path. This makes her a more realistic character and someone girls can relate to, especially those in the nine-—to twelve-year-old market these books cater to.

Nancy Drew lives in the town of River Heights with her father, noted attorney Carson Drew, and housekeeper Hannah Gruen. Nancy’s mother died when she was young, and Hannah has been a part of the family ever since. Sometimes Carson enlists Nancy’s help on cases he comes across, as is the case with The Secret of the Wooden Lady. Carson has a case of trying to find the title of a ship for a client, Captain Easterly. He’s been living on the ship for some time and wants to purchase it from the current owner, but the title needs to be cleared first.

Before that adventure even begins, Nancy is talking with one of her friends, Bess Marvin, when Bess hears an apparent intruder in her home and the phone line goes dead. Nancy rushes to her friend’s aid, only to have an encounter with the intruder outside the home. Although the police are on the case, it’s Nancy who follows through on clues that lead her to discover the identity of the burglar. He’s well-known to authorities as The Crow due to the strange insignia on a ring that’s also been noticed at several of the crime scenes.

When Bess along with her cousin George Fayne follow Nancy to Boston where she’s helping her father on the case of the ship, they don’t realize the thief who was in Bess’ home is tagging along as well. Several mysterious things happen on the ship, with a scraggly man appearing and disappearing as if by magic. Can they help discover what is on the ship that keeps drawing people to it as well as it’s true heritage?

The Secret of the Wooden Lady works in a lot of ways. The mystery itself unravels slowly, giving the reader a chance to learn things along with the characters. Most of the clues come out over time. The entire scope of the mystery isn’t out there in the beginning, which makes it more exciting and better-paced than other Nancy Drew stories.

There are some exciting adventures on the ship. When Ned, Burt, and Dave, the girls’ boyfriends, join them for a brief time, they have an exciting adventure on the seas. Although it might bother some that the boys are needed to move the ship, there is excitement later on which proves the girls are quite capable of handling it as well. I thought it worked well to bring the group together and give quality time without it seeming too contrived.

The few complaints I have are ones that my daughter didn’t seem to mind. There are a few contrived scenes or instances where clues are conveniently left lying around for Nancy to pick up. It’s hard for an adult to digest some of the coincidences that take place, but for my daughter, it worked fine. I also didn’t like the cover art for this particular book. The figurehead missing from the ship is described in great detail as being incredibly beautiful. Since it’s on the cover, you would think the artist would have gone to great lengths to make it seem that way as well. Instead, the face and figure itself seem quite vague and without detail, making it look quite plain. Other than that, the art is nice and I like the way Nancy, Bess, and George look on the cover as they row out in a dinghy. My daughter did comment on why would they be wearing dresses to row out in a rowboat, and I do have to agree that even in 1967 when this was re-written, the girls would have likely had on jeans and nice blouses rather than dresses.

As the books in this series go, The Secret of the Wooden Lady is one of the better ones. It doesn’t suffer from being dated as others do, although it might not seem to have the depth modern books aimed at this audience have. It’s enjoyable, and if you’ve read it in your own youth it makes for a nice memory to share with your daughter.

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