The Secret at Shadow Ranch

infobox Book |
name = The Secret at Shadow Ranch


country = United States
language = English
series = Nancy Drew Mystery Stories
genre = Mystery novel
publisher = Grosset & Dunlap
release_date = 1931
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 175
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
followed_by =

The Secret at Shadow Ranch is the fifth story published in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series. It was first published in 1931, and was ghostwritten by Mildred Wirt Benson. This book, as of 2001, ranks 50 on the list of All-Time Bestselling Children's Books, according to Publisher's Weekly, with 2,347,750 sales since 1931.

Plot introduction

The 1931 story serves as an introduction to Nancy's friends, Elizabeth (Bess) Marvin and George Fayne, cousins, who are different as night and day. With the chums and another of their cousins, Alice, Nancy travels to Arizona, where her friend's aunt attempts to keep up a ranch she received as payment of a debt. Nancy discovers the true identity of an orphan living there, and reunites Alice with her long-lost artist father, who is suffering from amnesia. The original subplots include mountain expeditions in which Nancy uses a revolver to threaten or kill dangerous wildlife. R.H. Tandy illustrated the original dust jacket and internal illustrations, and the single frontispiece. In 1950, Bill Gillies revised the cover art.

The story was completely revised in 1965, and bears very little resemblance to the original story. The title changed to "The Secret of Shadow Ranch", Nancy travels with her friends Bess and George to Arizona, and tries to solve two mysteries: why is a phantom horse plaguing the ranch, and what happened to the treasure promised by Dirk Valentine, outlaw, to his estranged sweetheart, one of the original residents of the ranch? This book is filled with action and local color, including a square dance, and serves as a travelogue. This book introduces a romance in history theme common in Nancy Drew books after 1950. The girls find a diversion with attractive young men at the ranch and in the community. Rudy Nappi illustrated the new cover.

See also

*Nancy Drew
*Herinteractive

Goofs

*Though Ned Nickerson is mentioned in passing in this book as being in Europe, Nancy doesn't actually meet Ned until two books later. This mistake was added when the books were revised.