#42: The Phantom of Pine Hill

This is one I never read as a kid, and it was hilarious. As in the WHAT??? kind of hilarity. It was one of the most predictable and laughable Nancy Drew mysteries ever. I'll keep this review short and just point out some of the hilarity. It was one of the few Nancy Drew books I (really) disliked and can completely "snark".

• The culprit was introduced very early and did some very suspicious\silly things, leaving the complete plot obvious to the reader. By the middle of the book I knew most of the solution!
• There's a sweet elderly lady to be saved! Surprise!
  
• Bess flunks another diet :) George quietly sets most of the conclusion to the mystery in motion with little help from Nancy and a lot of help from Bess!
  
• Ned dresses up as a Native American chief for an Emerson college parade. Snigger.
  
• This one has the classic secret passages. In fact, it's oddly similar The Hidden Staircase.

So it was predictable and boring, but I liked that Nancy had more of a social life in this one. Also, the cousins had a big part in the solving the mystery. So, it was lame, but had its good points.

Check out the cover. Ned in a completely awful Indian costume. Nancy in a dress. A dress? Really? Hiking around to find clues in a dress sounds a like it would be a bit awkward. Oh, well...maybe she's practicing to be elegant for when she goes overseas in The Mystery of the 99 Steps.