Mini Mysteries — The Secret of the Old Clock

Ask almost any mature female mystery author what book got them into reading and ultimately inspired their love of writing whodunits or thrillers, and one title stands supreme: The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene. Once we met the teenage detective Nancy Drew, if we couldn’t be her, we wanted to be one of her best friends, flirting with danger and solving mysteries. We bonded with Nancy long before Netflix and online mystery-solving games, when few novels were written specifically for girls our age. They fit the classic “cozy mystery” mold—no sex, violence, or gore.

The Secret of the Old Clock, originally published in 1930, has been brilliantly retold by Author Marci Kay Monson, with wonderful, colorful illustrations by Ryan Wheatcroft, in the third installment of the Mini Mysteries series of interactive picture-book mysteries for children.

This story finds our teenage detective on the case of a missing will, hidden in (you guessed it!) an old clock. By solving the case, struggling relatives and friends of Josiah Crowley are able to receive the promised legacy. Naturally, robbers, greedy heirs seeking to alter the will, suspense, and resolution are all part of the tale.

Monson has taken the book and, using the original plot, retells the story in a way that is fun and interactive for younger children, introducing them to the literary whodunit world of Nancy Drew mysteries. Woven throughout the story are activities, games, and puzzles designed to foster young readers’ engagement and might just create budding detectives. To help junior sleuths stay on the right trail, a glossary of mystery-related terms is included.

Today, there are more than 600 Nancy Drew mystery novels. I remember being surprised and disappointed while writing a high school paper about Nancy Drew to discover that there was no real author named Carolyn Keene. The name is a pseudonym used throughout the series’ history, with Mildred Wirt Benson writing 23 of the first 30. The books continue to be published, with a rotating team of undisclosed ghostwriters hired by Simon and Schuster.

Author Marci Kay Monson is an avid reader, crafter, and gardener who discovered a love for Agatha Christie after her book club read And Then There Were None and never looked back. She loves stories, bright colors, and a little bit of (cozy and fictional, of course!) murder. She’s also the author of two other Mini Mysteries based on the works of Agatha Christie: The Mystery of the Blue Train and The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Like The Secret of the Old Clock, these also include activities throughout that enable young readers to help the detectives solve their cases.