The first Nancy Drew novel, The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene, is a great way to start off this amazing series. Nancy sets off on an adventure to help some new found friends get out of trouble.

Nancy learns that her friends are in great financial trouble; one can't afford to take a trip, while another needs money for medical help. All of Nancy's friends were expecting money from Josiah Crowley, who had recently passed away. Unfortunately the only found will says that all everything goes to the Tophams, one of the most disliked families in town. Nancy decides she should help these families, so she starts to search for a second will. She talks to Josiah's mother-in-law and the other relatives about where a second will might be hidden. All the clues add up to something about Josiah's old clock.

Nancy is a kind-hearted eighteen-year-old girl who has many friends in school. Her only enemies are the stuck-up Topham girls. Nancy father, Mr. Drew, is an experienced lawyer. He helps Nancy solve most of her mysteries. Her housekeeper, Hannah Gruen, is a life-long friend. Nancy's new friends, the Hoover sisters (Grace and Allison), Edna and Mary Turner and their grandniece Judy, William and Fred Mathews, and Abby Rowen, are all trying to help each other get by.

The story takes place in River Heights and the surrounding areas, in the 1930's. This is the area in which Nancy will solve many more miseries.

I would give The Secret of the Old Clock a five star rating. It's a great book for anyone who likes a good mystery. It amazes me that even though this book was written 80 years ago, it still appeals to readers like me. I think this book is the best first book of a series I've ever read. I would recommend that you read Nancy Drew and The Secret of the Old Clock. But beware, because there are sixty-four books in the series! Read the book and find out whether or not Nancy finds a second will and helps her friends out their tight situation!