The Clue in the Diary
Encyclopedia
The Clue in the Diary is the seventh volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories
series, and was first published in 1932 under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene
. Its text was revised in 1962.
This is the last manuscript Mildred Wirt Benson wrote in her initial run. She would return for volume 11, The Clue of the Broken Locket
, and remain with the series until 1948, then return for a final ghostwrite in 1953.
immigrant, Mrs. Swenson, and her daughter, whom the girls have just helped to enjoy the carnival attractions by being their hosts for the evening.
As they are driving, a luxurious roadside estate bursts into flames. The girls park the car and make sure that no one is trapped inside. In doing so, Nancy sees someone fleeing the property, and discovers an anonymous Swedish diary on the ground. She picks up this clue, and as firefighters and gawkers arrive on the scene, she notices an attractive young man moving her car away from the flying embers. At first suspicious of Ned Nickerson, Nancy warms him when he helps her out of a jam. Ned proves to be a good friend, and is a perennial admirer of Nancy's from then on. Meanwhile, Mrs. Swenson's husband is missing, and she identifies his diary as the one picked up at the fire. To top it all off, the owner of the burned house, Felix Raybolt, is missing, and his wife claims Joe Swenson has murdered her husband. Raybolt, it turns out, swindles inventors like Swenson out of patents and copyrights on their inventions and used an invention to start the fire.
, which is the next volume following, and serves as the one of two equally important mystery plots in the story, and The Hidden Window Mystery
.) Nancy struggles to decipher the diary and find the two missing men, aided by her best friends, and a new friend, the attentive Ned Nickerson.
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories
The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories was the long-running "main" Nancy Drew series, published between 1930 and 2003. Initially, titles were published by Grosset & Dunlap, but with #57 publication switched to Simon & Schuster. Most people consider these first 56 to be the original series and consider the...
series, and was first published in 1932 under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene
Carolyn Keene
Carolyn Keene is the pseudonym of the authors of the Nancy Drew mystery stories and The Dana Girls mystery stories, both produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate...
. Its text was revised in 1962.
This is the last manuscript Mildred Wirt Benson wrote in her initial run. She would return for volume 11, The Clue of the Broken Locket
The Clue of the Broken Locket
The Clue of the Broken Locket is the eleventh volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series. It was first published in 1934, and was written by Mildred Benson under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene.-Plot summary -1934 edition:...
, and remain with the series until 1948, then return for a final ghostwrite in 1953.
Plot summary - 1932 edition
Nancy and her friends Bess and George, on their way home from a carnival, discuss a financially struggling SwedishSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
immigrant, Mrs. Swenson, and her daughter, whom the girls have just helped to enjoy the carnival attractions by being their hosts for the evening.
As they are driving, a luxurious roadside estate bursts into flames. The girls park the car and make sure that no one is trapped inside. In doing so, Nancy sees someone fleeing the property, and discovers an anonymous Swedish diary on the ground. She picks up this clue, and as firefighters and gawkers arrive on the scene, she notices an attractive young man moving her car away from the flying embers. At first suspicious of Ned Nickerson, Nancy warms him when he helps her out of a jam. Ned proves to be a good friend, and is a perennial admirer of Nancy's from then on. Meanwhile, Mrs. Swenson's husband is missing, and she identifies his diary as the one picked up at the fire. To top it all off, the owner of the burned house, Felix Raybolt, is missing, and his wife claims Joe Swenson has murdered her husband. Raybolt, it turns out, swindles inventors like Swenson out of patents and copyrights on their inventions and used an invention to start the fire.
1962 revision
This version tells essentially the same story, eliminating some detail and subplots, downplaying Nancy's initial response to Ned, eliminating a country club dance not essential to the plot, and adding a new subplot involving mail fraud. Adult series collectors have critiqued the addition of a mail fraud subplot, taking place over only two chapters; its appearance does not advance the story and seems to serve as filler material for sections of descriptive but non-essential action deleted in the new edit. At the time of the 1962 revision, this plot device existed (and still exists) in both Nancy's Mysterious LetterNancy's Mysterious Letter
Nancy's Mysterious Letter is the eighth volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series. It was first published in 1932, and was penned by Walter Karig, a replacement writer for Mildred Wirt Benson...
, which is the next volume following, and serves as the one of two equally important mystery plots in the story, and The Hidden Window Mystery
The Hidden Window Mystery
The Hidden Window Mystery is the thirty-fourth volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series. It was first published in 1956 under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. The actual author was ghostwriter Harriet Stratemeyer Adams....
.) Nancy struggles to decipher the diary and find the two missing men, aided by her best friends, and a new friend, the attentive Ned Nickerson.