Tuesday, September 19, 2006

For All Readers of the Nancy Drew Series

I confess we're a bit "fried" after yesterday's double event: a 4 p.m. reading by Sarah Stewart Taylor from her fourth Sweeney St. George mystery STILL AS DEATH, followed by a political dinner (offered free to our guests, our fall 2006 "campaign contribution") for Taylor's husband Matt Dunne (running for Vermont Lt. Governor, Dem.). What great conversations! And it's good to see this strong author getting into her stride, even with baby on hip. (Their son Judson was born in the middle of this latest book's writing period, just over a year ago.)

One quick note: Taylor (whose full name always rings a faint bell for me on those old Mary Stewart romantic mysteries) credited a lifetime of reading Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie as her roots in mystery writing. Then she added, almost parenthetically, "And of course when I was younger, Nancy Drew."

The Nancy Drew series was the "milk" of childhood mystery reading for many women, and certainly was for me, with several other series and a quick jump to British mysteries, adult level, by age 10 or so.

Now I'm curious: What's the percentage of this experience? And for the gents out there -- what mysteries were your "training wheels" mysteries?

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