I am currently reading the Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers series. When I finish, I want to compare the Undercover Brothers series to the Nancy Drew Girl Detective series. Instead of going by memory that could be faulty, I need actual data so that I can decide which series is better. This post contains the data for the Girl Detective series that I will use when I write my comparison of the two series.
I went through my Nancy Drew Girl Detective reviews and assigned a rating for each book based on what I wrote. I often did not state exactly how I felt about the book, but I made a decision based on my comments as to how much I probably enjoyed each story.
My Girl Detective reviews can be found at this link. The posts are in reverse order chronologically. To read the posts from the beginning, scroll to the very bottom and then click on "Older Posts."
1. Without a Trace - very good
2. A Race Against Time - sabotage, very good
3. False Notes - good
4. High Risk - good
5. Lights, Camera... - sabotage, not good
6. Action! - not good
7. The Stolen Relic - good
8. The Scarlet Macaw Scandal - very good
9. Secret of the Spa - sabotage, excellent
10. Uncivil Acts - sabotage, very good
11. Riverboat Ruse - excellent
12. Stop the Clock - sabotage, excellent
13. Trade Wind Danger - not good
14. Bad Times, Big Crimes - good
15. Framed - not good
16. Dangerous Plays - excellent
17. En Garde - sabotage, very good
18. Pit of Vipers - very good
19. The Orchid Thief - very good
20. Getting Burned - sabotage, very good
21. Close Encounters - not good
22. Dressed to Steal - sabotage, not good
23. Troubled Waters - excellent
24. Murder on the Set - sabotage, not good
25. Trails of Treachery - sabotage, very good
26. Fishing for Clues - not good
27. Intruder - very good
28. Mardi Gras Masquerade - excellent
29. The Stolen Bones - excellent
Perfect Mystery Trilogy
30. Pageant Perfect Crime - good
31. Perfect Cover - good
32. The Perfect Escape - good
Identity Mystery Trilogy
33. Secret Identity - good
34. Identity Theft - very good
35. Identity Revealed - very good
Model Mystery Trilogy - sabotage
36. Model Crime - not good
37. Model Menace - not good
38. Model Suspect - not good
Eco-Mystery Trilogy - sabotage
39. Green-eyed Monster - very good
40. Green with Envy - not good
41. Seeing Green - very good
Sabotage Mystery Trilogy - sabotage
42. Secret Sabotage - good
43. Serial Sabotage - good
44. Sabotage Surrender - good
Malibu Mayhem Trilogy
45. California Schemin' - very good
46. Mystery at Malachite Mansion - very good
47. Stalk, Don't Run - good
The series quality changed once it switched to the trilogy format, so I want to look at how much I enjoyed the first 29 books as compared to the series as a whole.
Out of 29 books (not including the trilogies):
Not good - 8 books or 27.6%
Good - 4 books or 13.8%
Very good - 10 books or 34.5%
Excellent - 7 books or 24.1%
Overall out of 29 books - 58.6% very good or excellent
Out of 47 books (including the trilogies):
Not good - 12 books or 25.5%
Good - 12 books or 25.5%
Very good - 16 books or 34.1%
Excellent - 7 books or 14.9%
Overall out of 47 books - 48.9% very good or excellent
The takeaway is that the trilogies are generally not as good as the earlier titles in the series. Comparing this data to the Nancy Drew Digest series, the percents are not different enough to mean much. However, I rated 43.7% of the Nancy Drew Digest series as very good or excellent, which is a lower percent than the Nancy Drew Girl Detective series.
For a more specific overview of the Nancy Drew Girl Detective series, please read my post "Thoughts on the Nancy Drew Girl Detective Series."
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