Nancy Drew Diaries #23 The Blue Lady of Coffin Hall

In Nancy Drew Diaries #23, The Blue Lady of Coffin Hall, Nancy helps Ned investigate a haunted library, which he plans to feature in his podcast.  The spirit of Harriet Coffin, known as the Blue Lady, is said to be haunting the tower room of Coffin Hall.

The ghostwriter of this book is well-versed in series book lore.  Easter eggs are scattered throughout the text.  The tower room in the library and the librarian's name, Irene, are obvious nods to the Judy Bolton series.  The name Harriet is a nod to Harriet Stratemeyer Adams of the Stratemeyer Syndicate.

The Blue Lady has a glowing dress, which reminds me of the revised text version of The Mystery at Lilac Inn.

The reader learns on page 45 that Bess has started carrying poetry books around with her.  She reads her favorite lines to her friends.  This reminds me of Wilma in the Kay Tracey series.

I also noted some names, words, and phrases that loosely reminded me of various series books: weird blue light, automatic ghost-alert system, and hoaxers.  They could be just coincidence, but I believe that the ghostwriters who place series book lore into their stories also use words and phrases that they know will make the readers think of certain books and stories.  One ghostwriter placed words referring to the original 56 Nancy Drew books all through one of the Nancy Drew Girl Detective books.

The cover art pays homage to the Nancy Drew television series from The CW.  Nancy wears a scarf, carries a shoulder bag, and is wearing a locket.  Take a look at this press photo from episode 3.01 of CW's Nancy Drew in which Nancy can be seen with the shoulder bag and scarf.  She is also wearing the locket, but it is almost completely hidden by the scarf.

Whether Harriet Coffin's ghost is real is left unresolved.  This is similar to The Kachina Doll Mystery.  It could also be considered a nod to CW's version of Nancy Drew, which has leaned hard into the supernatural, unlike any past version of Nancy Drew.

The culprit is quite predictable.  Without getting into the specific details, something gave it away early in the book, so I knew the identity of one of the culprits from near the beginning.

The characterization of Ned is off.  He's depicted as a bit too scared.  That said, the inconsistency with Ned fits in with the continuing inconsistency of the entire Nancy Drew Diaries series. The tone and characterization change with each book since the series apparently has quite a few ghostwriters and little oversight from the editors.

I found the ending to be odd and a bit confusing.  After I finished, I couldn't figure out exactly what the deal is with the culprits.  I also couldn't decide if this book is sabotage.  I would say that this book is not true sabotage, but it could be interpreted as having a sabotage aspect.  There is other stuff going on.

I make note of whether the Nancy Drew Diaries books are sabotage because it has been an overused plot device for many years and has gotten old.  This book doesn't come across as true sabotage, so it isn't tiring like the blatant sabotage books.

I felt that this was a pretty good book right after I finished reading it.  I must say that now that some time has passed, I feel that the book is just good.  It's like I have a somewhat negative feeling about the book even though I enjoyed reading it.  This has happened to me before with some of the Nancy Drew Diaries books.

Each time the Nancy Drew Diaries series is mentioned on Facebook, someone asks if the books are good.  That question is impossible to answer.  I certainly can't give a blanket rating of "good" to the series.  Some books are good, some great, some stupid, and one is the worst Nancy Drew book ever. 

Fans also ask if the books are like the old Nancy Drew books.  The series cannot be like the old Nancy Drew books because it is in first person.  Aside from that, a few books are similar in a modern fashion, but the series is all over the place.  It cannot be compared to any of the older Nancy Drew books.  The set is inconsistent.  Quality control is needed, although recent books have been a great improvement.