A Race Against Time is the 2nd book in the Nancy Drew Girl Detective series. It was published March 2004, for Aladdin Paperbacks.
Back of the Book Summary:
If I’m in the game, I play to win. So as captain of my team in the River Heights Biking for Bucks charity road race, my goals are to bring my team over the finish line first–and to catch a thief along the way!
See, all of the money we raised before the race has been stolen–and I know I can find it. With two days, practically no clues, and a bike race to win, I’ve got my work cut out for me. But with Bess, George, and Ned on my team, what could stand between us and the gold?
Inside Introduction to the series:
Let me introduce myself. I’m Nancy Drew.
My friends call me Nancy. My enemies call me a lot of other things, like “that girl who cooked my goose.” They actually sometimes speak like that, but what can you expect from criminals? See, I’m a detective. Well, not really. I mean, I don’t have a license or anything. I don’t carry a badge or a gun, in part because I wouldn’t touch a gun even if I could, and also because I’m just not old enough. But I am old enough to know when something isn’t right, when somebody’s getting an unfair deal, when someone’s done something they shouldn’t do. And I know how to stop them, catch them, and get them into the hands of the law, where they belong. I take those things seriously, and I’m almost never wrong.
My best friends, Bess and George, might not totally agree with me. They tell me I’m wrong a lot, and that they have to cover for me all of the time just to make me look good. Bess would tell you I dress badly. I call it casual. George would tell you I’m not focused. By that I mean she’d once again I forgot to fill my car with gas or bring enough money to buy lunch. But they both know I’ always focused when it comes to crime. Always, Nancy Drew.
Review:
A Race Against Time is written in first person by Nancy. In this story, teams of bikers collect pledges from people and business in town for the Open your Heart fund, which helps people out with finances. The bike racers compete in a 2-day bike journey, tracked by the officials with GPS equipment, for a chance to win a trophy. Some business pledge more money if a team comes in first place. At the opening ceremony before the race begins, a safe is presented on stage. Inside is all the pledge money, which allures some people, motivating them to win, even if they do not take home that money themselves.
Nancy, Bess, George, and Ned make up a team, where Bess is the main truck driver who follows along with the supplies and overnight camping gear. Another team is made of Deirdre Shannon and three experienced bikers. They are prominent in the story since they are key suspects in the sabotage.
The first three chapters involves Ned Nickerson missing, and Nancy and her friends try to track him down. Several moments of sabotage occur before and during the bike race, but the big mystery is when Nancy learns that the pledge money went missing. Nancy chooses to dip out of the race on day one in order to do some investigating. She follows up on a suspect who was lingering around the stage and the safe, questions Chief McGinnis, talks to Mrs. Mahoney and the security guard at the Mahoney mansion, and talks to a local friend named Luther who offers her history and knowledge of the town, inspiring Nancy to consider a path that a culprit may take.
After touching base with her friends back at camp, Nancy spends the night biking to the Muskoka river looking for where the thieves could be getting away. By luck, Nancy finds a pier with a boat docked, hops on board and does some snooping.
Through the investigation Nancy encounters a few adrenaline-inducing moments, such as snooping, getting caught, getting stuck in a shed with snakes, hiding from the culprit right under their nose, and addressing Deirdre’s snooty encounters.
The book is well paced, keeping a reader engaged, and a moment where a clue comes across does allow the reader to connect the dots on who is the culprit for one of the mysteries. Although I like how well Nancy side steps a villain, the ending left me wanting a little more justice for the other mystery culprit. I think the characters were well written, although I find it odd that Bess Marvin is the car mechanic. Her skills prove really useful in this particular book, though.
Nancy Drew Canon Observations:
Nancy’s hometown of River Heights is set on the Muskoka River. In downtown, there is a restaurant called the CarboCram, located in the convention center. Carson Drew’s law office is on Highland, near Main Street. One of Nancy’s favorite hangout places is Susie’s Read & Feed, a bookstore and cafe.
Nancy mentions that sky blue is one of her favorite colors. She says she prefers comfort over style when it comes to clothes.
Nancy’s hair is described as strawberry-blonde.
Bess is described as having wavy blonde hair, big blue eyes with super long lashes, perfect teeth and a perfect nose. She specializes in car mechanics.
George Fayne’s real name is Georgia and she is a cousin to Bess. She is described as tall and lean, with dark brown hair and eyes, and is athletic. She is tech savvy, great at using the internet, and loves electronics.
George makes a comment about Ned Nickerson, that he often gets lost in a book.
In this story, Nancy’s mom died when she was three.
Deirdre Shannon is in this story. She has known Nancy since first grade and is described as whiny, self-centered, always tries to get her way, has her eyes on Ned (and everyone knows it), tries to be obnoxious, and is described as having pale skin, black hair, and green eyes. Nancy mentions her dad’s quote ‘The Drews can always take the Shannons’ since Deirdre’s dad is also an attorney, but Carson Drew always wins the cases when they go against each other in court. Her grade school nickname was DeeDee, a name George uses to annoy her with.
It is mentioned that Ethan Mahoney, an original settler of the River Heights area in the 19th century, found iron ore in the area, he founded Mahoney Anvil Corporation. In present day, Mrs. Cornelius Mahoney still runs the business as well as the Mahoney Foundation, which helps sponsor this bike event.
Ned Nickerson’s Dad’s name is James Nickerson.
Extra Notes:
Published by Aladdin Paperbacks for Simon and Schuster.
Cover photograph by Michael Frost. Cover designed by Debra Sfetsios.
Length: 151 pages in the main story (more with the title page, series lists, and ads).
The cover art features super-close shots of Nancy’s face from the yellow revised edition illustration of The Secret of the Old Clock.
In the edition I had read, there was an ad at the back featuring the Nancy Drew Games The Phantom of Venice by HeR Interactive.
