The Stinky Cheese Surprise is the 54th book in the Nancy Drew Notebooks series. It was published in June, 2003 for Aladdin Paperbacks. The cover tagline says “Smells like a mystery to Nancy….”
Back of the Book Summary:
Nancy, George, and Bess smell trouble–and their noses don’t lie!
Nancy, George, and Bess love Hamburger Herbie’s–after all, they know a good hamburger when they taste one! But when Regal Burger opens across the street with its games and flashy giveaways, Herbie is scared that his business will be ruined.
Nancy, George, and Bess know they can’t let Herbie’s close down. They have to do something, but what? The girls decide to make goodie bags that Herbie can give away at his restaurant. But when someone fills the bag with stinky cheese, Nancy smells trouble! She knows someone is up to no good, and Herbie is counting on her to sniff out the clues. Can Nancy crack the case and save Herbie’s?
Inside Teaser:
A stinky surprised!
Nancy noticed a sign on Hamburger Herbie’s store window. It read: Free zippy bags on August 15th. Windup Wally included!
“Go ahead, kids!” Herbie called out. “See what’s inside!”
The kids ripped open the bags and tipped them over. But instead of toys, white chunks shaped like triangles dropped out on the tables!
“What is that?” George gasped.
“It looks like some kind of … cheese!”
Nancy said, confused.
The kids also looked puzzled as they pulled off the plastic wrappers. Then–
“Yuck!”
Everyone squeezed their noses. The cheese inside the bags was stinky cheese!
Review:
With three weeks left of summer vacation, the girls visit Hamburger Herbie’s on a cool day in August. When a new, flashy burger places opens up across the street, Nancy is concerned for Herbie’s business. A friend named Emily comes into the restaurant and expresses her sadness about no one coming to her summer birthday party (everyone else was on vacation), and mentions that she has leftover party gift bags.
Nancy and Emily come up with the idea to give the gift bags out to kids who come to Hamburger Herbie’s. But when the gift bags are opened – prizes are not inside, but rather pieces of smelly cheese. Who put the smelly cheese in place of the prize bags?
Nancy and her friends start to investigate. They question other kids who have motive, means, or opportunity. George even helps distract an adult so the girls can snoop someone’s space. Ultimately, Hannah Gruen provides a valuable lead and the girls follow the trail to find out what really happened.
I found this story to be charming. It has excellent clues and discoveries for Nancy to follow up on, and the hero of saving Herbie’s is a surprising person. I would highly recommend this story to readers.
Nancy Drew Canon Observations:
Nancy’s dad, Carson Drew helps Nancy consider an angle to her mystery: sometimes the culprit may just be slight mix up or an unknowing accident.
In on main street in River Heights is a burger place called Hamburger Herbie’s.
In this story, Nancy is described as having reddish-blonde hair, and in the first scene wears butterfly barrettes. Bess wears a pink scrunchie around her blonde hair. George has dark curls which bounce freely.
Nancy keeps a blue notebook for her sleuthing.
Brenda Carlton is in this story. In the first scene, Brenda wears a yellow suit with matching skirt and white shoes. She had joined the River Heights Junior Reporter Brigade for the summer and she regularly writes her own newspaper, The Carlton Times.
Nancy has a Labrador puppy named Chocolate Chip.
The story mentions Hannah Gruen, the Drew housekeeper who has been the Drew’s housekeeper since Nancy was three years old.
Extra Notes:
Illustrated by Jan Naimo Jones. Cover photography by Michael Frost. Cover photo-illustration by Joanie Schwarz.
Length: 70 pages in the main story (more with the title page, series lists, and ads).
In the back of this book is an ad for HeR Interactive’s Nancy Drew Game, Secret of the Scarlet Hand.
There is also an ad for the Nancy Drew games in general:
