The Walkie-Talkie Mystery is the 43rd book in the Nancy Drew Notebooks series. It was first published in August 2001. The cover tagline says “Nancy has a new suspect—named Mystery Mouth!”
Back of the Book Summary:
Mystery Mouth’s voice is Nancy’s first clue!
Nancy has a new set of hot green walkie-talkies to use in busy places like the mall. But when Bess and George try them out, one of the walkie-talkies disappears. Nancy thinks a bratty boy they know may have taken it.
Then Mystery Mouth starts sending Nancy messages on the remaining walkie-talkie. Each message contains a clue. Soon Nancy and her friends are on a crazy chase all over town. Mystery Mouth is talking, but it’s Nancy doing the walking—to find out who walked off with the walkie-talkie!
Inside Teaser:
Who Walked with the Walkie-Talkie?
“Bess?” Nancy asked slowly. “What happened to my walkie-talkie?”
“I wish I knew!” Bess wailed. “I…lost it!”
“You lost my walkie-talkie?” Nancy gasped. She could feel her heart pounding.
“I raced the boys to the ice cream truck,” Bess explained. “I was the first in line. But when Mr. Swirly Head held out my cone, I needed two hands to take it.”
“So you put down Nancy’s walkie-talkie?” George asked. “Where?”
“On the ledge outside the truck window,” Bess explained. “I turned away for only a few seconds. But when I reached for the walkie-talkie–it was gone!”
Review:
When Bess loses Nancy’s walkie-talkie, she feels awful. Nancy, Bess and George hunt all over, retracing their steps and questioning suspects. Upon interrogating some bratty boys, the girls are mildly bullied.
Nancy observes and notes vital clues in her notebook, following up on leads and cross-checking the clues against suspects. At one point they try setting up a sting operation to match kids’ voices with a recording of Mystery Mouth.
The investigation style is clever and observant, but there is a lot of teasing between kids, and George is very defending of Nancy, often matching wits with snarky comments from other kids.
Nancy Drew Canon Observations:
Nancy keeps a blue notebook for her sleuthing. The story mentions Hannah Gruen, the Drew housekeeper and Carson Drew, her dad.
George and Bess are cousins. George keeps a sports whistle around her neck in this story.
Nancy likes vanilla ice cream, George likes chocolate, Bess likes strawberry.
Nancy is described as having reddish-blond hair.
Nancy has a brown Labrador puppy named Chocolate Chip.
Extra Notes:
Published by Pocket Books for Minstrel Books, and published by Aladdin Paperbacks. Trademark of Simon & Schuster.
Cover art by Joanie Schwarz. Inside pages are illustrated by Jan Naimo Jones.
Length: 70 pages in the main story (more with the title page, series lists, and ads).
