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Book Details
The Secret at Shadow Ranch (Book #5) by Carolyn Keene was copyrighted by Grosset & Dunlap in 1931 and published circa 1953-1954. Vintage Edition.Writer's Background
The writer behind this specific edition is Mildred Wirt Benson (1905-2002). Carolyn Keene is the well-known name that appears on every Nancy Drew book, but Carolyn was never a single person. The name was created by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and used by at least 28-30 documented individual writers (men and women) to keep Nancy’s adventures going for decades. Readers grew up believing Carolyn Keene was a real woman, which only added to Nancy’s charm and mystery. The secret of the shared pen name is a striking reminder that Nancy Drew’s voice was strong enough to outlive any one author.Story
In The Secret at Shadow Ranch, Nancy travels to a western ranch in Arizona to visit her friends Bess and George. What begins as a relaxing getaway quickly turns into a mystery when strange occurrences disrupt the ranch. Fences are mysteriously torn down, a phantom horse appears at night, and a threatening note warns the girls to leave. Nancy learns that the ranch’s owners are facing serious financial trouble, and the key to saving it may lie in uncovering a long-buried secret involving a lost treasure and a man wrongfully accused of a crime. Nancy and her friends piece together clues from old letters, a hidden trail, and a mysterious canyon as they work to solve the mystery and clear the innocent man’s name.Collectible Notes
This circa 1953-1954 edition comes from the classic blue-tweed era, with blue illustrated digger endpapers, dark blue topstain and Bill Gillies’ wraparound dust jacket artwork. The dust jacket’s Nancy Drew list ends with #31 The Ringmaster’s Secret, published in 1953 while the Christmas 1954 inscription on the title page confirms that this blue-tweed edition was already in circulation by the end of 1954. Together, those details support dating this printing to circa 1953 to 1954.Condition
Good vintage condition. The original dust jacket is in good condition with minor chipping at the top and shelf wear around all edges. Top of the spine has a small missing piece. Jacket remains fully intact and the colors remain vibrant. The blue tweed cloth boards are very clean with minor bumping on the corners and the dark-blue topstain is strong and sharp. Blue illustrated digger endpapers are clean with light age toning. Binding is strong and fully intact. 203 pages are lightly toned with no foxing and are free from markups, creases, tears, and stains. Illustrated frontispiece is crisp and well-preserved.Carefully packaged and shipped with care from our smoke-free home. Now available to readers and collectors around the world through International Shipping. Measures 7.5" long, 5.25” wide and 1" deep. Weighs 8.6 oz.
