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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780060581084
ISBN number: 0060581085
Label: Avon
Manufacturer: Avon
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: April 01, 2006
Publishing house: Avon
Release Date: March 28, 2006
Sale Popularity Level: 774912
Studio: Avon
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
'I spent my entire youth idolizing Nancy Drew. I'm pushing forty now, but some fantasies die hard.'
Besides her beloved collection of vintage designer clothing, there is nothing Cece Caruso cherishes more than her childhood memories of Nancy Drew. Her near obsession with the fictional teenage sleuth led her to become a professional biographer of classic mystery writers. And now that she's working on a book about Nancy's pseudonymous creator, 'Carolyn Keene, ' Cece's in heaven.
At the L. A. home of another rabid Drew-ophile, Cece finds a treasure trove of useful memorabilia, including one unique and somewhat shocking collectible. Later she finds a dead body -- and a puzzle that would sorely test the skills of her spunky girlhood heroine. Now she'll have to channel her former idol and unmask a murderer, and the killer may be coming for Cece next.
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Rated by buyers 
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I'd rate "Not a Girl Detective" a 3.5. In my opinion, it doesn't quite live up to the standard of "I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason". Since there is no "real" Carolyn Keene, there isn't much of interest there to wrap a plot around so the idea of Nancy Drew collectors is a pretty good one, but the execution in this case is spotty. Many threads were introduced, thinly developed and ultimately just sort of dropped on the side of the road. Mysteries need blue herrings to keep the reader guessing, but these felt as though they were disjointed. Perhaps the author intended for there to be more ties linking the story threads and was unsuccessful. Some of the blue herrings were more interesting to me than the actual "real" conclusion, so the ending left me a bit foggy. I still like Cece Caruso and her friends and will read the subsequent book hoping that I'll like it as well as I liked the very first in the series.
Rated by buyers -
Susan Kandel brings the Nancy Drew collecting world to life in a funny and engrossing mystery set in Southern California. Cece Caruso writes about dead authors and when she's invited to be the keynote speaker at the annual Nancy Drew fan convention in Palm Springs, Cece jumps at the chance. Cece is writing about the corporate authors of the Nancy Drew series, but her real fascination for the biography of Nancy Drew, is with Grace Horton, the young woman who was the model for Nancy Drew in the original book covers. Edgar Edward, world famous Nancy Drew collector, invites Cece to stay in his house for the weekend. Unfortunately, when Cece and her friends Lael and Bridget arrive at the house, they find Edwards behind his Palm Springs house with a bullet in his forehead and his current live-in boyfriend has disappeared. The Palm Springs police are eyeing Cece with suspicion, so Cece feels obligated to find the killer before she becomes the subsequent victim. She has her own ideas about who could have murdered Edgar and why, and she's determined to make her case and get her murderer, just like Nancy Drew did. Man crazy, Lael and Bridget, her two friends, lend support to Cece's investigation along with Cece's boyfriend, detective Peter Gambino. It's evident that Kandal did plenty of research for all the Nancy Drew information in this book, but it doesn't intrude into the crisp narration. The mystery was not easy to figure out, and it galloped along to a satisfying conclusion. I didn't figure it out until the end.
Kendal has a good series going here and I really look forward to reading about the subsequent mystery author that Cece decides to write about.
Rated by buyers -
While I enjoyed NOT A GIRL DETECTIVE, I did not think it was as good as I DREAMED I MARRIED PERRY MASON. I did enjoy the way the author used the Nancy Drew character throughout the story and it was obvious that she had done a great deal of research on the topic of who "Carolyn Keene" really was. Also, an interesting use of Salvatore Dali. I just didn't think the chapters flowed together wery well. Not a bad effort, but could have been better.
Rated by buyers 
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This book was captivating from the very first page. I wanted to know what Cece was up to in her latest adventure. It also brought back memories of my girlhood when I read Nancy Drew. I could not put the book down or go to sleep till I finished it.
Rated by buyers -
Let me start off by saying I love parody and pastiche. In fact, I actually enjoy some of the Sherlock Holmes pastiche and parodys MORE than Conan Doyle's original stories.
That being said, I have to say I was kind of disappointed in this novel. Cece Caruso is so over-the-top that she isn't a character, she is a caricature and not very believable. The author also depicts Nancy Drew fans much like the over-the-top Trekkies. The writing in general is choppy at best and I could never fully get into the spirit of the book. While there are some good merits, in general I think the author just tried to hard.
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