Move Over Nancy Drew, There's a New Game in Town!

Who devoured the Nancy Drew mysteries as a child? When A Reader's Respite was a fledgling young reader, we found a collection of Nancy Drew books in the attic and never looked back. Granted, the books were musty, the spines damaged, and some of the pages written on by some previous generation, but we loved those books.




Later on, we graduated to the more contemporary (for the 1980s, anyway) Trixie Belden mystery series. Not only was Trixie more up-to-date, but her best friend Honey owned horses and that was a deal-maker for us at that age.



But what is there for our newest generation of pre-teens? Vampire books? Gossip Girl? Turn of the century sexcapades masquerading as historical fiction? We think not.

A Reader's Respite is simply smitten with author Susan Runholt's new Kari + Lucas Mystery series! If you haven't heard of these books yet, trust us, you will.

Runholt's young protagonists are sharp, witty, kind-hearted and genuinely engaging characters. Their adventures are told by Kari in one of the most unique voices to come along in years. The adventures are steeped in history, art and literature as Kari and Lucas find themselves swept up in mysteries around the globe. Sound fantastical? Believe it or not, each story is completely plausible. You see, Kari and Lucas travel with Kari's mother, a writer for an international teen magazine.


In the series debut, The Mystery of the Third Lucretia, Kari and Lucas find themselves embroiled in the mystery of a newly-discovered Rembrandt painting. Don't know much about the Lucretia paintings? Don't worry, Kari will fill you in:

"Lucretia was this woman who supposedly lived in the sixth century BCE. This was, like, when they used to have gladiators. She was married to a Roman soldier who was always bragging about what a wonderful, good, pure, loving woman his wife was.

When he was off fighting some war, a guy named Sextus Tarquinius, one of his rivals, sneaked back to Rome and flirted with Lucretia to try to get her to have an affair with him. She wouldn't, so he raped her.

Now back in those days it wasn't bad enough that a woman had that kind of thing happen to her. What made it even worse was that it totally wrecked her reputation. A lot of women who got attacked like that would have been kicked out of their house. It was the kind of thing that makes my mother go on and on about what a rotten deal women have always gotten. I have to admit, it does seem pretty unfair.

Anyway, Lucretia was a truly good person. So she called her husband and her father back from the war and told them about what had happened to her. They said it wasn't her fault and it wasn't that big of a deal. But because it was so dishonourable, she picked up a dagger and killed herself. Can you believe that? Even though she didn't do anything wrong!

By the way, I'm not making this up. This may not be absolutely true, but it's a real legend. Google it."
The Mystery of the Third Lucretia, by Susan Runholt


Now if that short excerpt isn't enough to convince you that this series is fun and unique, I don't know what will.

The Mystery of the Third Lucretia was released to all sorts of acclaim (even Booklist loved it, surprise surprise) and Runholt is following up with the next book in the series, entitled Rescuing Seneca Crane. This time, the girls find themselves in Scotland rescuing a kidnapped young piano protoge. Music, history and architecture abound in this second installment, which we daresay is even better than the first.





Now I hear you all wondering for what age group these books would be appropriate? The protagonists are fourteen, so you'd have to make your best guess from there. But we can't recommend them highly enough and trust us on this, you'll want to devour them yourselves!

16 comments:

  1. I've never read Nancy Drew or Trixie Belden but I think the Kari + Lucas series sounds fabulous!

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  2. Hey how cool is that.. But I must say that Nancy Drew must never move over.. she is too awesome. But in another 7 years when my daughter is 14 maybe she'll like these newer novels. Probably not. Because she is the opposite of me. Of course.

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  3. Kathy - you would truly love these...they are sooooo worth it!

    Marie - believe it or not, nostalgia aside, these books are even better than Nancy Drew. There are subtle moral lessons and the art/history/literature angle is so cool. I don't often go over the moon over a book, but these are so fabulous I wish I could afford to buy every book blogger a copy!

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  4. Very cool! I used to love Nancy Drew. I passed this info along to my sister since she has teen & preteen girls.

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  5. I loved Nancy Drew as a kid. My stepmom had a collection of all of the books (I think they were probably first editions) and she would let me borrow them. I wasn't too crazy about her back then so I think she was trying to find something we had in common and give me a reason to like her.

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  6. I had a collection of Nancy Drew, and now my daughter has them and reads them. I've gone back a read a few though, and they are a bit corny! I'd love to introduce this series to her, I think she'd love it. Unless the protagonist is doing it on a bear rug (ha) I think it will be appropriate for an 11 year old.

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  7. I have to read these! I loved Nancy and Trixie, and am ready for a modern update! Good thing I didn't join any of those challenges not to add to the TBR pile!

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  8. I just posted about Trixie Belden yesterday! Interestingly enough the first book was written in the late 1940s so Trixie wasn't exactly contemporary - maybe more timeless, although I am not sure how it would stand up to the reading experiences of the modern teen.

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  9. These sound like so much fun. I was Nancy Drew fan (had a whole shelf of yellow-spined hardbacks. I definitely have to try the new generation.

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  10. Marg, LOL, shows how sophisticated by 1980s adolescent mind was, ha ha ha.

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  11. When I was younger I also adored Nancy Drew, but instead of lugging up all of those yellow hardbacks to the attic I graduated to playing the Nancy Drew Adventure PC games. They're a LOT of fun, the graphics are great AND these games test your wit and knowledge so I think they're worth checking out!

    Thanks for telling me about this series! I'm going to request it from the library . . . right now!

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  12. These sound great! One series that I came across recently but haven't read takes place in Georgian England and features a young girl named Cat Royal, I think (unlikely name, I know). It sounds like a fun series- might be one to keep on the radar! The first one is Diamond of Drury Lane.

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  13. Aarti - thx for the head's up on the books and I'll see if I can find them!

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  14. Sounds fantastic! I was a Nancy Drew fan myself ... I just loved how they all looked all lined up on a shelf. Never did go into Trixie Belden. Based on the excerpt, I think the girls of today have LUCKED OUT!

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  15. I have to try this series. I still love Nancy Drew. Trixie Belden didn't have quite the same draw for me, though.

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  16. I was more of a Hardy Boys fan than a Nancy Drew fan, but this series sounds fabulous! I just checked my library and they have the first book - yay!

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