Nancy Drew gets a grown-up twist

THE NANCYS

R. W. R. Mcdonald (Allen & Unwin, $33) When I was 11, my friends and I fancied ourselves amateur sleuths. Like Nancy Drew and her sidekicks Bess and George, whose exploits we religiously devoured, we were forever happening on ominous clues and mysterious situations that surely boded ill.

The dusty footprints in the alley behind our houses could only mean one thing, just as the discarded gum wrappers near the mailbox pointed toward any number of nefarious goings-on. We could always be relied upon to root out the most vexing riddles in the neighbourhood and, in an age before Neighbourhood Watch groups, I’m sure the adults around us were able to breathe more easily as we set to rights one mixed-up situation after another.

The Nancys, by R. W. R. Mcdonald, is a novel after my own heart. Tippy Chan, the book’s 11-yearold narrator, becomes taken with her Uncle Pike’s much-loved Nancy Drew books and, before she knows it, lands at the centre of a mystery of her own.

Tippy’s dad has died and her mum has decided to leave New Zealand for a two-week cruise to grieve and unwind.

While she’s away, Uncle

Pike and his partner,

Devon, have come from

Sydney to stay with

Tippy. Before they’ve even had a chance to get comfortable with each other, this unlikely trio — Tippy, her large, crass and campy uncle and his urbane partner — find themselves in the middle of a disturbing and macabre small-town mystery. And Tippy, like any young sleuth worth her salt, jumps at the chance to work the case.

The Nancys is the droll, madcap, off-kilter (and often off-colour) story of Tippy and her avuncular sidekicks’ escapades as they attempt to solve the gruesome murder of Tippy’s teacher. As the plot thickens and the clues begin to accumulate, Tippy’s mum surprises everyone by coming home. Tippy and her team’s gumshoeing appears to take a wrong turn, leading to a wrongful arrest and a near-miss with the actual murderer.

As Tippy, her uncle, and Devon try to puzzle out the very real murder of Tippy’s teacher, Tippy finds herself trying to unravel the equally upsetting but more ill-defined mysteries of family, attachment, shared histories and love.

Mcdonald’s novel is a giddy, entertaining romp through what might be perceived as difficult terrain.

At times, the narration reads as blunter and more blue than an 11-year-old would, by rights, be cognisant of — certainly, the bawdier moments would make Nancy Drew blush — but we come to care for these characters and their sometimes coarse, often zany, always endearing fumblings toward connection.