Confessions of a Teen Sleuth (12 page)

I turned and faced him. His brown eyes sparkled. "You need my help," I declared happily. "You've come out of retirement."

"Yes," he responded, his face turning serious. "It's big, Nancy, really big. The biggest adventure yet. All the old teen sleuths
are being called up. Tom Swift is waiting in the Sky Queen to take us abroad."

His eyes shone as he reached around my waist and pulled me close. "Can I count on you?" he asked.

My knees went weak. And it wasn't from arthritis.

"There's something I have to mail first," I told him, thinking of the manuscript in my bag. "And then I'll have to set my
hair."

He pulled me closer. "Anything you want."

Of course I would help him. Little did I know that I was about to embark on the most puzzling mystery I had solved to date, one that would challenge every skill I had nurtured since I was a preteen. For now all I knew is that it felt good to
be a sleuth again. And Tom Swift could wait for a little while. Frank and I had some catching up to do.

His eyes shone as he reached around my waist and pulled me close.

They didn't call him Hardy for nothing.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The editor wishes to thank her husband, Marc Mohan, for his keen editing eye, love, patience and, most important, for access
to his extensive Hardy Boys collection. Thanks also to Diana Abu-Jaber, the first to encourage the idea; Karen Karbo, for
getting the project in front of Bloomsbury; Cynthia Whitcomb, for the Nazis; and Whitney Otto, for connecting me to the fabulous
Joy Harris Agency. On that note, thank you to everyone at the Joy Harris Agency and to Amanda Katz, my smart editor at Bloomsbury.
Thanks to my elementary school librarian, for the steady diet of Nancy Drew books, and to Mrs. Burr for pretending not to
notice when I read the books in class. I owe a great debt to Lia Miternique for the brilliant cover and interior illustrations.
Lia, you are a genius designer and a fine chum to boot. Finally, thanks to my mom, Mary Cain, who always said that I should
be a stand-up comedian. Or a potter. Or, barring that, a writer.

A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR

Chelsea Cain is a longtime Nancy Drew enthusiast and the author of
The Hippie Handbook
and the memoir
Dharma Girl.
She edited the anthology
Wild
Child,
about daughters of the counterculture. She has written for a wide variety of publications and is currently a humor columnist
for the
Oregonian.
She lives with her husband in Portland, Oregon.

By the same author

The Hippie Handbook: How to Tie-Dye a T-Shirt, Flash a Peace Sign,

and Other Essential Skills for the Carefree Life

Dharma Girl: A Road Trip Across the American Generations

As editor

Wild Child: Girlhoods in the Counterculture

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address Bloomsbury USA, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Published by Bloomsbury USA, New York

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Cain, Chelsea.

Confessions of a teen sleuth :

a parody / by Chelsea Cain

illustrations by Lia Miternique. –1st U.S. ed.

p. cm.

ISBN: 1-58234-511-2

1.American wit and humor. 2. Keene, Carolyn-Parodies, imitations, etc.

3. Drew, Nancy (Fictitious character)-Humor. I. Title.

PN6231.P3C25 2004

3813’.6—dc22