The Secret of the Old Clock
- 194
- Pages
- about 3.5 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“The Secret of the Old Clock” introduces Nancy Drew in a light, good-natured mystery that grown-up readers still find fun. The story dates from 1930 and was rewritten in 1959. Some find the prose stiff in places; others think Nancy too kind to be real, or notice how much remarkable luck helps her along.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Secret of the Old Clock is the first volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series, written under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. It was first published on April 28, 1930, and rewritten in 1959 by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. On January 1, 2026, the original version of the novel entered the public domain in the US.
Reading order · Nancy Drew Mystery Stories
Full order & progress →- The Secret of the Old ClockThis book
7.67.6 / 10 - The Hidden Staircase
7.67.6 / 10 - The Bungalow Mystery
7.57.5 / 10
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.6 across 159 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 52% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Crime & mystery average of 7.6. That is how 7.6 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.3 | 22 | 14% |
| Hardcover | 7.5 | 137 | 86% |
Frequently asked
How long is The Secret of the Old Clock?
It has 194 pages — shorter than 97% of the ranked books in Crime & mystery.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Crime & mystery — and a score of 7.6, the closest to this book.
