Do you want it? Or need it? Depends
By Ellen Griley

Flipping through Chronicle Books’ 75th Anniversary boxed collection of 30 Nancy Drew postcards—featuring each of the illustrated covers from the first 30 books in the Nancy Drew Mystery Series—it’s difficult to decide why I love Nancy Drew more: for the stories, or the book covers. Today, I’m going with the latter, from the rich blues and greens of The Secret of the Old Clock to the silly illustration for The Secret of the Wooden Lady to the hot, borderline harlequin The Secret in the Old Attic. Rarely does Nancy look the same from cover to cover—sometimes she resembles Kirsten Dunst, sometimes Nicole Kidman, sometimes Gretchen Mol—but she’s always beautiful, framed in fitting sleuth pose. If I were the postcard-sending type, I’d use these as invitations or thank-you notes. Unfortunately, I’m rude (and selfish), so instead I’ll be saving them for future framing in the study in my future home. Besides, Nancy’s too pretty for the postal service. $8. AVAILABLE AT {OPEN} 2226 E Fourth St | Long Beach 90814 | 562.499.OPEN | or online at Chroniclebooks.com