A joy of reading is getting to share a book with your kids.  In this case, it is my soon-to-be nine-year-old daughter, Norah. I have read with my daughter since she was a baby, but I had not reviewed one of the many books we have read together over the years…until now.

Once Upon a Thriller is book four of the Nancy Drew Diaries series.  Nancy Drew and her two best friends, Bess and George, visits a neighboring town, Avondale for a mini vacation.  The ladies arrive at the town’s main bookstore for the book signing of local mystery author, Lacey O’Brien’s latest novel.  However, they find the bookstore in flames.  Who would set fire to the bookstore? And why?

Nancy investigates what happened to the bookstore and several events occur involving the ladies that seemed to be taken from the pages of Lacey O’Brien’s novels. Were they coincidences or had fiction come to life?

She gets to the bottom of the mystery and discovers that self-sabotage and envy were at the heart of this case. I had read none of Nancy Drew mysteries before and both my daughter and I enjoyed the story.  As I mentioned earlier, this is book four of the series.  However, I believe it could be read as a standalone novel.  I will recommend this book for ages 8-12.