The Mystery of the Fallen Angels

It's got a cool setting (a carnival), and a great cast (A Martinez, Robert Englund, Jamie Lee Curtis, Robert Alda, Craig Littler & Beverly Garland) but the story is too muddled for my liking and takes far too long to get going. The opening ten minutes are meant to create intrigue and set up all sorts of red herrings, but - on screen - it's just a bunch of characters we've never seen before going over and back without showing/telling us what any of them are really doing. It's therefore easy for the attention to wander. By the mid-point of the story, things are have improved: Nancy is undercover at the carnival and we start to get a clearer idea of who exactly has been doing what. Even then, with several questions answers, the final twist still manages to be a genuine surprise. Reminding us that Nancy Drew was 1977's Veronica Mars.

By the end of the story, Carson Drew has four clients, all thanks to Nancy's one case. The moment when he observes that none of them can pay him, and glances lovingly at Nancy, is pretty much my favourite moment from the Nancy Drew series.

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