Review by Frank Plowright

A nice aspect of Nancy Drew stories over the years is that they’ve never been stuck in the days of her 1930s creation, despite that era being revisited in The Haunted Dollhouse, with which this was later combined as the second Nancy Drew Diaries. New times and new technologies offer new story possibilities. Stefan Petrucha begins The Girl Who Wasn’t There with Nancy initiating an online and phone friendship with Kalpana, who sometimes helps out on her detective father’s cases in India. One night, though, Nancy receives a call from Kalpana who mentions men in her house before being cut off.

Petrucha rather fudges sending Nancy to New Dehli via her father being generous enough not only to spring for her plane ticket, but to cover the additional costs of her friends Bess and George. The problem is that Nancy doesn’t really know much about Kalpana, let alone what she looks like.

Artist Sho Murase has been a schizoid series presence, undoubtedly technically talented, yet so often sucking the life from the mysteries instead of bringing them to life, which occurs again here. Thankfully this isn’t another case of telling the story via as many close-up illustrations as possible, although they do predominate, but there’s little effort to bring the scenery or vibrancy of India to the pages. Rhesus monkeys apart, so much of the action could take place in Cleveland. Plus there’s a tendency to repeat images over and over with minor alterations.

It’s a shame, because Petrucha’s plot has an air of quiet desperation to it. Nancy is warned not to investigate Kalpana’s disappearance very soon after arriving, and she’s at an immediate disadvantage compared with home as she and her friends instantly stand out in India. More so than in earlier adventures her tenacity could have fatal consequences.

The frustration of uninspiring art drags The Girl Who Wasn’t There down, but if mystery is your priority then this reads well. The Fake Heir is next.