In this, the sixth in the acclaimed Nancy Drew mystery series, published in 1931, Nancy befriends the hapless Millie and helps her save her grandmother's farm. In the process, Nancy confronts a ring of gangsters and a strange nature cult that meets on the edge of the farm.
On the train home from a shopping trip, Nancy and her friends George and Bess meet Millie, a shy girl who is traveling to seek a job because her grandmother is about to lose her farm. Nancy accompanies Millie to her interview and sees something shady about this business.
Millie does not get the job, but Nancy suggests that Millie's grandmother earn money by taking in boarders at Red Gate Farm. Nancy and her friends go to the farm for the summer. At a gas station on the way, they encounter suspicious-looking men who appear to be connected with the shady business.
When Nancy and her friends reach the farm, they learn that part of the land has been rented out to a nature cult called the Black Snake Colony, whose members engage in mysterious rites at the full moon.
Following a string of clues and coincidences, Nancy connects the peculiar activities of the cult with the sinister men and their secret operation.
The Nancy Drew mysteries debuted in a fast-changing America, where women were discarding traditional roles and asserting themselves. Nancy models this new American woman: strong-willed, intelligent, indomitable, as well as educated and sophisticated.
The Secret of Red Gate Farm, like the others in the series, is attributed to the pseudonymous Carolyn Keene. In fact Nancy was the creation of publisher Edward Stratemeyer, who engaged a number of ghostwriters to write the books. Mildred Wirt Benson is credited with many of the early ones, including The Secret of Red Gate Farm.
In the nearly 100 years since their debut, the Nancy Drew mysteries have become an integral part of the American feminine mythos, leading to many film and television adaptations. Today, nearly 100 years after their launch, these novels remain classics of young adult fiction.
