The Case of the Good-for-Nothing Girlfriend: A Nancy Clue and Cherry Aimless Mystery (Maney, Mabel) [Paperback]

Mabel Maney (Author)

Book Description

Series: Maney, Mabel | Publication Date: November 30, 2005

If you know the specific gravity of gold, travel with the Nurses’ Guide to Snakes, or can get a raisin pie stain out of a pink poplin frock, you’ll fit right in with Nancy Clue and her gay chums on a road trip from sleepy Pleasantville, Idaho, to sparkling River Depths, Illinois, where Hannah, Nancy’s beloved housekeeper, stands wrongfully accused of murder! Nurse Cherry Aimless, who fell head-over-penny-loafers for the world-famous girl detective in The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse, must help her new sweetheart clear Hannah’s name — and her own — and restore her sterling reputation. But does Nancy deserve her devotion? Troubling discoveries force Cherry to do some sleuthing of her own to see if Nancy is really the sweet, upstanding girl she seems to be — or a shameless flirt!

Mabel Maney’s playful parody of 1950s girl adventure books continues in The Case of the Good-for-Nothing Girlfriend. This raucous sequel also stands on its own as a swell introduction to Cherry and her pals, and a food and fashion guide to the glamorous Eisenhower years.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Let me be the first to state plainly that Miss Mabel Maney is a pernicious influence on American boys and girls. Her dangerous spoofs of the 1950s surely threaten the morale of impressionable young people, who must learn to accept and appreciate their proper places in life. Nancy Clue, the famous girl detective, may be able to solve exciting mysteries without displacing her shiny Titian locks, but why does her friend Midge dress like a boy, use curse words, and smoke cigarettes? And why does Nancy's sweet new girlfriend, Cherry Aimless, tremble under her starched white nurse's cap as she admires the bulging biceps of police detective Jackie Jones? I suspect that in her private life, the author freely mixes plaids with stripes and wears white after Labor Day. As for her devilish success at demeaning the finest epoch in American manners, I can only say, "Darn and double darn." --Regina Marler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The sequel to The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse is another hoot, a lampooning of girls' fiction of the past full of hapless, do-gooding detectives with "keen sleuthing abilities, up-to-the-minute fashion sense, and gracious finishing-school manners." Girlfriend finds our hapless heroine, Nancy Clue, racing home to River Depths, Illinois, to confess the murder of her father, prominent attorney Carson Clue; expose the terrible truth about him; and free Hannah Gruel, the selfless housekeeper who has shouldered the blame. With Nancy is the love of her life, nurse Cherry Aimless, whose wardrobe may be smaller than Nancy's but whose most treasured outfit is her nurse's whites complete with "cunning cape and perky cap." With a honey like Cherry, who is always careful to keep an ample supply of freshly starched, white linen handkerchiefs in her seasonally appropriate handbag, we know Nancy can't miss. Nor, with butch ex-con Midge and her perfectly lipsticked girlfriend, Velma, along for the ride, does this hilarious, dyke-ish caper. Whitney Scott --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Cleis Press; 2 edition (November 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573442275
• ISBN-13: 978-1573442275
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,443,457 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jeepers! Midwestern lesbians have run amuck!, November 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Case of the Good-For-Nothing Girlfriend (Paperback)

Sure, these three books are hilarious to the 100th power, but let's not overlook Mabel Maney's flawless execution. What many don't realize is that Nancy Clue mysteries not only spoof girl detective novels of the 1950s, but they also spoof the lesbian-themed pulp novels of the 1930s and 1940s. Ms. Maney has blended two genres to absolute perfection.

And now for a more political comment: Ms. Maney, a self-avowed "type triple-A personality" who wrote the first book of the series while in traction (she broke a leg in a skiing accident, I believe), proves in print that lesbians are not all humorless grumps on a mission to dismantle the patriarchy. Not today, anyway.

I subtracted a star because I want a five-book series.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dressed for Adventure, June 15, 2004

By 

Debra B. (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Case of the Good-For-Nothing Girlfriend (Paperback)

I laughed all the way through this hilarous romp. It reads like a road-trip combined with a fashion show, with endless high camp descriptions of all types of frock, sundress, and blouse. Just when you think you're finally dressed and good to go, she throws in another one!

If you're after something light-hearted, then this is the one to read. I haven't read any of the other Mabel Maney books but I'll probably look out for them after this.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Giggled all the way through, January 8, 2004

By 

"bek-" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Case of the Good-For-Nothing Girlfriend (A Nancy Clue Mystery) (Paperback)

I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who wants a really great, campy book. Nancy is niaive in many ways, and I had to laugh at some of the assumptions she made. It kinda makes me think of Leagally Blonde with her rose-coloured glasses, but definately not as annoying.

Very clever, and very witty. Well worth a read.

I also recommend "Kiss the girls and make them spy" by the same author. It's a little more "grown up" with a tad more modernism in it, but still FABULOUS! It's the story of Jane Bond, James Bond's twin sister, who has to step in to cover her brother while he is indisposed.....