Book Club - R.W.R. McDonald's Nancy Business

Final Draft - Great Conversations

Last week I teased a sequel to 2019’s The Nancys and today I have come to deliver.

First some background…

The Nancy’s is the debut novel from RWR McDonald. Set in the fictional South Otago town of Riverstone the story follows eleven year old Tippy Chan, her Uncle Pike and his boyfriend Devon as they band together in homage to their favourite girl detective Nancy Drew to solve the brutal murder of Tippy’s teacher.

Yeah, you thought this might be a middle grade book based on the protagonist right? Think again.

The Nancy’s won the Ngaio Marsh award for a debut novel and garnered a slew of shortlistings, because, quite frankly, it is gorgeous.

Jump forward to now and Tippy, Pike and Devon return in Nancy Business. The stakes are higher, the tone is darker, Tippy has a new haircut and don’t even think of going near Devon with green!

Get ready for a cosy mystery, with a queer heart and some real questions about what it means to be a part of a community.

In Nancy Business Riverstone is rocked by an explosion at the Town Hall. Three people are killed and it looks like a local is the bomber. Straight away things feel darker than the last novel. The bombing happens on the anniversary of Tippy’s father’s death and this has brought back so much for her. She is now constantly in fear of more violence and of losing more people close to her.

Pike and Devon are triumphant in their return to Riverstone but they two are hiding a darkness. Growing up Riverstone was never a place Pike could safe as a young gay man. Despite a level of fabulous acceptance with Devon by his side, the two are struggling to navigate the growth and maturing of their relationship. Could they really settle down in Riverstone?

The undercurrent of Nancy Business is that communities have secrets and those secrets have consequences. Tippy is single minded in uncovering the truth but she’s also twelve years old. As she navigates the various stories of her town she is learning that some secrets are not hers to tell.

RWR McDonald’s expanding Nancys universe is an absolute delight. The first thing I want to say is start with The Nancys. Nancy Business is a stand alone story but there is so much to both why not start at the beginning.

Riding along with Tippy you’ll find yourself wondering at the mix of genres McDonald is working (actually to be fair you probably won’t - his writing is seamless and you’ll likely be buckled in for the ride). The story feels like it should be YA and why not. I’m not going to stop any YA or other acronym for a loosely defined age demographic. But many of the themes of Nancy Business also feel like maybe a twelve year shouldn’t be… but then that’s the point; young adults always have and always will have to deal with these (scare quotes) adult themes. As much as Pike and Devon check in with Tippy it’s also them as so-called adults who need a hug and a bit of a moment to deal with the trauma.

Nancy Business is terrific - the dialogue is tighter than Devon’s hot pants and the characters are the sort that make you want to move to their town (just as soon as they sort out all the death)