Some Facts & Figures on the individual Books. (Not very many of the books are done yet)

Nancy Drew
Nancy has titian, or reddish blond hair. She is slender and very agile. She took ballet lessons for many years, and would have had a good shot as a professional dancer. She is also an accomplished artist. Nancy is age 16 or 18 depending upon the book's version. In the original series she was 16, but the revisions all make her 18. There is no evidence that Nancy is in school, so must have graduated from High School. She drives a blue roadster, also referred to as a convertible. She has solved 54 major mysteries as well as many side mysteries and appears to be a workaholic. When a case is solved, she immediately starts looking forward to her next challenge. She has excellent rapport with law enforcement officers and is able to talk her way out of anything. She could probably start robbing banks and everyone would blame her "lookalike."

Mr. Carson Drew
Tall, handsome and distinguished lawyer in River Heights. His thriving practice brings Nancy into many mysteries on a consulting basis. Nancy's father seems to have practically unlimited funds for travelling, but in at least one of the books (I'll get the name soon), he makes reference to the fact that repaying a substantial amount of money, which was to be donated to a boys club I think, stolen from him will be a severe financial blow.

Mrs. Drew
Passed away when Nancy was 3 years old according to all the books I have read, however I found a note in a FAQ* that states that in the original, The Secret of the Old Clock, Nancy was 10 years old when her mother died.

Mrs. Hannah Gruen
The Drew's housekeeper has been with them since the death of Nancy's mother. Hannah has had her share of misadventure due to Nancy's detective work, including being tied up and knocked out. She is usually a voice of wisdom in Nancy's life, although she tends to be a bit superstitious and nervous, even though she denies it.

Eloise Drew
Mr. Drew's sister, and Nancy's Aunt, figures in several of the books. She lives in New York City, but frequently rents cabins for extended vacations in upper state New York. Nancy stays with her cultured aunt every time a mystery takes her to the big apple.

Togo
Nancy's little terrier has had his share of adventure since his debut in The Whispering Statue, Vol 14. He regularly helps defend the Drew home from burglars and thieves, and has been known to risk his life to save Nancy. Rumor has it Togo ran off Nancy's cat Snoball whos only appearance was in book number 17.

George Fayne
Tall, slender, George is one of Nancy's closest chums. Her dark hair is kept short. George is athletic and has studied Judo. She regularly dates Burt Eddleton. She is also Bess Marvin's cousin.

Bess Marvin
Pretty, blond Bess is constantly teased for being plump, or slightly over weight, however in all the drawings, she appears to be as slim as Nancy or George, her cousin. She likes to eat and is an excellent cook. She also tends to be very nervous and somewhat superstitious. Her favorite date is Dave Evans.

Helen Corning
A friend of Nancy's who appears in only a few books. She is now married.

Ned Nickerson
Tall broad shouldered Ned has brown eyes and brown hair. He is one of Nancy's long time admirers and appears in the majority of the books. Ned attends Emerson University and is elected president of his fraternity, Omega Chi Epsilon. During his summers off, he has been employed as a camp counselor and a life insurance salesman.

Burt Eddleton
Husky, blond Burt is George's favorite escort. He plays foot ball for Emerson University and is a member of Omega Chi Epsilon fraternity. He has also been know to sell insurance during the summer.

Dave Evans
Rangy, green eyed Dave is a foot ball player for Emerson. He has dark hair and is Bess' usual date. Also a member of Omega Chi Epsilon fraternity.

Susan and Cliff Carr
Susan is Nancy's cousin. She and husband Cliff live in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Carolyn Keene
*Carolyn Keene is not a real person. The series was ghost written by the Stratemeyer Syndicate employing a variety of authors under contract not to reveal their identity. The first ghost writer, Mildred Wirt Benson, is generally credited with writing most of the first 26 books and for "fleshing out" Nancy's character. Later when the syndicate was taken over by Harriet Adams (Edward Stratemeyer's daughter), she took credit for writing the Nancy Drew series. It is unknown how many people have written under the name of Carolyn Keene.
I found a list of some of the Ghost Writers on the Unofficial Stratemeyer Syndicate Home Page. Here they are: Harriet Adams; Nancy Axelrad; Priscilla Baker-Carr; Richard Ballad; Patricia Doll; Lynn Ealer; Mary Fisher; Grace Grote; James Lawrence; Wilhelmina Rankin; Jane Sanderson; Alma Sasse; Margaret Scherf; Ann Shultes; Charles Strong; Sharon Wagner; George Waller; Jr.; Mildred Wirt

The Books--A few facts
The first book, The Secret in the Old Clock, was written in 1930. In the original series Nancy rarely wore anything but a dress. By the time I began reading the books in the mid 70's Nancy and her friends regularly wore slacks and were using words like "cool." I have several of the Yellow spine reprints. In the earliest of those, the updates in clothing, customs and language were mostly unnoticeable. I found many of the changes in the later books to be very irritating. This is of course my personal opinion, but I am looking forward to reading all of the books as they were originally written.
There are other series written about Nancy Drew including *Nancy Drew Files, Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew Notebooks and On Campus--Nancy goes to college. I have never read these series and have no plans to review them in the future.
I was a fan of the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Mysteries in the 70's with Pamela Sue Martin as Nancy. The reruns can be seen on TV Land if you have cable or satellite

*I found an excellent Nancy Drew FAQ compiled by Sharon Reid Harris. Certain facts on this page came from this FAQ, and have been noted with an astrik.