Nancy Drew is a brilliant teenage detective whose sense of self had come from solving mysteries in her hometown of Horseshoe Bay, Maine – until her mother's untimely death derails Nancy's college plans. Devastated by her mother's passing, Nancy swears off crime-solving while crossing off the days until she can re-apply to college. But when a socialite is murdered, Nancy finds herself a prime suspect in the crime, along with a group of other teens present at the scene: Nancy's nemesis from high school, George Fan; a rich girl with a mysterious past, Bess Marvin; Nancy's secret boyfriend, Ned "Nick" Nickerson; and amiable burnout Ace. The five of them must team up to clear their own names – encountering emotional entanglements and even more mysteries along the way. Nancy's reawakening brings her into conflict with her widowed father, Carson Drew, who is dating Detective Karen Hart. And, when a supernatural presence begins to haunt Nancy's investigation, she discovers that the current crime has an astonishing connection to the long unsolved murder of a local girl. Whether the ghost is here to help, or hinder Nancy remains to be seen, but one thing's for sure: Nancy's going to have to unravel the clues from both the living and the dead to solve the crimes.

When a nor'easter hits Horseshoe Bay, Ace warns everyone that the storm has been known to blow restless spirits ashore. Meanwhile, Nancy confronts Nick about the secrets he's been keeping.