nancy drew lives in the fictional river heights with her father, carson drew. their housekeeper, hannah gruen, has acted like a mother to nancy, ever since nancy's mother died when she was three years old. nancy has a few close friends that appear in the book series and some of them in the computer games. when the book series first begins, nancy's best friend is helen corning, who is a few years older than nancy. a few books later, some new friends are introduced. nancy's two best friends in the later books are bess marvin and george fayne, the latter two being cousins. ned nickerson, nancy's boyfriend, first appears in the book, "the clue in the diary." bess, george, and ned all appear in the computer games and helen corning is never mentioned.